Health Act 2004

• Permanent Page URL

Arrangements with service providers.

38.—(1) The Executive may, subject to its available resources and any directions issued by the Minister under section 10 , enter, on such terms and conditions as it considers appropriate, into an arrangement with a person for the provision of a health or personal social service by that person on behalf of the Executive.

(2) Before entering into an arrangement under this section, the Executive shall determine, in respect of a financial year of the Executive, the maximum amount of funding (whether capital funding or non-capital funding) that it proposes to make available in that year under the arrangement and the level of service it expects to be provided for that funding.

(3) A service provider shall—

(a) keep, in such form as may be approved by the Executive in accordance with any general direction issued by the Minister, all proper and usual accounts and records of income received and expenditure incurred by it,

(b) submit such accounts annually for audit, and

(c) supply a copy of the audited accounts and the auditor's certificate and report on the accounts to the Executive within such period as may be specified by the Executive.

(4) The expenses of an audit of accounts submitted in accordance with subsection (3) are payable by the service provider submitting them for audit.

(5) The Executive may exempt from the requirements of subsection (3)—

(a) a service provider who in any one financial year receives from the Executive in respect of health and personal social services provided on behalf of the Executive a total sum that does not exceed the amount that may be determined by the Minister, or

(b) such other categories of service providers as may be specified by the Minister.

(6) The Executive may make such arrangements as it considers appropriate to monitor—

(a) the expenditure incurred in the provision of health or personal social services by service providers exempted under subsection (5), and

(b) the provision of those services by such service providers.

(7) The Executive may request from a service provider any information that it considers material to the provision of a health or personal social service by the service provider.

(8) A service provider shall comply with a request made under subsection (7) to the service provider.

(9) At the Minister's request, the Executive shall supply the Minister with any information obtained in response to a request under subsection (7).