GP practices have been threatened with breach of contract notices if they fail to open from 8am to 6.30pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve and they have also been told that they may not sub-contract the services during these periods.

NHS England has told local area teams that Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve must be treated just like any other day, leading to some local area teams sending letters to GPs warning that any attempts by practices to outsource work to out-of-hours providers will result in breach of contract notices.

Local Medical Committees (LMCs) are up in arms about this and are seeking legal advice and insisting that early closing is permitted by GP contract regulations.

A spokesperson for NHS England said that the department recognises the need for patients to access high-quality primary care services in a timely way, which is why it needs to ensure a more consistent approach to opening hours, which includes opening normal hours on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve, which are working days.

However, GP leaders have argued that demand from patients is traditionally less on those two days, and insisted that the contract does not necessitate practices remaining open throughout core hours.

Chair of the General Practitioners’ Committee, Dr Robert Morley, said that the issue was being discussed at a GPC level. Meanwhile, Dr Tony Grewal, Medical Director of Londonwide LMCs, said that there is no reason why practices should not give due notice to the contracting authority and close early as long as they ensure that they have contracted with an out-of-hours or some other service so they have a fall back.