Contract test words altered
Changed wording for the control-of-entry test for new pharmacy contracts in England and Wales does not mean there will be any change to the criteria that primary care trusts and health boards will apply, the Department of Health has said.
From 1 March 2007, the criteria that new contract applications will have
to meet — unless they are exempt from entry controls — will
be of necessity and expediency, not necessity and desirability. The Pharmaceutical
Services Negotiating Committee stated that the DoH has confirmed that
this change is to ensure legislative consistency and will not change
the application criteria.
The DoH reassurance reads: “Unless the contrary intention is shown,
a consolidation Act is presumed to be a straight consolidation and does
not change the law. The term ‘expedient’ was adopted rather
than ‘desirable’ to ensure legislative consistency within
the Bill. The Consolidation Bill, once it receives Royal Assent and comes
into force, will not change the basis on which primary care trusts and
health boards are to continue to decide applications. They will continue
to apply the ‘necessary or desirable’ criteria as set out
in the NHS (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 2005 as amended.”
The new words appear in the NHS Act 2006 and the NHS (Wales) Act 2006,
which received Royal Assent last week.
The two Acts consolidate the NHS Act 1977 with its subsequent amendments
and divide it into separate Acts for England and Wales so that future
amendments that apply separately to one or other of the two countries
can be more easily understood. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal
Acrobat
Reader