Citation, commencement and extent

1. —(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Abolition of the NHS Tribunal (Consequential Provisions) Regulations 2001 and shall come into force on 14th December 2001.

(2) These Regulations extend to England only.

Interpretation

2. —(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—

“the 1977 Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977( 2 );

“the 2001 Act” means the Health and Social Care Act 2001;

“the appeal period” means the period of 14 days within which an appellant must file his notice of appeal against a decision of the Tribunal in accordance with the Civil Procedure Rules 1998( 3 );

“the applicant Health Authority” means the Health Authority in England which made an application to the Tribunal which led to any Tribunal direction being made;

“the effective date” is the date (being after the relevant date) which immediately follows—

as the case may be;

“the FHSAA” means the Family Health Services Appeal Authority constituted under section 49S of the National Health Service Act 1977( 4 );

“the FHSAA Regulations” means the Family Health Services Appeal Authority (Primary Care Act) Regulations 2001( 5 );

“a local disqualification decision” means a direction of the Tribunal under section 46(2)(a) of the 1977 Act in relation to a Health Authority in England to which section 47(1) of that Act applies;

“a national disqualification decision” means a direction of the Tribunal under section 46(2)(b) of the 1977 Act to which section 47(1) of that Act applies;

“the Order” means the Health and Social Care Act 2001 (Commencement No. 6) (England) Order 2001( 6 );

“a paragraph 4(1) direction” means a direction given by the Tribunal under paragraph 4(1) of Schedule 1 to the Primary Care Act;

“a paragraph 5 direction” means a direction given by the FHSAA under paragraph 5 of that Schedule that a direction given under paragraph 4(1) be terminated;

“a pharmacist case” means a case before the Tribunal in relation to a person undertaking to provide pharmaceutical services under Part II of the 1977 Act;

“the Primary Care Act” means the National Health Service (Primary Care) Act 1997( 7 );

“the relevant date” means—

“a review decision” means a decision by the Tribunal under section 47 not to direct that a disqualification be ended;

“a suspension direction” means a direction of the Tribunal under section 49A(2) of the 1977 Act( 8 ) that subsection (3) of that section applies;

“a suspension pending appeal direction” means a direction of the Tribunal under section 49B(1) of the 1977 Act( 9 ); and

“the Tribunal” means the tribunal constituted under section 46 of the 1977 Act( 10 ).

(2) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to—

(a) a numbered regulation is to the regulation bearing that number; and

(b) a numbered paragraph in a regulation is to the paragraph bearing that number in that regulation.

Local disqualification decisions made before the relevant date

3. Where a person was subject to a local disqualification decision immediately before the relevant date and—

(a) the appeal period had ended by that date, or

(b) an appeal against that disqualification was concluded before that date and was not successful or was withdrawn before that date,

he shall be treated from the relevant date as having been removed from a Health Authority’s list in accordance with section 49M(6)(a) of the 1977 Act( 11 ).

National disqualification decisions made before the relevant date

4. —(1) Where a person was subject to a national disqualification decision immediately before the relevant date and—

(a) the appeal period had ended by that date, or

(b) an appeal was concluded before that date and was not successful or was withdrawn before that date,

he shall be treated from the relevant date as having had a national disqualification imposed on him by the FHSAA under section 49N(1) of the 1977 Act.

(2) Where a person is treated as having had a national disqualification imposed on him by the FHSAA in accordance with paragraph (1)—

(a) where no review decision has been made he may request a review by the FHSAA under section 49N(8)(a) of the 1977 Act not less than two years after—

(i) the date on which a national disqualification decision was made, where that decision has not been appealed, or

(ii) the date on which a national disqualification decision was upheld by a court,

whichever is the later; or

(b) where he has had a review decision, he may request a review by the FHSAA under section 49N(8)(a) of the 1977 Act not less than one year after the date of that review decision,

and thereafter, subject to paragraph (3), section 49N(8)(b) shall apply in his case.

(3) Where the FHSAA states that it is of the opinion that there is a need for an immediate review because—

(a) a criminal conviction considered by the Tribunal in reaching its decision has been quashed or the penalty has been reduced on appeal, or

(b) the decision of a professional, licensing or regulatory body has been quashed or the penalty has been reduced on appeal,

the period specified in paragraph (2) which applies before a review may be undertaken shall be reduced to the period that has already elapsed.

Cases under the 1977 Act where the appeal period has not ended or an appeal is not concluded by the relevant date

5. —(1) In any case where the Tribunal makes a local or a national disqualification decision before the relevant date but the appeal period does not end, an appeal is not withdrawn, or an appeal is not concluded until after that date, the following paragraphs shall apply.

(2) Where a person who is the subject of a local disqualification decision does not file an appeal by the end of the appeal period he shall be treated as having been removed from the applicant Health Authority’s list from the effective date.

(3) Where a person who is the subject of a national disqualification decision does not file an appeal against that decision by the end of the appeal period, any suspension pending appeal direction shall cease to apply and he shall be treated as having had a national disqualification imposed on him by the FHSAA from the effective date and, subject to paragraph (4), section 49N(8) of the 1977 Act shall apply in his case.

(4) Where the FHSAA states that it is of the opinion that there is a need for an immediate review because—

(a) a criminal conviction considered by the Tribunal in reaching its decision has been quashed or the penalty has been reduced on appeal, or

(b) the decision of a professional, licensing or regulatory body has been quashed or the penalty has been reduced on appeal,

the period of two years specified in section 49N(8)(a) of the 1977 Act which applies before a first review may be undertaken shall be reduced to the period that has already elapsed.

(5) Where a person who is the subject of a local or national disqualification decision—

(a) has filed an appeal which is not concluded by the relevant date,

(b) withdraws an appeal after that date, or

(c) files an appeal within an appeal period ending after that date,

any suspension pending appeal direction, if given, shall continue to apply, and paragraphs (3) and (4) of regulation 6 shall apply in his case.

Other cases under the 1977 Act not disposed of by the relevant date

6. —(1) Subject to paragraph (2), where a Health Authority made representations to the Tribunal in respect of a person under section 46 of the 1977 Act on or after 1st November 2001 and the case has not been disposed of by the Tribunal by the relevant date—

(a) any proceedings against him before the Tribunal shall cease, and

(b) the Health Authority may proceed in relation to the person under section 49F of the 1977 Act.

(2) Where before the relevant date the Tribunal has given a suspension direction in respect of a person to whom paragraph (1) applies, that person shall be treated with effect from the relevant date as having been suspended by the Health Authority under section 49I of the 1977 Act.

(3) Where a Health Authority made an application to the Tribunal in respect of a person under section 46 of the 1977 Act before 1st November 2001, article 2(5) of the Order shall apply until the effective date and the Tribunal may make any directions they could have made before the relevant date.

(4) In a case to which paragraph (3) applies and the Tribunal impose—

(a) a local disqualification on a person, he shall be treated as having been removed from a Health Authority list from the effective date, or

(b) a national disqualification on a person, he shall be treated as having had a national disqualification imposed on him by the FHSAA from the effective date and, subject to paragraph (5), section 49N(8)(a) of the 1977 Act shall apply in his case.

(5) Where the FHSAA states that it is of the opinion that there is a need for an immediate review because—

(a) a criminal conviction considered by the Tribunal in reaching its decision has been quashed or the penalty has been reduced on appeal, or

(b) the decision of a professional, licensing or regulatory body has been quashed or the penalty has been reduced on appeal,

the period of two years specified in section 49N(8)(a) of the 1977 Act which applies before a first review may be undertaken shall be reduced to the period that has already elapsed.

Cases under the Primary Care Act which commenced before the relevant date

7. —(1) Where any representations were made under paragraph 3 of Schedule 1 to the Primary Care Act (preferential treatment on transferring to medical lists) before the relevant date, article 2(5) of the Order shall apply until the effective date.

(2) In a case to which paragraph (1) applies, where the Tribunal issues a paragraph 4(1) direction, a medical practitioner shall be treated from the effective date—

(a) as being subject to such a direction as if it had been issued by the FHSAA, and

(b) as being entitled to make representations to the FHSAA that the direction be terminated by a paragraph 5 direction, in accordance with the FHSAA Regulations.

Disposal of case files held by the Tribunal

8. —(1) In any case to which regulation 4(1) applies, the Tribunal shall transfer the case file to the FHSAA as soon as may be practicable after the relevant date.

(2) In any case to which regulation 6(4) or regulation 7 applies, the Tribunal shall transfer the case file to the FHSAA within two weeks of the effective date which applies to the case in question.