Interpretation of transitional agreements
60.—(1) Until
(a)the parties to a transitional agreement vary the transitional agreement in accordance with article 59(1) and the variations have effect; or
(b)the relevant body varies a transitional agreement in accordance with article 59(3) and the variations have effect,
a transitional agreement shall be interpreted in accordance with this article.
(2) Any reference in a transitional agreement to—
(a)the Implementation Directions shall be a reference to those Directions as they had effect on 31st March 2004 as modified by article 61;
(b)the 1992 Regulations shall be a reference to those Regulations as they had effect on 31st March 2004 as modified by article 62;
(c)the Statement of Fees and Allowances made under regulation 34 of the 2002 Regulations shall be a reference to that Statement as it had effect on 31st March 2004;
(d)the Choice Regulations shall be a reference to those Regulations as they had effect on 31st March 2004 as modified by article 63, except as specified in paragraph (3);
(e)the National Health Service (Pilot Schemes: Miscellaneous Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 1998(1) shall be a reference to those Regulations as they had effect on 31st March 2004;
(f)section 2(2)(a), (b), (c), (e) or (f) of the 1997 Act shall be a reference to section 28D(1)(a), (b), (ba), (bb), (bc), (d) or (f) of the 1977 Act;
(g)section 8 of the 1997 Act shall be a reference to article 66;
(h)personal medical services shall be a reference to medical services of a kind that could have been provided by a general medical practitioner in accordance with arrangements made under Part 2 of the 1977 Act prior to 1st April 2004;
(i)pilot schemes or pilot scheme agreements shall be a reference to transitional agreements;
(j)a services list, medical list or supplementary list shall be a reference to a medical performers list;
(k)regulation 6(3)(d) of the Services List Regulations or regulation 18E(1)(e) of, and Part 3 of Schedule 3 to, the 1992 Regulations shall be a reference to regulation 6(3)(d) of the Performers Lists Regulations;
(l)a Local Medical Committee shall be a reference to a committee recognised under section 45A of the 1977 Act; and
(m)out of hours arrangements shall be a reference to out of hours arrangements within the meaning given to that expression by article 72.
(3) In relation to the assignment of a patient to a medical practitioner in accordance with regulation 5 of the Choice Regulations, any reference in a transitional agreement to regulation 4(2)(b) of those Regulations shall be deemed to be a reference to article 64(1).
(4) In the case of a transitional agreement falling within paragraph (5), the transitional agreement shall be interpreted as if it had been varied to include terms having the effect specified in Schedule 4 to the Personal Medical Services Agreements Regulations (opt outs of out of hours services).
(5) A transitional agreement falls within this paragraph where the contractor has contracted to provide out of hours services only to patients to which it is required to provide the equivalent of general medical services (within the meaning of section 29(1A) of the 1977 Act(2) prior to its repeal) under the agreement.
(6) The transitional agreement shall be interpreted as if it had been varied to include a term or terms having the effect specified in paragraph 105 of Schedule 5 to the Personal Medical Services Agreements Regulations (termination by the relevant body on fitness grounds), subject to the modification that the reference in that term to a person falling within the cases specified in paragraph 105(3) during the existence of the agreement shall be read as if it referred to a person so falling on or after 1st April 2004.
(7) Where a transitional agreement includes the provision of services in the out of hours period within the meaning of paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 6 to the Personal Medical Services Agreements Regulations, the transitional agreement shall be interpreted as if it had been varied to include terms having the effect specified in Schedule 6 to those Regulations (out of hours transitional provisions), subject to the modification that the references to the NHS dispute resolution procedure in paragraphs 2(5), 3(6) and (7) and 5(5) of that Schedule shall, in the case of transitional agreements to which the NHS dispute resolution procedure does not apply, be deemed to include a reference to the dispute resolution procedure under the transitional agreement.
(8) For the purposes of paragraph (7), it shall be assumed that the out of hours services provided by the contractor under the transitional agreement to patients to which it is required to provide the equivalent of general medical services (within the meaning of section 29(1A) of the 1977 Act prior to its repeal) are provided by the contractor pursuant to regulation 20 of the Personal Medical Services Agreements Regulations (out of hours services).