The Health and Personal Social Services (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2004

Temporary arrangements for transfer of obligations and liabilities in relation to certain out of hours services

1.—(1) In this Schedule –

“out of hours arrangement” means an arrangement under sub-paragraph (2); and

“transferee out of hours services provider” means a person referred to in sub-paragraph (5) who has undertaken to carry out the obligations of a contractor during all or part of the out of hours period in accordance with an out of hours arrangement specified to in sub-paragraph (2).

(2) Subject to the provisions of this Schedule, where a contractor is required to provide out of hours services pursuant to regulation 30 or 31, the contractor may, with the approval of the Board, make an arrangement with a person referred to in sub-paragraph (5) to transfer the contractor’s obligations under these regulations.

(3) Any arrangement made pursuant to sub-paragraph (2) shall cease to have effect –

(a) on the day when the transferee out of hours services provider ceases to meet any of the conditions required to provide primary medical services under these regulations; or

(b) on 1st January 2005,

whichever is the earlier.

(4) An arrangement made in accordance with sub-paragraph (2) shall, for so long as it continues, relieve the contractor of –

(a) his obligations to provide out of hours services pursuant to regulation 30 or 31; and

(b) all liabilities under the contract in respect of those services.

(5) The person referred to in sub-paragraph (1) is any person who holds a contract with the Board which includes the provision of out of hours services.

(6) A contractor may make more than one out of hours arrangement and may do so (for example) with different contractors or providers of primary medical services and in respect of different patients, different times and different parts of his practice area.

(7) A contractor may retain responsibility for, or make separate out of hours arrangements in respect of, the provision to any patients of maternity medical services during the out of hours period which the contractor is required to provide pursuant to regulation 30 or 31 and any separate out of hours arrangements he makes may encompass all or any part of the maternity medical services he provides.

(8) Nothing in this paragraph prevents a contractor from retaining or resuming his obligations in relation to named patients.