32.—(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 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 contractor’s list of patients for the purposes of that contract shall, on the date on which the contract comes into operation, be open to applications from patients in accordance with the term of the contract which gives effect to paragraph 15 of Schedule 5 to the 2004 Regulations except in the circumstances specified in paragraph (2).
(2) The circumstances referred to in paragraph (1) are that –
(a)on 31st March 2004, or on the date on which the contract is signed if earlier –
(i)in the case of a contract with an individual medical practitioner, that practitioner is exempt from the liability to have persons (other than a specified person) assigned to him under regulation 4(8) of the Choice Regulations;
(ii)in the case of a contract with two or more individuals practising in partnership, all those individuals who are medical practitioners are exempt from such liability,
(iii)in the case of a contract with a company, all of the medical practitioners who are legal and beneficial shareholders in that company are exempt from such liability; and
(b)the Board has determined, in the light of the circumstances in which the Agency granted the exemption referred to in paragraph (a), that the contractor’s list of patients should, from the commencement of the contract, be closed to applications for inclusion in the list other than from the immediate family members of registered patients.
(3) Where a contractor’s list of patients is to be closed pursuant to paragraph (2), the general medical services contract with that contractor shall contain terms which have the same effect as paragraphs (4) and (5).
(4) The contractor’s list of patients shall remain closed for the period of 12 months from the date on which the contract comes into operation unless the contractor notifies the Board in writing of his intention to re-open the list before the end of that period and of the date on which it will re-open.
(5) A contractor who has re-opened his list under paragraph (4) shall not be entitled to close it again during the period of 12 months referred to in paragraph (4) except under the term of his general medical services contract which gives effect to paragraph 29 of Schedule 5 to the 2004 Regulations.