The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) (Scotland) Regulations 2018

[F1 Requirement to provide vaccination services

1.— (1) Subject to the provisions of this paragraph, where the Health Board is satisfied that by reason of distance, inadequacy of means of communication, or other exceptional circumstances, the Health Board will have serious difficulties in delivering any vaccination service to the contractor’s patients, the Health Board may require the contractor to provide those services to the contractor’s patients until further notice.

(2) The Health Board may not require a contractor to deliver services in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) unless it has first consulted the area medical committee regarding the matter.

(3) The Health Board may not require a contractor to deliver a vaccination service in accordance with sub-paragraph (1) unless the contractor was, immediately prior to the Health Board notifying the contractor of the requirement, offering that particular vaccination service to the contractor’s patients as part of an additional service, an enhanced service or as part of a transitional arrangement under regulation 33A.

(4) Nothing in sub-paragraph (3) prevents the contractor and the Health Board from agreeing that the contractor will deliver a vaccination service in accordance with this schedule.

(5) The Health Board must give a contractor reasonable notice that the contractor is required to provide a vaccination service and must, if the contractor is no longer to be required to provide a service, give reasonable notice that the requirement to provide the service is to be discontinued.

(6) A notice served by the Health Board under sub-paragraph (1) must list all of the vaccinations and immunisations which the contractor is required to provide as a consequence of the notice, as of the date of the notice.

(7) A contractor which is required to provide a vaccination service may request that the Health Board reviews that requirement.

(8) A review request under sub-paragraph (7) may not be made by a contractor—

(a) unless the contractor has been providing the vaccination service for a period of not less than 6 months; and

(b) the contractor has not made a review request in respect of the service in the 6 months prior to its present review request.

(9) Where it receives a review request, the Health Board must—

(a) acknowledge the review request within 30 days,

(b) consider any comments which the contractor has provided to accompany the review request;

(c) within 3 months of receiving the review request, provide the contractor with either—

(i) a written statement of reasons as to why the contractor is required to continue to provide the vaccination service; or

(ii) a written plan for the discontinuation of the requirement that the contractor provide the vaccination service which includes the date on which the requirement will end.

(10) When considering whether it will have serious difficulty in delivering a vaccination service or serving notice under sub-paragraph (1) or when considering a review request submitted under sub-paragraph (7), the Health Board must comply with any directions given by the Scottish Ministers in relation to these matters.

(11) For the purposes of this paragraph, a “vaccination service” comprises—

(a) offering and administering to patients all doses necessary to complete the recommended course of vaccination for a single disease, or in the case of a combination vaccine which protects the patient against multiple diseases, all doses necessary to complete the recommended course of vaccination for all of the diseases for which that combination vaccine provides protection; and

(b) providing appropriate information and advice to patients regarding the course of vaccination offered.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Sch. 2A inserted (18.10.2021) by The National Health Service (General Medical Services and Primary Medical Services Section 17C Agreements) (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2021 (S.S.I. 2021/302), regs. 1, 7