Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Personal Injuries (NHS Charges) (Amounts) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2024 and come into force on 1 April 2024.

Amendment of the Personal Injuries (NHS Charges) (Amounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2006

2.—(1) The Personal Injuries (NHS Charges) (Amounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2006( 2) are amended in accordance with paragraphs (2) to (5).

(2) In regulation 2Q(1) (amount of NHS charges – injuries occurring on or after 2 October 2023)( 3), after “2 October 2023” insert “and before 1 April 2024”.

(3) After regulation 2Q insert—

“Amount of NHS charges – injuries occurring on or after 1 April 2024

2R.— (1)  Subject to the following paragraphs and regulations 3 and 3A, a certificate relating to an injury which occurs on or after 1 April 2024 must, for the purposes of section 153(2), specify—

(a) the sum of £249 for each occasion on which, as a result of such an injury, the injured person was provided with NHS ambulance services for the purpose of taking the injured person to a hospital for NHS treatment, and

(b) where the injured person received NHS treatment at a hospital in respect of the injury, if the injured person was—

(i) not admitted to hospital, the sum of £825, or

(ii) admitted to hospital, the sum of £1,014 for each day or part day of the admission.

(2)  For the purposes of paragraph (1)(a), the reference to taking an injured person to a hospital includes taking that person from one hospital to another.

(3)  Where the injured person was admitted to hospital on one day and discharged on another day, the day of the discharge is to be disregarded for the purpose of paragraph (1)(b)(ii).

(4)  The amount which a certificate may specify under paragraph (1)(a) or (1)(b), or both, must not exceed £60,610 (“the maximum”).

(5)  Where—

(a) amounts fall to be specified under both paragraph (1)(a) and paragraph (1)(b), and

(b) the aggregate of those amount would exceed the maximum,

the amount to be specified under paragraph (1)(b) is to be reduced by the difference between the maximum and the aggregate of those amounts. ”.

(4) In regulation 3(2) (amount of NHS charges: further provision)( 4), for “or 2Q” substitute “, 2Q or 2R”.

(5) In regulation 6 (adjustment of amounts where certificates are issued by the Scottish Ministers and the Secretary of State)—

(a) in paragraph (1)(b)( 5), for “or 2Q(4)” substitute “, 2Q(4) or 2R(4)”, and

(b) in paragraph (2)(a)( 6), for “or 2Q(4) and (5)” substitute “, 2Q(4) and (5) or 2R(4) and (5)”.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Personal Injuries (NHS Charges) (Amounts) (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (“ the principal Regulations”) which make provision in relation to the amount of NHS charges which can be recovered from a person who pays compensation to an injured person where that injured person has received National Health Service treatment or ambulance services.

Regulation 2 amends regulation 2Q of the principal Regulations and inserts regulation 2R into the principal Regulations to increase the charges in respect of injuries which occur on or after 1 April 2024. Where the injured person is provided with NHS ambulance services, the charge is increased from £243 to £249 for each occasion on which the service is provided. Where the injured person receives NHS treatment but is not admitted to hospital, the charge is increased from £806 to £825. The daily charge for NHS in patient treatment is increased from £991 to £1,014. The maximum charge in respect of an injury is increased from £59,248 to £60,610.

Regulation 2 also makes consequential amendments, by way of inserting references to the increased charges in new regulation 2R, to provisions in the principal Regulations in relation to situations where (a) a person makes more than one compensation payment to an injured person and (b) a person is due to pay NHS charges to both the Scottish Ministers and the Secretary of State.