UK Offence Report

Refusal to provide appliances ordered

paragraph 8(1) of SCHEDULE of The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2010 (revoked)

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

1 A supplier of appliances may refuse to provide an appliance ordered on

a prescription form or repeatable prescription where —

a the supplier of appliances reasonably believes that it is not

a genuine order for the person named on the prescription form or repeatable prescription;

b it appears to the supplier of appliances that there is an error on the prescription form or on the repeatable prescription or, in the case of

a non-electronic repeatable prescription, its associated batch issue (including

a clinical error made by the prescriber) or that, in the circumstances, providing the appliance would be contrary to the clinical judgement of the supplier of appliances;

c the supplier of appliances or other persons are subjected to or threatened with violence by the person presenting the prescription form or repeatable prescription or requesting the provision of appliances in accordance with

a prescription form or repeatable prescription or by any person accompanying that person; or

d the person presenting the prescription form or repeatable prescription or requesting the provision of appliances in accordance with an electronic prescription form or electronic repeatable prescription or any other person accompanying that person, commits or threatens to commit

a criminal offence.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a supplier
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Requires proof of a state of mind
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove both that the conduct happened and that it was done with the state of mind the provision names (believes that).

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: mens rea word in the offence-creating words: believes that.

What would breach paragraph 8(1) of SCHEDULE?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. Not doing what the provision requires under the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Amendment) (Wales) Regulations 2010, by the time it requires it to be done.
  2. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Not determined
Maximum fine
Not determined
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

no penalty is stated here: this instrument amends another one, and the penalty for the offence is in the instrument being amended.

No penalty was determined from this instrument. It may be in the enabling Act, or in a general penalties provision this pass did not connect to the offence. Absence of a figure here is not evidence that the offence carries no penalty.

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
18 March 2010
In force from
1 April 2010
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

These Regulations make amendments to the National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) Regulations 1992 (“the principal Regulations”) in respect of the terms of service for pharmacists and suppliers of appliances. Regulation 2 of the Regulations amends certain definitions and inserts new definitions into regulation 2(1) of the principal Regulations. Regulation 3 of the Regulations contains amendments to the terms of service for pharmacists, which are set out in Schedule 2 to the principal Regulations. Regulation 4 of the Regulations removes certain definitions in paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 2 which have been amended and are now in regulation 2(1) of the principal Regulations. Regulation 5 of the Regulations amends paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 so as to add appliances to the items that can, if certain conditions are met, be dispensed without a prescription by a pharmacist in an urgent case — and to remove the requirement that the prescriber be personally known to the pharmacist. Regulation 6 of the Regulations amends paragraph 9 of Schedule 2 so that pharmacists providing an appliance on a repeat prescription must satisfy themselves that there has been no change in a patient’s use of the appliance which calls for a review of treatment. Regulation 7 of the Regulations adds to paragraph 10 of Schedule 2 a number of additional activities that must be carried out by a pharmacist when dispensing appliances. Regulation 8 of the Regulations inserts a new paragraph 10A into Schedule 2 setting out what pharmacists must do when dispensing “specified appliances”. They must provide a home delivery service for these appliances and must ensure that appropriate advice is given as to their use. Regulation 9 of the Regulations amends paragraph 18 of Schedule 2 to require pharmacists to refer prescription forms or repeatable prescriptions, or to give contact details of other pharmacists or suppliers of appliances, in any case where providing a particular appliance or providing stoma appliance customisation is not within their normal course of business. Regulation 10 of the Regulations inserts sub-paragraph (1A) into paragraph 21 of Schedule 2 in relation to supplementary opening hours. Regulation 11 of the Regulations amends paragraph 25 of Schedule 2 in relation to clinical effectiveness programmes. Regulation 12 of the Regulations inserts a new paragraph 24A into Schedule 2 in respect of emergency opening hours. Regulation 13 of the Regulations amends paragraph 27 of Schedule 2 to prohibit gifts or rewards where a pharmacist provides no additional services other than referring a prescription onward or providing contact details of persons who are able to provide a particular service. Regulation 14 of the Regulations amends paragraph 42 of Schedule 2 to ensure that Local Health Boards can check on arrangements concerning the provision of appliances which are made between a pharmacist and a third party. Regulation 15 of the Regulations and the Schedule inserts a new Schedule 2A in to the principal Regulations in relation to terms of service for suppliers of appliances. Regulation 16 of the Regulations contains transitional provision allowing existing contractors to choose, until the end of 31 December 2010, to comply with the previous version of their terms of service, as set out in the relevant Schedule to the principal Regulations.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person “commits an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source