The National Health Service (Pharmaceutical Services) (Wales) Regulations 2020

Opening hours: general E+W

13.—(1) An NHS appliance contractor must ensure that pharmaceutical services are provided at each of the premises from which they have undertaken to provide pharmaceutical services—

(a) for not less than 30 hours each week,

(b) if the Local Health Board in whose pharmaceutical list the NHS appliance contractor is included, or on appeal the Welsh Ministers, have directed (either under this Schedule or Schedule 5 to the 2013 Regulations), that the NHS appliance contractor may provide pharmaceutical services at the premises for fewer than 30 hours per week, provided that those services are provided at set times and on set days, at the times and on the days so set,

(c) if the Local Health Board in whose pharmaceutical list the NHS appliance contractor is included, or on appeal the Welsh Ministers, have directed (either under this Schedule or Schedule 5 to the 2013 Regulations), that the NHS appliance contractor must provide pharmaceutical services at the premises for more than 30 hours per week, and at set times and on set days, at the times and on the days so set, or

(d) if the Local Health Board in whose pharmaceutical list the NHS appliance contractor is included, or on appeal the Welsh Ministers, have directed under this Schedule that the NHS appliance contractor must provide pharmaceutical services at the premises for more than 30 hours each week—

(i) for the total number of hours each week required by virtue of that direction, and

(ii) as regards the additional hours for which the NHS appliance contractor is required to provide pharmaceutical services by virtue of that direction, at the days on which and times at which the NHS appliance contractor is required to provide pharmaceutical services during those additional hours, as set out in that direction,

but a Local Health Board may, in appropriate circumstances, agree a temporary suspension of pharmaceutical services for a set period, where it has received 3 months’ notice of the proposed suspension.

(2) At each of the premises from which an NHS appliance contractor has undertaken to provide pharmaceutical services, an NHS appliance contractor must exhibit a notice specifying the days on which and times at which the premises are open for the provision of appliances.

(3) An NHS appliance contractor must, on request, submit a return to the Local Health Board setting out—

(a) the days on which and times at which pharmaceutical services are provided at each of the premises from which the NHS appliance contractor has undertaken to provide pharmaceutical services (including times at which they are providing pharmaceutical services when not obliged to do so by virtue of sub-paragraph (1), which are referred to in these Regulations as “supplementary opening hours”), and

(b) the pharmaceutical services which the NHS appliance contractor ordinarily provides at each of those premises.

(4) Where an NHS appliance contractor changes—

(a) the days on which or times at which pharmaceutical services are to be provided at premises from which they have undertaken to provide pharmaceutical services, or

(b) the pharmaceutical services which they are ordinarily to provide at those premises,

the NHS appliance contractor must supply the Local Health Board with a return informing it of the change.

(5) Subject to sub-paragraph (6), where an NHS appliance contractor is prevented by illness or other reasonable cause from complying with its obligations under sub-paragraph (1) the NHS appliance contractor must, where practicable, make arrangements with one or more NHS appliance contractors, NHS pharmacists or providers of local pharmaceutical services under a pilot scheme whose premises are situated in the neighbourhood for the provision of pharmaceutical services or local pharmaceutical services during that time.

(6) An NHS appliance contractor may make an arrangement with a provider of local pharmaceutical services under a pilot scheme under sub-paragraph (5) only where that provider provides local pharmaceutical services which are of a similar description, and a similar extent to, the pharmaceutical services which the NHS appliance contractor ordinarily provides.

(7) Where there is a temporary suspension in the provision of pharmaceutical services by an NHS appliance contractor for a reason beyond its control, the NHS appliance contractor will not be in breach of sub-paragraphs (1) and (2), provided that the NHS appliance contractor—

(a) notifies the Local Health Board of that suspension as soon as practicable, and

(b) uses all reasonable endeavours to resume provision of pharmaceutical services as soon as is practicable.

(8) Planned refurbishment of premises is neither a “reasonable cause” for the purposes of sub-paragraph (5) nor a “reason beyond its control” for the purposes of sub-paragraph (7).

(9) For the purposes of calculating the number of hours that premises are open during a week that includes Christmas Day, Good Friday, Easter Sunday or a bank holiday, it is deemed that the premises were open on that day at the times at which they would ordinarily have been open on that day of the week.

(10) In this Schedule, the “additional hours” for which an NHS appliance contractor is to be required to provide pharmaceutical services are those hours during which the NHS appliance contractor would not be providing pharmaceutical services, were the NHS appliance contractor subject to the condition set out in sub-paragraph (1)(a) and not the condition set out in sub-paragraph (1)(d).

(11) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 14 to 17, during an emergency requiring the flexible provision of pharmaceutical services, a Local Health Board may, on application from an NHS appliance contractor, permit a temporary change to the days on which or times at which the NHS appliance contractor is obliged to provide pharmaceutical services at the premises from which they have undertaken to provide pharmaceutical services, or permit temporary closure of those premises, if—

(a) the NHS appliance contractor gives at least 24 hours’ notice of the change or closure, and

(b) the reasons given by the NHS appliance contractor for the request are, in the opinion of the Local Health Board, adequate reasons.

(12) The Local Health Board need not approve the request referred to in sub-paragraph (11), in advance of the change or closure, and if it does not do so but decides subsequently that the NHS appliance contractor’s reasons are not, in its opinion, adequate reasons, then the days on which or times at which the NHS appliance contractor is obliged to provide pharmaceutical services at the premises are to revert to the overridden days and times, from the day after the date on which that decision is given to the NHS appliance contractor.

Commencement Information

I1 Sch. 6 para. 13 in force at 1.10.2020, see reg. 1(2)(b)