The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2012

Premises approval: relocations of practice premises which are not significant after outline consent has taken effect

55.—(1) A dispensing doctor (D) who—

(a) is providing pharmaceutical services from listed dispensing premises; and

(b) wishes to relocate and dispense from new medical practice premises in relation to the area for which D has outline consent,

may apply in writing to the Primary Care Trust in whose area the new medical practice premises are located (whether or not it is the same Primary Care Trust as the Primary Care Trust that granted D outline consent) for premises approval for the new medical practice premises from which D wishes to dispense.

(2) Subject to paragraph (3), the Primary Care Trust must grant that application if it is of the type described in this paragraph, that is to say if the Primary Care Trust is satisfied that—

(a) for the patient groups that are accustomed to accessing pharmaceutical services at the existing premises, the location of the new premises is not significantly less accessible;

(b) granting the application would not result in a significant change to the arrangements that are in place for the provision of pharmaceutical services (including by a person on a dispensing doctor list) or of local pharmaceutical services—

(i) in any part of its area, or

(ii) in a controlled locality of a neighbouring Primary Care Trust, where that controlled locality is within 1.6 kilometres of the premises to which the applicant is seeking to relocate; and

(c) the Primary Care Trust is satisfied that granting the application would not cause significant detriment to proper planning in respect of the provision of pharmaceutical services in its area.

(3) A Primary Care Trust must, unless it has good cause not to do so, refuse an application under paragraph (1) if an application under that paragraph or regulation 65(4)(a) of the 2005 Regulations(1) (premises approval: additional and new premises after outline consent has taken effect) has been granted to D during the 12 months before the application was submitted under paragraph (1).

(4) The Primary Care Trust must notify its decision in relation to the application under paragraph (1) to the persons to whom it notified the application who made representations in relation to it under regulation 52(4), and it must include with the notification of its decision an explanation of—

(a) the reasons for the decision; and

(b) if the person notified is a person with rights of appeal under regulation 63(1)(c) or (d), an explanation of how those rights may be exercised.

(1)

Prior to its repeal, regulation 65 was amended by S.I. 2006/3373.