The National Health Service (Performers Lists) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2006

Insertion of Part 4 to the principal Regulations

11.  After Part 3 of the principal Regulations insert Part 4—

“PART 4DENTAL PERFORMERS LISTS

Interpretation

28.—(1) For the purposes of this Part, the prescribed description of performer is dentist and the relevant body is the General Dental Council.

(2) In this Part—

“the 2005 Order” means articles 18 to 24 of the Dentists Act 1984 (Amendment) Order 2005(1);

“approved trainer” means a dentist—

“community dental service” means dental services provided under—

“contractor” means a dentist, who both provides and performs primary dental services in accordance with section 28C(4) arrangements or under a general dental services contract under section 28K(5);

“dentist” means a dental practitioner who is registered in the dentists register;

“Dentists Act” means the Dentists Act 1984(6);

“dentists register” means the register referred to in section 14(1) of the Dentists Act(7);

“health case” means a case falling within either section 28(1) (powers of the Health Committee) or, after the coming into force of the 2005 Order, section 27(2)(c) of the Dentists Act (allegations) (8);

“Health Committee” means the Health Committee of the General Dental Council, referred to in section 2 of the Dentists Act (committees of the Council)(9);

“personal dental services” means personal dental services provided pursuant to Part I of the Primary Care Act (pilot schemes for primary care);

“postgraduate dental dean or director of postgraduate dental education” means a dentist appointed to that position by the National Assembly for Wales and the University of Cardiff to assist in the provision of a suitable learning environment for dentists performing primary dental services to meet the requirements and standards of the General Dental Council, the University of Cardiff and the National Assembly for Wales;

“Practice Committee”, after the coming into force of the 2005 Order, means the Professional Conduct Committee, the Health Committee or the Professional Performance Committee of the General Dental Council referred to in section 2 of the Dentists Act;

“Preliminary Proceedings Committee” means the Preliminary Proceedings Committee of the General Dental Council, referred to in section 2 of the Dentists Act;

“Professional Conduct Committee” means the Professional Conduct Committee of the General Dental Council, referred to in section 2 of the Dentists Act;

“professional registration number” means the number against the dentist’s name in the dentists register;

“relevant scheme” means the scheme in respect of which the dentist is applying to be included in a dental performers list;

“scheme” means an arrangement to provide primary dental services—

“vocational training” means a relevant period of employment during which a dentist is employed under a contract of service by an approved trainer to provide an appropriate range of dental care and treatment and to attend such study days as that contract provides, with the aims and objectives of enhancing clinical and administrative competence and promoting high standards through relevant postgraduate training and in particular to—

(3) In the definition of “vocational training” in paragraph (2), “relevant period of employment” means—

(a)one year’s full-time employment;

(b)an equivalent period of part-time employment; or

(c)in the case of a dentist, who is neither exempt under regulation 31(5) from the requirement to undertake vocational training, nor has completed vocational training as in sub-paragraph (a) or (b), but—

(i)has performed community dental service,

(ii)has performed personal dental services prior to 1 April 2006,

(iii)has otherwise gained experience of dentistry in primary care as a dentist,

(iv)has been employed in a hospital as a dentist, or

(v)holds or is enrolled on a course to achieve a postgraduate qualification in dentistry registerable with the General Dental Council as an additional diploma by virtue of regulations made under section 19(1)(c) of the Dentists Act (regulations with respect to the register),

such period of employment, which may be less than, but will not exceed that in sub-paragraph (a) or an equivalent period of part-time employment, as a postgraduate dental dean or director of postgraduate dental education may determine that he or she must complete in order to have satisfactorily completed vocational training.

Dental performers list

29.—(1) Subject to paragraph 14 of the Schedule to the Amendment Regulations, a dentist may not perform any primary dental services, unless he or she is a dentist whose name is included in a dental performers list.

(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply to a dentist, who is undertaking vocational training, during the first two months of that training.

(3) In respect of any dentist, whose name is included in a dental performers list, the list will include—

(a)his or her full name;

(b)his or her professional registration number with, suffixed to it, the organisational code given by the National Assembly for Wales to the Local Health Board;

(c)his or her date of first registration in the dentists register;

(d)whether he or she is a dentist undertaking vocational training;

(e)whether he or she is a contractor; and

(f)the date that his or her name was included in the dental performers list or, if his or her name was included in any dental list of a Local Health Board, first included in such a list.

Application for inclusion in a dental performers list

30.—(1) In addition to the information required by regulation 4(2), the dentist, when making an application for the inclusion of his or her name in a dental performers list, will give the following information—

(a)his or her dental qualifications and where they were obtained, with evidence concerning his or her qualifications and experience;

(b)unless he or she is a dentist undertaking vocational training, evidence that he or she has completed vocational training;

(c)a declaration that he or she is included in the dentists register;

(d)his or her professional registration number and date of first registration;

(e)if he or she is a dentist undertaking vocational training, the name and practice address of his or her approved trainer;

(f)whether he or she is a contractor; and

(g)whether he or she is a contractor for more than one scheme and, if so, which schemes and which of those schemes is the relevant scheme.

(2) In addition to the undertakings required by regulation 4(3), the dentist will give the following further undertakings—

(a)not to perform any primary dental services in the area of another Local Health Board or equivalent body from whose dental performers list, dental list, or equivalent list he or she has been removed, except where that removal was at his or her request or in accordance with regulation 10(6) of these Regulations or regulation 8(3) of the Dental Regulations or any equivalent provision in Scotland or England, without the consent, in writing, of that Board or equivalent body;

(b)if he or she is a dentist undertaking vocational training, an undertaking—

(i)not to perform any primary dental services except when acting for and under the direction of his or her approved trainer,

(ii)to withdraw from the dental performers list if he or she fails to complete his or her vocational training, and

(iii)upon completion of his or her vocational training, to provide the Local Health Board with satisfactory evidence that he or she has completed that training;

(c)if he or she is a contractor, to comply with the requirements of paragraph 83 of Schedule 3 to the National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) (Wales) Regulations 2006 (gifts)(10) or paragraph 81 of Schedule 3 to the National Health Service (Personal Dental Services Agreements) (Wales) Regulations 2006 (gifts)(11), as the case may be; and

(d)if he or she is not a contractor, to comply with those requirements as though he or she were a contractor.

Additional grounds for refusal

31.—(1) In addition to the grounds in regulation 6(1), a Local Health Board may also refuse to admit a dentist to its dental performers list if—

(a)having checked the information he or she provided under regulation 30(1), it considers he or she is unsuitable to be included in its list;

(b)his or her registration in the dentists register is subject to conditions—

(i)imposed by the Health Committee under section 28 of the Dentists Act (powers of the Health Committee), or

(ii)after the coming into force of the 2005 Order, imposed by a Practice Committee under sections 27B(6)(c) (Practice Committees), 27C(1)(c), (2)(b) or (c) (resumed hearings) or 28(6)(b) of that Act (restoration to register)(12);

(c)after the coming into force of the 2005 Order, he or she is subject to an order for immediate conditional registration imposed by a Practice Committee under section 30(2) of that Act (orders for immediate suspension and immediate conditional registration)(13); or

(d)after the coming into force of the 2005 Order, he or she is subject to an order for interim conditional registration imposed by a Practice Committee or the Interim Orders Committee under section 32(4)(b) or (6)(c) or by the Court under section 32(9) of that Act (interim orders)(14).

(2) In addition to the grounds in regulation 6(2), a Local Health Board will also refuse to admit a dentist to its dental performers list if—

(a)he or she is a contractor and the relevant scheme is not one that lies within its area;

(b)he or she is included in the dental performers list of another Local Health Board, unless he or she has given notice to that Board that he or she wishes to withdraw from that list; or

(c)he or she is not undertaking vocational training and has neither completed vocational training nor is exempt under paragraph (5) from the requirement to undertake vocational training.

(3) For the purposes of regulation 6(2)(d), the day prescribed in this Part is 26 August 2002.

(4) In addition to checking the information provided by the dentist as required by regulation 6(3)(a), the Local Health Board will also check the information he or she provided under regulation 30(1).

(5) A dentist is exempt from the requirement to undertake vocational training if—

(a)he or she is registered as a dentist by virtue of section 15(1)(b) of the Dentists Act (registration of nationals of member States who hold appropriate European diplomas)(15) or is in any other way a person in respect of whom a member State is prohibited by Community law from imposing such a requirement; or

(b)he or she has experience in primary care as a dentist for a total period of at least two years full-time or an equivalent period part-time—

(i)in community dental service,

(ii)in the armed forces of the Crown, or

(iii)prior to 1 April 2006, in the performance of personal dental services,

and part or all of that period fell within the period of four years beginning with the date of his or her application under regulation 4.

Grounds for removal from a dental performers list

32.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2) and in addition to the grounds in regulation 10(1), the Local Health Board must remove a dentist from its dental performers list where it becomes aware that he or she—

(a)is the subject of—

(i)a determination by the Professional Conduct Committee to suspend him or her under section 27 of the Dentists Act (erasure or suspension), or

(ii)after the coming into force of the 2005 Order, a direction of a Practice Committee under section 27B(6)(b) or 27C(2)(d) or (3) of that Act;

(b)is included in the dental performers list of another Local Health Board; or

(c)has failed to complete vocational training and has not withdrawn from the list pursuant to regulation 30(2)(b)(ii).

(2) Paragraph (1)(a)(ii) will not apply where a direction that a dentist’s registration be suspended is made in a health case.

(3) For the purposes of regulation 10(1)(b), the day prescribed in this Part is 26 August 2002.

(4) In calculating the period of 12 months under regulation 10(7) (periods to be disregarded), the Local Health Board will disregard any period during which the dentist’s registration or his or her entitlement to practise as such was suspended by—

(a)the Health Committee under section 28(1)(a) or (3)(a) of the Dentists Act (powers of the Health Committee);

(b)the Preliminary Proceedings Committee under section 32(1) of that Act (orders for interim suspension);

(c)after the coming into force of the 2005 Order, by a Practice Committee under sections 27B (6)(b) (Practice Committee) or 27C(1)(b) or (d) (resumed hearings) of that Act in a health case; or

(d)after the coming into force of the 2005 Order, by a Practice Committee or the Interim Orders Committee of the General Dental Council under section 32(4)(a) or (6)(d) of that Act or by the court under section 32(9) of that Act.

Additional decision that may be appealed

33.  A dentist may also appeal, under regulation 15, against a decision of the Local Health Board to refuse to include his or her name in its dental performers list under regulation 31(1).”.