The National Health Service (Local Pharmaceutical Services etc.) Regulations 2006

Transitional agreements for existing pilot schemes

18.—(1) Any pilot scheme agreement, except a pilot scheme that is an “ESP pilot scheme” for the purposes of the Local Pharmaceutical Services (Essential Small Pharmacies) Directions 2005(1) that—

(a) has effect on 31st March 2006 shall continue to have effect on 1st April 2006 but as an LPS scheme; or

(b) has been agreed prior to 1st April 2006 but is not to take effect until on or after 1st April 2006, but before 1st October 2006, shall take effect on the date it is due to take effect but as an LPS scheme.

(2) Any LPS scheme that has taken or takes effect by virtue of paragraph (1) is, for the purposes of these Regulations, also a “transitional agreement”.

(3) The parties to a transitional agreement shall, as soon as is reasonably practicable, enter into discussions with a view to agreeing variations to the agreement that ensure that it complies with the requirements of these Regulations.

(4) If the parties have not agreed those variations by 1st October 2006, the Primary Care Trust must vary the transitional agreement without the consent of the other party so as to ensure that the agreement complies with the requirements of these Regulations.

(5) Any variations under paragraph (4) shall not take effect until at least 14 days after the date on which they are notified to the other party.

(6) Pending the taking effect of variations made by virtue of this regulation, a transitional agreement shall apply as if the terms of the agreement were terms required by virtue of these Regulations.

(7) Once the variations made by virtue of this regulation have taken effect, the LPS scheme ceases to be a transitional agreement, but where the parties to the transitional agreement were in dispute (other than with regard to the terms of the variations to be made by virtue of this regulation), resolution of that dispute shall be in accordance with the provisions of the transitional agreement, notwithstanding that the scheme has ceased to be such an agreement.

(1)

Signed on 28th October 2005, as amended by the Local Pharmaceutical Services (Essential Small Pharmacies) (Amendment) Directions 2005 and the Pharmaceutical Services (Miscellaneous Amendments) Directions 2006. All these directions are available on www.dh.gov.uk.