Article 17 of the Health Services (Primary Care) (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 provides for the Department of Health and Social Services to grant applications made by those who are to provide (or who are providing) services under a pilot scheme to be given the status of a health services body. The effect of having that status is that contracts entered into with other health services bodies will be HSS contracts under Article 8 of the Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1991.

These Regulations make further provision in this connection, in relation to pilot schemes for the provision of personal medical services or personal dental services, specifying the procedure for applications to become a health services body, and making special provision in connection with contracts to clarify that the grant of health services body status does not affect the status of pre-existing contracts (regulation 2).

The Regulations also prescribe the circumstances in which a pilot scheme health services body is to cease to be such a body (regulation 3).