The National Health Service (Personal Medical Services Agreements) Regulations 2015

PART 6 E+W Out of hours services: opt outs

Opt outs: interpretation E+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 [F1 NHS England] 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.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words 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

Opt outs: general E+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 provision E+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 [F1 NHS England] 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) [F1 NHS England] 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 [F1 NHS England] receives the out of hours opt out notice.

(4) [F1 NHS England] 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 [F1 NHS England] under paragraph (3) without [F1 NHS England’s] agreement.

(6) Following receipt of the out of hours opt out notice, [F1 NHS England] 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 [F1 NHS England] gives notice in writing to the contractor under paragraph (7) (extending OOH day to B day or C day).

(8) If [F1 NHS England] is not successful in finding an alternative provider to take on the provision of the out of hours services from OOH day, [F1 NHS England] 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 [F1 NHS England] 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 [F1 NHS England], 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, [F1 NHS England] 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) [F1 NHS England] 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 [F1 NHS England] gives notice under paragraph (10), [F1 NHS England] must enter into discussions with the contractor concerning the support that [F1 NHS England] may give to the contractor or other changes which [F1 NHS England] or the contractor may make in relation to the provision of out of hours services until C day.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words 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

Informing patients of opt outs E+W

31.—(1) Before any out of hours opt out takes effect, [F1 NHS England] and the contractor must discuss how to inform the contractor's patients of the proposed opt out.

(2) The contractor must, if requested by [F1 NHS England], 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.

Textual Amendments

F1 Words 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