The Primary Ophthalmic Services Regulations 2008
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
2008 No. 1186
National Health Service, England
The Primary Ophthalmic Services Regulations 2008
Made 28th April 2008
Laid before Parliament 6th May 2008
Coming into force 1st August 2008
The Secretary of State for Health makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 16CD(1), (2) and (3), 16CE and 126(4) of the National Health Service Act 19771:—
Citation, commencement and application
1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Primary Ophthalmic Services Regulations 2008 and shall come into force on 1st August 2008.
(2) These Regulations apply in relation to England.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires—
“the 1977 Act” means the National Health Service Act 1977;
“the 1992 Act” means the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 19922;
“the Act” means the National Health Service Act 20063;
“additional services” means the primary ophthalmic services under section 115(1)(b), which are provided to a person, specified in regulation 3(1)(a) to (h);
“Charges Regulations” means the National Health Service (Optical Charges and Payments) Regulations 19974;
“child tax credit” means child tax credit under the Tax Credits Act 20025;
“complex appliance” means an optical appliance at least one lens of which—
(a) has a power in any one meridian of plus or minus 10 or more dioptres, or
(b) is a prism-controlled bifocal lens;
“contract” means a general ophthalmic services contract under section 117 (general ophthalmic services contracts: introductory);
“contractor” means a person or partnership which has entered into a contract with a PCT;
“day centre” means an establishment in the locality of the PCT attended by persons, including eligible persons, who would have difficulty in obtaining sight-testing services from practice premises because of physical or mental illness or disability or because of difficulties in communicating their health needs unaided;
“disability element” means the disability element of working tax credit as specified in section 11(3) of the Tax Credits Act 2002;
“eligible person” means a person who, in accordance with these Regulations, may have their sight tested under a contract for mandatory services or for additional services;
“employment” means any employment whether paid or unpaid and whether under a contract for services or a contract of service and “employ” and “employed” shall be construed accordingly;
“gross annual income” means income that is calculated for a tax year for the purposes of Part 1 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 in accordance with regulations made under section 7 of that Act;
“an income-based jobseeker’s allowance” has the meaning given to it by section 1(4) of the Jobseekers Act 19956;
“income support” means income support under the 1992 Act and includes personal expenses addition, special transition addition and transitional addition as defined in regulation 2(1) of the Income Support (Transitional) Regulations 19877;
“locality” means the locality for which a PCT is established;
“mandatory services” means the primary ophthalmic services mentioned in section 115(1)(a) (sight-testing service), provided to a person specified in regulation 3, except those services provided other than at the contractor’s premises;
“mobile services” means the sight-testing service provided by a contractor to patients—
(a) attending at a day centre;
(b) residing at a residential centre; or
(c) at their home, where the patient is unable to leave it unaccompanied because of physical or mental illness or disability,
where the contractor has entered into a contract with a PCT to provide additional services in its locality;
“PCT” means a Primary Care Trust;
“pension credit guarantee credit” shall be construed in accordance with sections 1 and 2 of the State Pension Credit Act 20028;
“prisoner” means a person who is detained in a prison, including a young offender institution, but not a secure training centre or a naval, military or air force prison, but is, at the time he receives any primary ophthalmic service on leave from that prison and for the purposes of this definition;
“secure training centre” means a place in which offenders subject to detention and training orders under section 100 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 (offenders under 18: detention and training orders)9may be detained and given training and education and prepared for their release; and
“young offender institution” means a place for the detention of offenders sentenced to detention in a young offender institution or to custody for life;
“relevant income” has the same meaning as in section 7(3) of Part 1 of the Tax Credits Act 2002;
“residential centre” means an establishment in the locality of the PCT for persons, including eligible persons, who normally reside in that establishment and who are unable to leave the establishment unaccompanied because of physical or mental illness or disability;
“severe disability element” means the severe disability element of working tax credit specified in section 11(6)(d) of the Tax Credits Act 2002;
“sight test form” means a form which, in accordance with General Ophthalmic Services Contracts Regulations 200810, is to be completed for the purposes of payments in respect of a sight test; and
“working tax credit” means working tax credit under the Tax Credits Act 2002.
(2) In these Regulations—
(a)
(a) all references to sections or Parts are to sections or Parts, as the case may be, of the Act, except where specified otherwise; and
(b)
(b) the use of the term “it” in relation to a contractor shall be deemed to include a reference to a contractor who is an individual or two or more individuals practising in partnership and related expressions shall be construed accordingly.
Sight Tests - eligibility
3.—(1) A person may have his sight tested under primary ophthalmic services if, at the time of the testing of sight, he is a person—
(a)
(a) who is under the age of 16 years;
(b)
(b) who is under the age of 19 years and receiving qualifying full-time education;
(c)
(c) who is aged 60 years or more;
(d)
(d) whose resources are treated in accordance with paragraph (2) as being less than, or equal to, his requirements;
(e)
(e) who requires to wear a complex appliance;
(f)
(f) who is registered blind or partially sighted under section 29 of the National Assistance Act 194811;
(g)
(g) who has been diagnosed as suffering from diabetes or glaucoma, or has been advised by an ophthalmologist that he is predisposed to the development of glaucoma;
(h)
(h) who is aged 40 or over and is the parent, brother, sister or child of a person who has been diagnosed as suffering from glaucoma; or
(i)
(i) who is a prisoner.
(2) A person’s resources shall be treated as being less than or equal to his requirements if—
(a)
(a) he is in receipt of income support;
(b)
(b) he is a member of the same family as a person who is in receipt of income support;
(c)
(c) his income resources as calculated in accordance with Part II of, and Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service (Travel Expenses and Remission of Charges) Regulations 200312for the purposes of remission of charges under the Act are less than or equal to his requirements as so calculated or exceed his requirements as so calculated by fifty per cent or less of the amount of the charge specified in regulation 3(1)(b) (supply of drugs and appliances by chemists) of the National Health Service (Charges for Drugs and Appliances) Regulations 200013and his capital resources as so calculated do not exceed the capital limit;
(d)
(d) he is a member of the same family as a person falling within sub-paragraph (c),
(e)
(e) he is in receipt of an income-based jobseeker’s allowance;
(f)
(f) he is a member of the same family as a person falling within sub-paragraph (e);
(g)
(g) he is a member of a family—
(i) one member of which is receiving—
(aa) working tax credit and child tax credit,
(bb) working tax credit which includes a disability element, or
(cc) child tax credit, but is not eligible for working tax credit, and
(ii) where the relevant income of the person or persons to whom an award of a tax credit is made under section 14 of the Tax Credits Act 2002 is determined at the time of the award not to exceed £15,050;
(h)
(h) he is a person in respect of whom there...
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