National Health Service (Vocational Training for General Medical Practice) Regulations 1997
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1997/2817 |
1997 No. 2817
NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE, ENGLAND AND WALES
The National Health Service (Vocational Training for General Medical Practice) Regulations 1997
Made 26th November 1997
Laid before Parliament 26th November 1997
Coming into force 30th January 1998
The Secretary of State, being designated1for the purposes of, and in exercise of powers conferred by, section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722and in exercise of powers conferred by sections 31 and 32 of the National Health Service Act 19773, and of all other powers enabling him in that behalf, hereby makes the following Regulations—
PART I
GENERAL
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the National Health Service (Vocational Training for General Medical Practice) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 30th January 1998.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations—
“the Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977;
“certificate of prescribed experience” means a certificate issued under regulation 10 and, for the purposes of regulation 4, includes a certificate of prescribed experience issued under the National Health Service (Vocational Training) Regulations 19794;
“certificate of equivalent experience” means a certificate issued under regulation 12 and, for the purposes of regulation 4, includes a certificate of equivalent experience issued under the National Health Service (Vocational Training) Regulations 1979;
“General Practice (GP) Registrar”—
(a) has the meaning assigned to it in regulations made under section 29 of the Act5;
(b) in relation to Scotland and Northern Ireland, means a “trainee general practitioner”, as defined in regulations made, respectively, under section 19 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 19786and article 56 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 19727; and
(c) includes a practitioner who is being trained in general practice under an arrangement approved by the Armed Services General Practice Approval Board;
“the Joint Committee” means the Joint Committee on Postgraduate Training for General Practice;
“Medical Directive” means Council Directive 93/16/EECof 5 April 1993 to facilitate the free movement of doctors and the mutual recognition of their diplomas, certificates and other evidence of formal qualifications8, as amended by Council Directive 97/50/ECof 6 October 19979;
“medical list” means—
(a) a list maintained under regulation 4 of the National Health Service (General Medical Services) Regulations 199210; or
(b) any corresponding list drawn up by an Executive Council pursuant to the provisions of Part IV of the National Health Service Act 194611; or maintained under regulation 4 of the National Health Service (General Medical and Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 197412.
“practitioner” means a fully registered medical practitioner except for the purposes of regulation 6(4), where it also includes a medical practitioner with limited registration under section 22 of the Medical Act 198313;
“satisfactory completion”, in relation to a period of training in any employment, has the meaning assigned to it in regulation 9(1); and
“summative assessment” has the meaning assigned to it in regulation 9(2).
(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, a practitioner shall be regarded as having his name included in a medical list if—
(a)
(a) his name is (or, if the context so requires, was) included in a medical list mentioned in paragraph (1); or
(b)
(b) he has been issued by the person in charge of the provision of medical services in one of the Armed Services of the Crown with a statement that he has been providing services in the Armed Services equivalent to general medical services;
but he shall not be so regarded if his name is (or was) included in a list for the provision of general medical services limited to those mentioned in regulation 5(1)(d).
Power of direction
3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary of State may give directions to the Joint Committee in connection with—
(a)
(a) their functions under or by virtue of these Regulations or the Vocational Training for General Medical Practice (European Requirements) Regulations 199414, in so far as those functions relate to Community obligations in connection with specific training for general medical practice, in particular those contained in Title IV of the Medical Directive; and
(b)
(b) any other functions of theirs which arise from Community obligations and which relate to specific training in general medical practice;
and it shall be the duty of the Joint Committee to comply with any such directions.
(2) Directions given under paragraph (1) may be as to matters of administration only.
Experience and certificates required
4.—(1) The Medical Practices Committee shall refuse an application under section 30 of the Act (applications to provide general medical services) if the applicant is not suitably experienced.
(2) A Health Authority shall not arrange under section 29 of the Act for a person to provide general medical services for persons in the Authority’s area unless the Medical Practices Committee have granted an application by him under section 30 of the Act.
(3) An applicant who applies to a Health Authority under section 30 of the Act shall produce as evidence that he is suitably experienced—
(a)
(a) a certificate of prescribed experience;
(b)
(b) a certificate of equivalent experience; or
(c)
(c) a statement of the grounds upon which he claims that he is exempt by virtue of regulation 5 from the need to have acquired the prescribed experience, and evidence in support of his claim.
Exemptions
5.—(1) A practitioner shall be exempt from the need to have acquired the prescribed experience—
(a)
(a) if on 15th February 1981 his name was included in a medical list;
(b)
(b) if on 15th February 1981 an application pursuant to section 30 of the Act had not been finally determined, but in consequence of its final determination his name was later included in a medical list15;
(c)
(c) if his name was included in a medical list by virtue of his having made an application within nine years after 15th February 1981 in a case where his name was not included in such a list on 15th February 1981, but had been so included before that day;
(d)
(d) in respect of an application for his name to be included in a medical list for the provision of general medical services limited to—
(i) child health surveillance services only;
(ii) contraceptive services only;
(iii) maternity medical services only;
(iv) minor surgery services only; or
(v) any combination of the services mentioned in paragraphs (i) to (iv);
but only if the applicant’s name was included in a medical list on 31st December 1994 for the provision of general medical services limited in a way which included those specified in the application;
(e)
(e) if he holds a certificate of prescribed experience or a certificate of equivalent experience issued under or by virtue of regulations made under section 22 of the National Health Service (Scotland) Act 197816or Article 8 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 197817, or is, by virtue of those regulations, or that Order, exempt from the need to have acquired the medical experience prescribed by those regulations, or that Order;
(f)
(f) if he—
(i) is entitled to be registered under section 3 of the Medical Act 198318as a fully registered medical practitioner by virtue of subsection (1)(b) or (2) of that section, and
(ii) was established in the United Kingdom on 31st December 1994 by virtue of the primary European qualification19giving rise to that entitlement; or
(g)
(g) if he holds a vocational training certificate or a certificate of acquired rights issued in an EEA State other than the United Kingdom which must in his case be recognised in the United Kingdom by virtue of the Medical Directive (whether or not as read with the EEA Agreement) or by virtue of any enforceable Community right.
(2) In this regulation—
“certificate of acquired rights” means a certificate issued under article 36(4) of the Medical Directive, to the effect that its holder has an acquired right to practise as a general medical practitioner under the national social security scheme of the issuing State without a vocational training certificate20;
“child health surveillance services”, “maternity medical services” and “minor surgery services” have the meanings assigned by regulation 2(1) of the National Health Service (General Medical Services) Regulations 199221;
“contraceptive services” has the meaning assigned by regulation 3(1)(c) of those Regulations;
“EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2nd May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17th March 199322;
“EEA State” means a state which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement; and
“vocational training certificate” means a diploma, certificate or other evidence of formal qualifications awarded on completion of a course of specific training in general medical practice and referred to in article 30 of the Medical Directive.
PART II
PRESCRIBED EXPERIENCE
Prescribed medical experience
6.—(1) Subject to regulation 12(9), the medical experience prescribed for the purposes of section 31(2)(a) of the Act is the satisfactory completion of a period or periods of training amounting to at least three years employment, and meeting the other requirements of this regulation.
(2) The reference in paragraph (1) to three years employment, and the references in paragraphs (3) and (4) to other periods of employment, are to periods of whole-time employment; but, subject to paragraph (8), the requirements of this regulation may be satisfied by periods of part-time employment of equivalent...
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