Cervical screening services
- Provide cervical screening services and keep accurate records
Welsh Statutory Instrument
2023
United Kingdom
The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Wales) Regulations 2023
At a glance
What's here
110 compliance obligations
Who this Act binds
Plus 9 non-business duties on Crown ministers, regulators, local authorities or tribunals — shown collapsed under each section below.
What this Act requires
Sections that create concrete duties on businesses or carry penalties. Procedural and definitional sections are folded into the “Browse other sections” expander at the bottom of each group. Click any section title to read the source text on legislation.gov.uk.
Schedules
Child health surveillance services
- Provide child health surveillance services for children under 5
Childhood vaccinations and immunisations services
- Provide childhood vaccination and immunisation services
Contraceptive services
- Provide contraceptive services to patients who request them
Maternity medical services
- Provide maternity medical services and refer patients if you have conscientious objection
Minor surgery
- Provide cryocautery, curettage and cautery for skin lesions and keep records
Vaccinations and immunisations
- Offer vaccinations and immunisations to patients
Premises, facilities and equipment
- Ensure premises, facilities and equipment meet required standards
Clinical reports
- Send clinical report to Local Health Board when treating non-registered patients
Entry and Inspection by the Local Health Board
- You must allow Local Health Board inspections of your practice premises
Concerns and complaints
- Set up a complaints system that meets legal standards
Co-operation with investigations
- Co-operate with NHS complaint and concern investigations
Provision of information about complaints
- Report number of complaints to Local Health Board as required
Local resolution of contract disputes
- Cooperate and communicate to resolve contract disputes locally first
NHS dispute resolution procedure
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Welsh Ministers must manage NHS contract disputes under a defined procedure Crown / Minister / Government department
Variation of a contract: general
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Local Health Board may vary your contract without consent for legal compliance Local authority
Storage of vaccines
- Store vaccines according to manufacturer’s instructions and monitor fridge temperatures
Variation provisions specific to a contract with an individual medical practitioner
- Notify Local Health Board before changing from individual to partnership practice
Variation provisions specific to a contract with two or more individuals practising in partnership
- Notify your Local Health Board if your GP partnership dissolves
Infection control
- Put in place appropriate infection control and decontamination arrangements
Termination by the Local Health Board: remedial notices and breach notices
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Serve remedial notice with minimum 28-day period for remediable breaches Local authority
Contract sanctions
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Local Health Board may impose contract sanctions before termination Statutory regulator
Contract sanctions and the NHS dispute resolution procedure
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Local Health Board must not impose contract sanction during dispute unless specific conditions met Local authority
Clinical governance
- Implement and maintain a clinical governance system for controlled drugs
Co-operation with Health Education and Improvement Wales
- Co-operate with Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) on workforce matters
Duty of co-operation in relation to supplementary services
- Cooperate and share information on supplementary services you don't provide
Insurance
- Have and maintain appropriate clinical indemnity cover
Public liability insurance
- Hold adequate public liability insurance
Gifts
- Keep a register of gifts over £100 from patients or service providers
Bribery Act
- Do not commit bribery or any prohibited act under the Bribery Act
Advertising private services
- Advertise private services separately from NHS services
Compliance with legislation and guidance
- Comply with all relevant legislation, guidance and codes of practice
Duty of co-operation in relation to out of hours services
- Cooperate with out-of-hours services provider
Duty of co-operation: cluster working
- Co-operate with cluster working arrangements
Contribution to clusters and GP Collaboratives
- Contribute to your GP cluster plan and collaborative working
Demand and capacity
- Engage with your GP Collaborative on demand and capacity assessments
Telephone services
- Manage telephone services: avoid premium-rate numbers and staff lines during core hours
Cessation of service provision: information requests
- Comply with information requests after ceasing a supplementary service
Welsh Language
- Comply with Welsh language requirements in providing medical services
List of patients
- Keep patient list accurate and provide data to Local Health Board on request
Application for inclusion in a list of patients
- Accept patient applications without proof of ID or address, and notify LHB
Inclusion in list of patients: armed forces personnel
- Accept armed forces personnel onto your patient list and coordinate with Defence Medical Services
Temporary residents
- Accept temporary residents when list is open and criteria met
Refusal of applications for inclusion in the list of patients or early termination of responsibility for temporary residents
- Manage patient registration and temporary resident terminations fairly
Patient preference of practitioner
- Record and accommodate patient preferences for a specific performer
Removal from the list at the request of the patient
- Notify Local Health Board when a patient asks to be removed from your list
Removal from the list at the request of the contractor
- Follow procedures for removing a patient from your list
Cost of relevant calls
- Ensure call costs to practice are no higher than geographic numbers
Removals from the list of patients who are violent
- Request removal of violent patients from your practice list
Termination of responsibility for patients not registered with the contractor
- Keep records of patient responsibility terminations and share with Local Health Board on request
Application for closure of list of patients
- Apply to close your patient list with required details
Approval of an application to close a list of patients
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Local Health Board must notify contractor of patient list closure decision Local authority
Access
- Provide accessible services including telephone, digital prescriptions, appointments, and signposting
Rejection of an application to close a list of patients
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Local Health Board must notify contractor of rejected patient list closure Local authority
Assignment to closed lists: NHS dispute resolution procedure relating to determinations of the assessment panel
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Welsh Ministers must review and determine disputes about closed-list patient assignments Crown / Minister / Government department
Prescribing: general
- Ensure prescription forms and home oxygen order forms comply with regulations
Orders for drugs, medicines and appliances
- Order drugs, medicines and appliances using correct prescription method
Attendance at practice premises
- Provide same-day care for walk-in patients during core hours
Electronic prescriptions
- Follow rules for electronic prescriptions and issue EPS tokens
Nomination of dispensers for the purposes of electronic prescriptions
- Handle patient requests to nominate a dispenser for electronic prescriptions
Repeatable prescriptions
- Manage repeatable prescriptions correctly
Prescribing for electronic repeat dispensing
- Issue electronic repeat prescriptions in a format suitable for electronic repeat dispensing
Restrictions on prescribing by medical practitioners
- Prescribing restrictions: what drugs, medicines and appliances you must not order on NHS prescriptions
Restrictions on prescribing by supplementary prescribers
- Control prescribing and administration by supplementary prescribers
Bulk prescribing
- Bulk prescribe non-controlled drugs/inhalers for 10+ residents in an institution
Excessive prescribing
- Do not prescribe excessive quantities or costs of drugs
Provision of drugs, medicines and appliances for immediate treatment or personal administration
- Provide immediate treatment drugs and appliances within NHS contract terms
Attendance outside practice premises
- Attend patients outside practice premises when clinically necessary
Provision of dispensing services
- Inform patients they can also get drugs from any NHS pharmacist
Qualifications of performers: health care professionals
- Health care professionals must be registered and not suspended to perform clinical services
Conditional registration or inclusion in primary care list
- Comply with conditions on healthcare professionals' registration or GP list inclusion
Clinical experience
- Do not perform clinical services without necessary experience and training
Conditions for employment and engagement: medical practitioner
- Verify medical practitioners' performers list registration before hiring
Conditions for employment or engagement: health care professionals
- Verify health care professionals’ qualifications and experience before hiring
Clinical references
- Obtain and check two clinical references before hiring a healthcare professional
Verification of qualifications and competence
- Verify qualifications and competence of staff before hiring
Training
- Maintain staff training and skills for clinical services
Newly registered patients
- Invite newly registered patients for consultation within 6 months and complete health screening
Arrangements for GP Specialty Registrars
- Do not reduce hours of other staff when employing a GP Registrar
Notice requirements in respect of relevant prescribers
- Notify the Local Health Board when prescribers start or stop prescribing
Signing of documents
- Include clinical profession and contractor name on documents
Level of skill and compliance with pathways
- Perform duties with reasonable skill and follow national condition pathways
Appraisal and assessment
- Ensure GPs participate in appraisal and cooperate on patient safety
Sub-contracting
- Do not sub-contract clinical or patient-facing services without Local Health Board notification and approval
Patient records
- Keep adequate patient records and manage transfers
Welsh GP record
- Enable automated retrieval of summary GP record data on patient record changes
Patients not seen within 3 years
- Provide a consultation to patients aged 16-75 not seen in 3 years
Electronic transfer of patient records between GP practices
- Use GP2GP to transfer patient records when patients join or leave
Clinical correspondence: requirement for NHS number
- Include NHS number as primary identifier in clinical correspondence
Confidentiality of personal data: nominated person
- Appoint a person responsible for personal data confidentiality
Provision of information to patients
- Provide and maintain patient information online and in leaflet
Provision of information (or access to information) at the request of the Local Health Board
- Provide information requested by the Local Health Board
Clinical audits ...
- Participate in clinical audits and share data with Digital Health and Care Wales
Information relating to indicators no longer in the Quality Assurance and Improvement Framework
- Allow LHB data extraction and maintain patient registers
The Primary Care Workforce Intelligence System
- Update and review workforce data in PCWIS monthly
General Practice Escalation Tool
- Submit escalation data to the General Practice Escalation Tool
Patients aged 75 years and over
- Provide an annual consultation for patients aged 75 and over
Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency Central Alerting System
- Maintain MHRA contact details and monitor alerts
Inquiries about prescriptions and referrals
- Answer Local Health Board inquiries about prescriptions and referrals
Provision of information to a medical officer etc.
- Provide clinical information and answer inquiries to medical officers etc. upon patient consent
Annual return and formal review
- Submit annual returns, respond to ad-hoc data requests, and attend annual performance reviews
Notifications to the Local Health Board
- Notify Local Health Board of specified incidents, changes, and service provisions
Co-operation with the Local Health Board
- Co-operate with Local Health Board on controlled drugs obligations
Notice provisions specific to a contract with a company limited by shares
- Notify Local Health Board about share transfers, new directors or financial distress
Notice provisions specific to a contract with two or more individuals practising in partnership
- Notify Local Health Board of partnership changes immediately
Notification of deaths
- Report patient deaths on practice premises to Local Health Board within one working day
Information to be included on a practice’s online resource and written practice leaflet
- Include mandatory information on your practice website and leaflet
Browse 47 other Schedules — structural / supplementary
Learning disabilities services
For the purposes of paragraphs 1 to 7 “a patient’s...
Dispute resolution: non-NHS contracts
Determination of the dispute
Interpretation of this Part
Termination by agreement
Termination on the death of an individual medical practitioner
Termination by the contractor
Late payment notices
Termination by the Local Health Board: general
Termination by the Local Health Board for breach of conditions in regulation 5
Termination by the Local Health Board for the provision of untrue etc. information
Other grounds for termination by the Local Health Board
Termination by the Local Health Board where patients’ safety is seriously at risk or where there is risk of material financial loss to Local Health Board
Termination by the Local Health Board for unlawful sub-contracting
Termination by the Local Health Board: additional provisions specific to contracts with two or more individuals practising in partnership and companies limited by shares
Termination and the NHS dispute resolution procedure
Consultation with the Local Medical Committee
Third party rights
Covid Anti-viral treatments
Frailty Indexing
Ethnicity Recording
Welsh identity verification service (WIVS)
Membership of a cluster
Membership of a GP Collaborative
Removal from list if patient registered elsewhere
Removal from the list of patients who have moved
Removal from the list of patients whose address is unknown
Removal from the list of patients absent from the United Kingdom etc.
Removal from the list of patients accepted elsewhere as temporary residents
Removal from the list of pupils etc. of a school
Re-opening of list of patients
(1) This Part applies in respect of the assignment by...
Assignment of patients to list of patients: open and closed lists
Factors relevant to assignments
Assignments to closed lists: composition and determinations of the assessment panel
Assignments to closed lists: assignments of patients by the Local Health Board
Repeatable prescribing services
Qualifications of performers: medical practitioners
Terms and conditions
Withdrawal and variation of approval and right to subsequently object to a sub-contract under paragraph 76
Use of fax machines
Triennial Reviews
Notifications to patients following variation of the contract
(1) The National Health Service (Performers Lists) (Wales) Regulations 2004...
(1) The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Wales) Regulations 2020...
The 2004 Regulations are revoked.
Conditions relating solely to medical practitioners
Other duties (1) — Crown / regulator
- Local Health Board must verify GP composition of contract parties Local authority
Fees, charges and financial interests
- Do not charge patients for NHS treatment, prescriptions, or certain evidence forms
Termination of a contract
- Handle contract termination: cease work, cooperate, transfer patients, return property, and pay any sums due
Browse 30 other sections — procedural / definitional / commencement
Title and commencement
Application
Interpretation
Conditions: general
General condition relating to all contracts
Notice of conditions not being met and reasons
Right of appeal
Pre-contract disputes
Health service body status: election
Health service body status: variation of contracts
Cessation of health service body status
Parties to the contract
Health service contract
Contracts with individuals practising in partnership
Duration
Unified services
Services: general
Certificates
Finance
Circumstances in which fees and charges may be made
Activity and Appointment Data
Dataset and business rules
Contract assurance
Sub-contracting
Variation of contracts
Other contractual terms
(1) The functions of a Local Medical Committee which are...
General transitional provision and saving
Consequential amendments
Revocations
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