The General Medical Services Transitional and Consequential Provisions (No. 1) (Northern Ireland) Order 2004

Premises for the purposes of default contracts and general medical services contracts entered into on or before 31st March 2004

26.—(1) Where a medical practitioner who, on 31st March 2004 is providing general medical services under Article 56 of the 1972 Order –

(a) on or before 31st March 2004, enters into –

(i) a default contract, or

(ii) a general medical services contract,

whether as an individual medical practitioner or as one of two or more individuals practising in partnership; or

(b) is a legal and beneficial shareholder in a company which enters into a general medical services contract on or before 31st March 2004,

the practice premises specified in that contract at its commencement must, unless the Board agrees otherwise in writing, be those specified in paragraph (2).

(2) The premises referred to in paragraph (1) are –

(a) in the case of a contract with an individual medical practitioner, all the premises which, on 31st March 2004 (or on the date on which the contract was signed, if earlier), were approved (whether with or without conditions) by the Board under paragraph 36 of Schedule 2 to the 1997 Regulations in respect of that practitioner and whose approval had not been withdrawn;

(b) in the case of a contract with two or more medical practitioners practising in partnership, all the premises which, on 31st March 2004 (or on the date on which the contract was signed, if earlier), were approved (whether with or without conditions) by the Board or the Department under paragraph 36 of Schedule 2 to the 1997 Regulations in respect of any of those practitioners and whose approval had not been withdrawn; or

(c) in the case of a contract with a company, all the premises which, on 31st March 2004 (or on the date on which the contract was signed, if earlier), were approved (whether with or without conditions) by the Board under paragraph 36 of Schedule 2 to the 1997 Regulations in respect of any of the medical practitioners who are legal and beneficial shareholders in that company and whose approval had not been withdrawn.

(3) The inclusion of any particular practice premises in a default or general medical services contract pursuant to paragraph (1) is without prejudice to the contract also including a plan in respect of those premises pursuant to regulation 18(3) of the 2004 Regulations.