Health Services Regulations, 1971.
Statutory Instruments
Source: Statutory Instruments

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paragraphs: These Regulations may be cited as the Health Services Regulations, 1971.
2 Definitions.
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paragraphs: In these Regulations—
"the Act" means the Health Act, 1970 ;
"the Minister" means the Minister for Health.
3 Commencement.
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paragraphs: These Regulations shall come into operation on 1st day of April, 1971.
4 Revocations.
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paragraphs: The Regulations specified in the Schedule hereto are hereby revoked to the extent specified therein.
5 Records.
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paragraphs: (1) A health board and its officers shall keep such records as may be specified by the Minister from time to time or in the absence of such specification, as may be determined by the health board, in relation to the services made available under Part IV of the Act.
(2) Any clinical records compiled or any document obtained under these Regulations shall be treated in a confidential manner and, save as provided in subarticle (5) of this article, shall not, without the consent in writing of the patient, be disclosed in such a manner as to make identification of the patient possible.
(3) When any record, claim, application, report or other communication relating to the giving of services to a person in accordance with these Regulations is sent by post, it shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope.
(4) Nothing in this article shall be construed as preventing the inspection by a registered medical practitioner authorised by the chief executive officer of the health board or by the Minister of the clinical records kept in pursuance of these Regulations where the written consent of the patient has been obtained.
(5) Where the Minister certifies in respect of clinical records compiled under these Regulations and held by any particular medical practitioner or in relation to any particular patient that it would not in his opinion be in the interest of the common good to seek the consent referred to in subarticles (2) and (4) of this article a registered medical practitioner authorised by the Minister may inspect such records.
(6) Where a certificate under subarticle (5) of this article has been given in respect of any particular clinical records by the Minister and the medical practitioner holding such records is of opinion that the patient to whom the records relate should be informed of the giving of the certificate such medical practitioner may so inform such patient.
(7) The consent referred to in subarticles (2) and (4) of this article may, in the case of a minor, be given by a parent or guardian and, in the case of a deceased person, may be given by the spouse of such person, or if there is no spouse, by any of the next of kin of such person or by his personal representative.
6 Eligibility for certain services.
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paragraphs: (1) In this article—
"the Act of 1952" means the Social Welfare Act, 1952 (No. 11 of 1952 ), as amended;
"contribution year" means a contribution year prescribed under section 2 (1) of the Act of 1952;
"employment contribution" includes an employment contribution as referred to in section 5 of the Act of 1952 and a contribution paid outside the State for the time being treated as an employment contribution in pursuance of any reciprocal arrangements under the Act of 1952 relating to disability benefit and maternity benefit;
"pensionable age" has the meaning assigned to it in the Act of 1952;
"relevant date" means the date of application for the relevant services under the Act or, in the case of a person who has attained pensionable age, the day before the date of his attaining pensionable age;
"relevant period" means the period commencing at the beginning of the last but one complete contribution year before the relevant date and ending at the relevant date;
"voluntary contribution" and "voluntary contributor" have the meanings assigned to them in the Act of 1952.
(2) Subject to subarticle (3), the following persons shall be the persons for whom services shall be made available under sections 52 (1), 56 (2), 62 (1) or 63 (1) of the Act—
(a) persons with full eligibility,
(b) any person insured under the Act of 1952 in respect of whom in the relevant period an employment contribution is paid, payable or credited in accordance with the provisions of the Act of 1952 or the regulations made thereunder;
(c) any person who is, on the relevant date, a voluntary contributor in respect of whom not less than twenty-four voluntary contributions have been paid for the contribution year before the relevant date or not less than seventy-two voluntary contributions have been paid for the three contribution years before the relevant date,
(d) any person mentioned in section 46 (1) (b) or (c) of the Act,
(e) dependants of the persons referred to in paragraphs (b) to (d).
(3) The class of persons entitled to avail themselves of services under section 52 or section 56 (2) of the Act shall not include persons who require treatment for injuries received in a road traffic accident except where it is established to the satisfaction of the chief executive officer of the health board that the applicant for such services has not received or is not entitled to receive damages, or compensation in the nature of damages, from another person in respect of the injuries.
7 In-patient services at choice of patient.
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paragraphs: Where services are provided in a hospital or home approved of by the Minister for the purposes of section 54 of the Act, the payment under that section in respect of those services shall be at the rate determined by the Minister as being appropriate for that hospital or home and the person in charge of the relevant hospital or home—
(a) shall notify the relevant health board of the patient's admission within seven days of such admission or such longer period as may be agreed upon with the board,
(b) shall ensure that any application or statement required for the purposes of determining the person's eligibility is completed and sent to the board,
(c) shall make claims for payments under the section at intervals determined by the chief executive officer of the board.
8 Charges for in-patient services.
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paragraphs: (1) Charges may be made for in-patient services provided under section 52 of the Act for persons other than—
(a) persons with full eligibility,
(b) women receiving services in respect of motherhood,
(c) children under the age of six weeks,
(d) pupils of national schools in respect of defects noticed at an examination under section 66 (2) of the Act,
(e) persons determined by the chief executive officer of the health board not to be liable for such charges.
(2) A charge made under subarticle (1) shall be at such rate not exceeding fifty new pence as may be determined by the chief executive officer of the health board in respect of each day during which inpatient services are availed of.
9 Obstetrical requisites.
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paragraphs: The obstetrical requisites which the health board shall provide under section 62 (3) of the Act shall be:
(a) (i) twenty-four ounces of gauze and cotton tissues,
(ii) eight ounces of absorbent cotton wool,
(iii) one ounce of absorbent lint,
(iv) one four-ounce bottle of antiseptic fluid of a suitable type,
(v) not more than thirty grammes of sterile cord powder in a suitable container,
(vi) three suitable cord ligatures and
(b) such other obstetrical requisites as may be specified by the Minister from time to time and as may be certified to be necessary for the woman by the appropriate registered medical practitioner providing services under section 62 (1) of the Act in respect of the period commencing at the onset of labour and ending fourteen days after its termination.
10 Child health service.
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paragraphs: The premises at which is carried on the practice of a registered medical practitioner with whom a health board have made an agreement under section 26 of the Act to provide services under section 66 (1) of the Act shall be a prescribed place for the purpose of that subsection.