Other provisions relevant to charging powers

Under section 131 of National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006 (NHSWA 2006), the Welsh Ministers may make regulations to provide for the payment by the Welsh Ministers, a LHB or an NHS Trust of travelling expenses incurred in certain circumstances by a person obtaining services provided under NHSWA 2006 or any services provided in another EEA state in respect of which the costs are reimbursable.

The regulations may also provide for the reimbursement of travelling expenses by a LHB to an NHS Trust and, in prescribed cases, to another LHB, and for the reimbursement by a LHB to an NHS Trust or an NHS foundation trust of payments made by virtue of section 183(a) of the National Health Service Act 2006.

The National Health Service (Travelling Expenses and Remission of Charges) (Wales) Regulations 2007 have effect as if made under section 131 of NHSWA 2006.

Under section 133 of NHSWA 2006, the Welsh Ministers may make regulations to provide for the making and recovery of charges by the Welsh Ministers or an NHS Trust:

• in respect of the supply of any appliance or vehicle which is, at the request of the person supplied, of a more expensive type than the prescribed type, or
• in respect of the repair and replacement of any such appliance, or the replacement of any such vehicle, or the taking of any such action in relation to the vehicle as is mentioned in paragraph 10(2) of Schedule 1 to NHSWA 2006.

Under section 134 of NHSWA 2006, the Welsh Ministers may make regulations allowing the Welsh Minsters or an NHS Trust to charge for the repair of an appliance or vehicle, where:

• the repair or replacement was necessitated by an act or omission by the person supplied, or
• in a case where the person supplied was under the age of 16, that the repair or replacement was necessitated by an act or omission, occurring while that person was under that age, of a person having charge of him or her.

The National Health Service (Charges for Appliances) Regulations 1974 have effect in relation to Wales as if made partly under section 133 and 134 of NHSWA 2006.

Under section 135 of NHSWA 2006, the Welsh Ministers may make regulations to provide for the making and recovery of charges in respect of services or facilities for the care of pregnant women, women who are breastfeeding and young children, and for the prevention of illness, the care of persons suffering from illness and the after care of persons who have suffered from illness.

The Sale of Goods for Mothers and Children (Designation and Charging) Regulations 1976 have effect in relation to Wales as if made under section 135 of NHSWA 2006.

Under section 137 of NHSWA 2006, the Welsh Ministers may authorise accommodation to be made available for patients to such extent as they may determine, and may recover such charges as they may determine in respect of such accommodation and calculate them on any basis that they consider to be the appropriate commercial basis.

For the purposes of section 137, ‘accommodation’ means accommodation in single rooms or small wards which is not needed by any patient on medical grounds, and accommodation at any health service hospital, or a hospital in which patients are treated by virtue of arrangements made by the Welsh Ministers, or at the health service hospitals in a particular area or a hospital in which patients are so treated.

Under section 138 of NHSWA 2006, the Welsh Ministers may require any person who is a resident patient for whom the Welsh Ministers provide services under NHSWA 2006 and who is absent during the day from the hospital where he is a patient for the purpose of engaging in employment, to pay such part of the cost of his maintenance in the hospital and any incidental cost as may seem reasonable to the Welsh Ministers having regard to the amount of that person’s remuneration.

Section 139 provides that all charges recoverable under NHSWA 2006 by the Welsh Ministers, a local social services authority, or any body established under the Act may be recovered summarily as a civil debt.

Section 140 applies in relation to dental treatment and appliances, drugs and medicines, sight tests, optical appliances, and any other appliances provided pursuant to NHSWA 2006. The section provides that if any charge payable by any person is reduced etc., but that person is not entitled to the reduction, the specified amount is recoverable summarily.