The Health & Social Care Act 2012 received Royal Assent on 27 March 2012, and provides the legislative backing to the government’s NHS restructuring. Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities will be abolished in April 2013. HEIs should therefore consider how existing contracts with these NHS bodies will be affected.
The legislation empowers the Department of Health to transfer contracts from the abolished bodies to other organisations such as Clinical Commissioning Groups, even if there is a contractual term prohibiting a transfer. Exactly how this will affect existing contracts may depend on the type of contract and the nature of the organisation(s) to which it is to be transferred.
The position should become clearer once the Department of Health has published details of the proposed transfer schemes. However, it would be sensible to review any existing contracts with PCTs/SHAs now, so that any anticipated issues can be considered before the restructuring.