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GP Practice Christmas and New Year opening hours

15 November 2018

GP Practice Christmas and New Year opening hours

With regard to GP Practice Christmas and New Year opening hours, the only requirement is that practices must provide essential services plus any additional or enhanced services they have agreed to and essential services are to be delivered in a way decided by the practice.

Practices do not have to be open during core hours but responsibility and availability does rest with the practice so some provision must be made and although accepting that there are some challenges for small or rural practices, YORLMC’s view is that it is reasonable to expect practices to be open during core hours.

‘Core hours’ means the period beginning at 8am and ending at 6.30pm on any day from Monday to Friday. This excludes Good Friday, Christmas Day or bank holidays.

YORLMC would expect the main surgery to be open during the majority of core hours of 08.00 to 18.30 but this would not be necessary for the branch surgeries.

GPC guidance which includes clarification as to the contractual regulations on closures over Christmas and New Year is available here

The CQC has also issued a mythbuster on opening hours that is worth reading.


November 2018

The voice for NHS GPs and Practice Teams across North Yorkshire, the City of York, Bradford, Airedale, Wharfedale & Craven districts.