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Who pays? Establishing the responsible commissioner

Who Pays? Establishing the responsible commissioner sets out a framework for establishing responsibility for commissioning an individual's care within the NHS, i.e. determining who pays for a patient’s care.

The legal framework relating to secondary care commissioning responsibilities for Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) is set out in regulations 3(7) to (10) of the National Health Service (Functions of Strategic Health Authorities and Primary Care Trusts and Administration Arrangements) (England) Regulations 2002 (S.I. 2002/2375) as amended by S.I. 2002/2548, 2003/1497, 2006/359 and 2007/559 (“the Functions Regulations”).

This document is intended to provide guidance on the application of that legal framework to particular situations.

Please note - this document has been updated since its first publication on 18 September 2007

Amendments to the first publication of Who pays? Establishing the responsible commissioner:

Page 16, Para 60 - Welsh border interim protocol - updated to reflect the interim protocol for 2007/08.
Page 19, Para 76 - added "including NATO personnel and their dependents" to "(and other military personnel)"
Page 27, Annex B, para 12, end of first bullet - added "and their dependents" to "NATO personnel"

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