NHS Standard Contract 2021/22: A consultation

Overview

The NHS Standard Contract is published by NHS England and is mandated, under Standing Rules regulations, for use by NHS commissioners to contract for all healthcare services other than primary care services.

The Contract is published in two generic versions – the full-length version, which is used to commission the bulk of such services by value, and the shorter-form version, which can be used in defined circumstances for certain services where lower financial values are involved.

NHS England has been considering a range of changes to the Contract – to keep it up-to-date and relevant; to ensure it correctly relates to new legislation; to ensure it reflects significant new policies; and to deliver technical improvements. NHS England is now consulting on updated versions of both the full-length and shorter-form versions of the Contract. Both are available on the NHS Standard Contract 2021/22 webpage showing our proposed changes as tracked changes.

The consultation paper describes the main, material changes we are proposing to make to both versions of the Contract, and we would welcome comments from stakeholders on our proposals, along with any other suggestions for improvement.

A small number of the changes are applicable to the shorter-form version of the Contract as well as the full length Contract. These changes are identified with asterisks (***).  

For each area, please indicate whether a) your organisation supports the proposal, b) your organisation does not support the proposal, or c) the proposal is not applicable to your organisation, and add comments where relevant.