Statutory Instruments
2004 No. 569
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, ENGLAND
The NHS Direct (Establishment and Constitution) Order 2004
Made
28th February 2004
Laid before Parliament
9th March 2004
Coming into force
1st April 2004
The Secretary of State for Health, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by sections 11(1), (2) and (4) of, and paragraph 9(7)(b) of Schedule 5 to, the National Health Service Act 1977( 1 ), and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, and after consultation with such bodies as he recognises represent officers who in his opinion are likely to be transferred or affected by transfers in pursuance of the Order, hereby makes the following Order:
Citation, commencement, application and interpretation
1. —(1) This Order may be cited as the NHS Direct (Establishment and Constitution) Order 2004 and shall come into force on 1st April 2004.
(2) This Order applies to England only.
(3) In this Order—
“the Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977;
“the Authority” means the NHS Direct Special Health Authority established by this Order; and
“NHS Direct services” means services relating to the provision of health related information and advice to the public under the name NHS Direct before 1st April 2004.
Establishment of the Authority
2. There is hereby established a Special Health Authority which shall be known as NHS Direct.
Functions of the Authority
3. —(1) Subject to and in accordance with such directions as the Secretary of State may give to the Authority( 2 ), the Authority shall perform—
(a) such functions in connection with the provision of health related information and advice; and
(b) such other functions,
as the Secretary of State may direct.
Constitution of the Authority
4. The Authority shall consist of—
(a) a chairman;
(b) 5 members who are not officers of the Authority; and
(c) 5 officers of the Authority including the persons who for the time being hold the office of Chief Executive, Director of Finance and Clinical Director of the Authority.
Remuneration of members
5. The Authority is hereby specified for the purposes of paragraph 9(7)(b) of Schedule 5 to the Act (definition of “relevant authority” for the purposes of paying remuneration to members of certain Special Health Authorities).
Public meetings
6.The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960( 3 ) shall apply to the Authority.
Transfer of rights and liabilities
7. All rights and liabilities of a National Health Service trust or Primary Care Trust listed in Schedule 1 relating to NHS Direct services are transferred to the Authority and are therefore enforceable by or, as the case may be, against it.
Transfer of property
8. All property of the National Health Service trusts and Primary Care Trusts listed in Schedule 1 identified as property transferring to the Authority in the document produced by the Department of Health and entitled “Schedule of property transferring from National Health Service trusts and Primary Care Trusts to NHS Direct on 1st April 2004” and dated 18th February 2004 is transferred to the Authority.
Transfer of officers
9. —(1) This paragraph applies to an officer of—
(a) a National Health Service trust or Primary Care Trust listed in Schedule 1,
(b) a National Health Service trust listed in Schedule 2, or
(c) the Prescription Pricing Authority( 4 ),
who on 31st March 2004 is wholly or mainly engaged in NHS Direct services and who was notified in a letter posted on or before 9th January 2004 that he was to be transferred to the Authority.
(2) Any officer to whom paragraph (1) applies shall, on 1st April 2004, be transferred to the employment of the Authority.
(3) The contract of employment of an officer transferred under paragraph (2)—
(a) is not terminated by the transfer; and
(b) has effect from the time of the transfer as if originally made between the officer and the Authority.
(4) Without prejudice to paragraph (3)—
(a) all the rights, powers, duties and liabilities of the body from which an officer is transferred, under or in connection with its contract of employment with an officer transferred under paragraph (2), shall by virtue of this paragraph be transferred to the Authority; and
(b) anything done before the date of the transfer by or in relation to the body from which that officer is so transferred, in respect of the officer or his contract of employment, shall be deemed to have been done by or in relation to the Authority.
(5) Paragraphs (2) to (4) do not transfer an officer’s contract of employment, or the rights, powers, duties and liabilities under or in connection with it, if that officer objects to the transfer to the Authority and informs the body from which he would be transferred of that objection by 31st March 2004.
(6) Where an officer objects as mentioned in paragraph (5), his contract of employment with the body from which he would be transferred shall be terminated immediately before the date on which the transfer would occur, but he shall not be treated, for any purpose, as having been dismissed from that body.
(7) This article is without prejudice to any right of an officer to terminate his contract of employment if a substantial change is made to his detriment in his working conditions; but no such right shall arise by reason only that, under this article, the identity of his employer changes unless the officer shows that, in all the circumstances, the change is a significant change and is to his detriment.
Signed by authority of the Secretary of State for Health
Rosie Winterton
Minister of State,
Department of Health
28th February 2004
Articles 7, 8, 9
SCHEDULE 1 Schedule of National Health Service trusts and Primary Care Trusts
| National Health Service trust or Primary Care Trust | Establishment Order |
|---|---|
| Avon Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1991/2320 |
| Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance and Paramedic Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1992/2538 |
| Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Mental Health Partnership National Health Service Trust | S.I. 2002/647 ( 5 ) |
| Essex Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1991/2345 |
| Greater Manchester Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1993/2600 |
| Hampshire Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1992/2504 |
| Hillingdon Primary Care Trust | S.I. 2000/209 |
| Kensington and Chelsea Primary Care Trust | S.I. 2002/1004 |
| Lancashire Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1993/2601 |
| Mayday Healthcare National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1993/27 |
| Mid-Staffordshire General HospitalsNational Health Service Trust | S.I. 1992/2558 |
| Newham Primary Care Trust | S.I. 2001/350 |
| North East Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1999/797 |
| Nottingham City Primary Care Trust | S.I. 2001/181 |
| Sheffield Children’s National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1991/2399 ( 6 ) |
| Southwark Primary Care Trust | S.I. 2002/1003 |
| Surrey Oaklands National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1998/653 |
| Tees, East and North Yorkshire Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1999/798 |
| Two Shires Ambulance National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1992/2577 |
| West Midlands Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1993/29 |
| West Yorkshire Metropolitan Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1992/2493 |
| West Country Ambulance Service National Health Service Trust | S.I. 1993/814 |
Article 9
SCHEDULE 2 Schedule of National Health Service trusts
| National Health Service trust | Establishment Order |
|---|---|
| Bedford HospitalNational Health Service Trust | S.I. 1991/2329 |
| Plymouth HospitalsNational Health Service Trust | S.I. 1993/2568 |
1977 c. 49 ; section 11 was amended by section 2(1) of, and paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to, the Health Authorities Act 1995 (c. 17) (“the 1995 Act”) and section 65 of, and paragraphs 4 and 6 of Schedule 4 to, the Health Act 1999 (c. 8) (“the 1999 Act”); sub-paragraph (7) was inserted in paragraph 9 of Schedule 5 by section 1 of, and paragraph 7(2) of Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990 (c. 19) and amended by section 2(1) of, and paragraph 60(b) of Schedule 1 to, the 1995 Act and section 1(3) of, and paragraphs 1, 34(1) and (3)(b) of Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service Reform and Health Care Professions Act 2002 (c. 17) (“the 2002 Act”). The functions of the Secretary of State under these provisions are, so far as exercisable in relation to Wales, transferred to the National Assembly for Wales by article 2(a) of, and Schedule 1 to, the National Assembly for Wales (Transfer of Functions) Order 1999, S.I. 1999/672 ; see the entry in Schedule 1 for the National Health Service Act 1977 as amended by section 66(4) and (5)(a) of the 1999 Act, section 67(1) of, and paragraph 12(1) and (3) of Schedule 5 to the Health and Social Care Act 2001 (c. 15) (“the 2001 Act”) and section 196 of, and Part 4 of Schedule 14 to, the Health and Social Care (Community Health and Standards) Act 2003 (c. 43) on a date to be appointed.
See, in particular, sections 16D, 17 and 18 of the National Health Service Act 1977 (c. 49) ; section 16D was inserted by section 12(1) of the 1999 Act and amended by sections 1(3), 3(1) and (2) of, and paragraphs 1 and 6(a) of Schedule 1 to, the 2002 Act; section 17 was inserted by section 12(1) of the 1999 Act and amended by section 67(1) of, and paragraph 5(1) and (3) of Schedule 5 to, the 2001 Act and section 1(3) of, and paragraphs 1 and 7 of Schedule 1 to, the 2002 Act; section 18 was amended by sections 2(1), 5(1) and 3(8) of, and paragraph 9(b) and (c)(ii) of Schedule 1 and Schedule 3 to, the 1995 Act, section 12(3) and (4) of the 1999 Act and sections 1(3), 3(1), (5)(a) and (b) and 37(2) of, and paragraphs 1 and 9 of Schedule 1 and Part 1 of Schedule 9 to, the 2002 Act.
1960 c. 67 ; see paragraph 1(g) of the Schedule to the Act, which was inserted by paragraph 91 of Schedule 1 to the 1995 Act.
The Prescription Pricing Authority is a Special Health Authority established under section 11 of the Act. See S.I. 1990/1718 .
As amended by S.I. 2002/1690 .
As amended by S.I. 2002/1297 .