25. An agreement shall provide for services to be provided under it from any date on or after 1st April 2004.
26. Subject to paragraph 1 of Schedule 4, where a party to the agreement to provide essential services is a person who, on 31st March 2004, was providing personal medical services under section 17C of the Act, the agreement under which services are to be provided before 1st January 2005 (whether or not such services will be provided after that date) must provide for services which would be essential services, if provided in core hours, to be provided throughout the out of hours period unless–
(a)the Health Board has accepted in writing, prior to the signing of the agreement, a written request from the provider that the agreement should not require the provider to make such provision; or
(b)the agreement has been otherwise varied to exclude a requirement to make such provision.
27. Subject to the provisions of any order made by the Scottish Ministers section 7 of the 2004 Act (ancillary provisions), the National Health Service (Personal Medical Services) (Scotland) Regulations 2001(1) are hereby revoked.