The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Wales) Regulations 2023

Assignments to closed lists: composition and determinations of the assessment panel

45.—(1) Where the Local Health Board wants to assign a new patient to a contractor which has closed its lists of patients, the Local Health Board must prepare a proposal to be considered by the assessment panel.

(2) The Local Health Board must give notice in writing that it has referred the matter to the assessment panel to—

(a) contractors, including those contractors who provide primary medical services under arrangements made under section 41(2) of the Act (which relate to arrangements for the provision of primary medical services) which—

(i) have closed their lists of patients, and

(ii) may, in the opinion of the Local Health Board, be affected by the determination of the assessment panel, and

(b) the Local Medical Committee (if any) for the area in which the contractors referred to in paragraph (a) provide unified services (or their equivalent).

(3) The Local Health Board must ensure that the assessment panel is appointed to consider and determine the proposal made under sub-paragraph (1), and the composition of the assessment panel must be as described in sub-paragraph (4).

(4) The members of the assessment panel must be—

(a) the Chief Executive of the Local Health Board of which the assessment panel is a committee or sub-committee,

(b) a person representative of patients in an area other than that of the Local Health Board which is a party to the contract, and

(c) a person representative of a Local Medical Committee which does not represent practitioners in the area of the Local Health Board which is a party to the contract.

(5) In reaching its determination, the assessment panel must have regard to all relevant factors including—

(a) whether the Local Health Board has attempted to secure the provision of unified services (or their equivalent) for new patients other than by means of assignment to a contractor with a closed list; and

(b) the workload of those contractors likely to be affected by any decision to assign such patients to their list of patients.

(6) The assessment panel must reach a determination before the end of the period of 28 days beginning with the date on which the panel was appointed.

(7) The assessment panel must—

(a) determine whether the Local Health Board may assign new patients to a contractor which has a closed list of patients, and

(b) if it determines that the Local Health Board may make such an assignment, determine, where there is more than one contractor, the contractors to which patients may be assigned.

(8) The assessment panel may determine that the Local Health Board may assign new patients to contractors other than any of the contractors specified in its proposals under sub-paragraph (1), as long as the contractors were given notice in writing under sub-paragraph (2)(a).

(9) The assessment panel’s determination must include its comments on the matters referred to in sub-paragraph (5), and notice in writing of that determination must be given to those contractors referred to in sub-paragraph (2)(a).