Despite being warned last month that practices closing early over the Christmas holidays could face problems, a number of practices have done so and some have now been issued with breach of contract notices from NHS England.

According to Londonwide LMC, 12 practices in London have been issued with notices for closing early on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and more practices could face similar action over the next week or so.

NHS England’s London area team apparently called 238 practices in the capital that had asked about transferring calls to an alternative provider during part of their core hours on both of these days and promptly issued breach of contract notices to 12 of them.

However, Londonwide LMC has said that it will support the practices concerned, calling NHS England’s position on the matter ‘mean-spirited and vindictive’.

NHS England countered by saying that it had made it clear that closing early over the Christmas break would not be reasonable of the practices and that by calling the 238 practices in question on Christmas Eve it had found 12 in breach of contract.

The spokesperson went on to say that the process was repeated on New Year’s Eve and that further breach notices have been or are in the process of being issued.

They added that NHS England did this to ensure that patients in London had access to the primary care services they were entitled to and that GP practices had signed up to deliver.

However, according to the terms of the GP contract, practices have some flexibility to vary opening, as long as they ensure ‘provision of essential services at such times, within core hours, as are appropriate to meet the reasonable needs’ of patients.