The National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012

Interpretation

44.—(1) In this Part—

“appropriate treatment” means treatment that is the first treatment provided to a person as a result of, and in response to, an elective referral;

“eligible referrer” means—

(a)

a general dental practitioner,

(b)

a general medical practitioner,

(c)

a person approved to make an elective referral under arrangements made by the relevant body which has responsibility for the person being referred, and

(d)

any other person whose request to refer is accepted by—

(i)

a consultant,

(ii)

a member of a consultant’s team, or

(iii)

persons providing interface services where a person who has been referred may be referred on from those services to a consultant or consultant-led team,

who is to provide the assessment or treatment required as a result of a referral;

“elective referral” means referral by an eligible referrer to a health service provider for assessment or treatment that is not identified as being immediately required at the time of referral;

“each data collection period” means each calendar month and the end of such a period means the end of the last day of the calendar month in question;

“interface services” means services that are provided otherwise than by a consultant-led team, which provide clinical triage, assessment and treatment services, but does not include mental health services or services provided under a primary care contract;

“registered healthcare professional” means a person who is a member of a profession regulated by one of the following bodies—

(a)

the General Medical Council,

(b)

the Nursing and Midwifery Council, or

(c)

the Health and Care Professions Council;

“specialist” means a registered healthcare professional working as a consultant, or as part of a consultant-led team, who specialises in the area of professional practice which is most appropriate for the diagnosis and treatment of the type of suspected cancer in question;

“start date” means the date on which the person’s referral request was received by the health service provider to whom that person has been referred for the provision of health care services by—

(a)

in regulations 45 to 51─

(i)

an eligible referrer; or

(ii)

themselves, with the prior approval of an eligible referrer, or

(b)

in regulations 52 and 53, a general medical practitioner, a general dental practitioner or a person authorised to act on their behalf;

“suitable health service provider”, in relation to a person who has been referred for assessment or treatment, is a health service provider who—

(a)

can provide services which consist of, or include, treatment which is clinically appropriate for that person in response to the reasons for the referral, and

(b)

will provide those services pursuant to a commissioning contract with a relevant body;

“treatment” means an intervention that is intended to manage a person’s disease, condition or injury and, insofar as reasonably practicable, avoid further interventions, but does not include a therapy or healthcare intervention referred to in regulation 46(3);

“treatment for suspected cancer” means—

(a)

assessment by a specialist in order to progress towards a diagnosis, or

(b)

treatment for suspected cancer that is provided by a specialist;

“Waiting Times Directions” means the Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities (Waiting Times) Directions 2010 which came into force on 1st April 2010(1).

(2) For the purposes of this Part, where reference is made to an appointment date being reasonable, it is reasonable if it falls at least 3 weeks after the date on which the offer of the appointment was made.

(1)

The Directions can be found at www.dh.gov.uk/en/publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsLegislation/ DH_113557.