PART 6E+WOut of hours services: opt outs
Opt outs: interpretationE+W
28. In this Part—
“out of hours opt out notice” means a notice given under regulation 30(1) to opt out permanently of the provision of out of hours services;
“OOH day” is the day specified by the contractor in the out of hours opt out notice which the contractor gives to the Board for the commencement of the out of hours opt out;
“B day” is the day six months after the date on which the out of hours opt out notice was given; and
“C day” is the day nine months after the date on which the out of hours opt out notice was given.
Opt outs: generalE+W
29. Where—
(a)an agreement requires the contractor to provide out of hours services in accordance with regulation 22; and
(b)the contractor has contracted to provide out of hours services only to patients to which it is required to provide essential services under the agreement,
the agreement must contain terms relating to the procedure for opting out of the provision of those services which have the same effect as those specified in the following provisions of this Part.
Opting out of out of hours service provisionE+W
30.—(1) Where a contractor wants to terminate its obligation under the agreement to provide out of hours services, the contractor must give an out of hours opt out notice in writing to the Board to that effect.
(2) An out of hours opt out notice must specify the OOH day, which must be either three or six months after the date on which that notice was given.
(3) The Board must approve the out of hours opt out notice and specify, in accordance with paragraph (5), the OOH day as soon as is reasonably practicable and, in any event, before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which the Board receives the out of hours opt out notice.
(4) The Board must give notice to the contractor in writing of its decision as soon as possible.
(5) A contractor may not withdraw an out of hours opt out notice once it has been approved by the Board under paragraph (3) without the Board's agreement.
(6) Following receipt of the out of hours opt out notice, the Board must use reasonable endeavours to make arrangements for the contractor's registered patients to receive the out of hours services from an alternative provider from OOH day.
(7) The contractor's duty to provide the out of hours services terminates on OOH day unless the Board gives notice in writing to the contractor under paragraph (7) (extending OOH day to B day or C day).
(8) If the Board is not successful in finding an alternative provider to take on the provision of the out of hours services from OOH day, the Board must give notice in writing to the contractor of this fact no later than one month before OOH day, and—
(a)in a case where OOH day is three months after service of the opt out notice, the contractor must continue to provide the out of hours services until B day unless, at least one month before B day, it receives a notice in writing from the Board under paragraph (8) that, despite using reasonable endeavours, it has failed to find an alternative provider to take on the provision of the out of hours services from B day;
(b)in a case where OOH day is six months after the date on which the opt out notice was served, the contractor must continue to provide the out of hours services until C day.
(9) Where, in accordance with paragraph (9)(a), the opt out is to commence on B day and the Board, despite using reasonable endeavours, has failed to find an alternative provider to take on the provision of the out of hours services from that day, the Board must give notice in writing to the contractor of this fact at least one month before B day, in which case the contractor must continue to provide the out of hours services until C day.
(10) The opt out takes effect at 8.00am on the relevant day unless—
(a)the day is a Saturday, Sunday, Good Friday, Christmas Day, or a bank holiday, in which case the opt out takes effect on the next working day at 8.00am; or
(b)the Board and the contractor agree a different day or time.
(11) As soon as reasonably practicable and, in any event, before the end of the period of seven days beginning with the date on which the Board gives notice under paragraph (10), the Board must enter into discussions with the contractor concerning the support that the Board may give to the contractor or other changes which the Board or the contractor may make in relation to the provision of out of hours services until C day.
Informing patients of opt outsE+W
31.—(1) Before any out of hours opt out takes effect, the Board and the contractor must discuss how to inform the contractor's patients of the proposed opt out.
(2) The contractor must, if requested by the Board, inform its registered patients of an opt out and the arrangements made for them to receive the out of hours services by—
(a)placing a notice in the contractor's waiting rooms; or
(b)including the information in the contractor's practice leaflet.