# The National Health Service (General Medical Services Contracts) Regulations 2004, Paragraph 18: Patient preference of practitioner


(1) Where the contractor has accepted an application for inclusion in its list of patients, it shall—
(a) notify the patient (or, in the case of a child or incapable adult, the person who made the application on their behalf) of the patient’s right to express a preference to receive services from a particular performer or class of performer either generally or in relation to any particular condition; and
(b) record in writing any such preference expressed by or on behalf of the patient.
(2) The contractor shall endeavour to comply with any reasonable preference expressed under sub-paragraph (1) but need not do so if the preferred performer—
(a) has reasonable grounds for refusing to provide services to the patient; or
(b) does not routinely perform the service in question within the practice.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2004/291/schedule/6/paragraph/18 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/national-health-service-general-medical-services-contracts-regulations-2004/schedule-6/paragraph-18
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.