12.—(1) A contractor ceases to be regarded as a health service body for the purposes of section 9 of the Act (NHS contracts) if the contract terminates.
(2) Where, by virtue of paragraph (1), a contractor ceases to be regarded as a health service body in relation to a contract (“the relevant contract”), the contractor is to continue to be regarded as a health service body for the purposes of any other NHS contract to which it became a party between the date on which it entered into the relevant contract and the date on which it ceased to be regarded as a health service body for the purposes of that contract (but it ceases to be a health service body for the purposes of such other NHS contract on the termination of that contract).
(3) Where—
(a)a contractor ceases to be regarded as a health service body in relation to a contract by reason of a variation of the contract by virtue of regulation 11(1); and
(b)the contractor or [F1NHS England] —
(i)has referred any matter to the NHS dispute resolution procedure before it ceases to be a health service body, or
(ii)refers any matter to the NHS dispute resolution procedure, in accordance with regulation 82, after it ceases to be a health service body,
the contractor is to continue to be regarded as a health service body (and accordingly the contract is to continue to be regarded as an NHS contract) for the purposes of the consideration and determination of the dispute.
(4) Where a contractor ceases to be regarded as a health service body by virtue of regulation 11(1) but continues to be regarded as a health service body for the purposes of the NHS dispute resolution procedure where that procedure was commenced—
(a)before the termination of the contract; or
(b)after the termination of the contract (whether in connection with or arising out of the termination of the contract or otherwise),
the contractor ceases to be regarded as a health service body for those purposes on the conclusion of that procedure.
Textual Amendments
F1Words in Regulations substituted (6.11.2023) by The Health and Care Act 2022 (Further Consequential Amendments) (No. 2) Regulations 2023 (S.I. 2023/1071), reg. 1(1), Sch. para. 1