2017/19 NHS Standard Contract: updated January 2018
The NHS Standard Contract is mandated by NHS England for use by commissioners for all contracts for healthcare services other than primary care.
Where commissioners are placing new contracts with providers, they must now use these updated versions of the relevant Contract with immediate effect.
A summary of the changes we have made to the Contracts can be found in section 3 of the NHS Standard Contract Technical Guidance. Details of the changes can be found in the comparison documents below.
The full–length NHS Standard Contract 2017/18-2018/19 (January 2018 edition) comprises three parts:
The NHS shorter-form Contract 2017/18-2018/19 (January 2018 edition) also comprises three parts:
If you have a query on the NHS Standard Contracts, please email: nhscb.contractshelp@nhs.net.
If you would like to be added to our stakeholder list to receive updates on the NHS Standard Contracts, please email your contact details to: england.contractsengagement@nhs.net.
eContract
The NHS Standard eContract system is now available.
The eContract hosts both the full-length and shorter-form Contracts and allows tailoring of the contract to reflect the specific services provided, so that only the relevant Service Conditions and Schedules appear. We strongly recommend that commissioners and providers utilise the eContract system.
If you have a query on the eContract system, please email: england.econtract@nhs.net.
Contact support and other publications
- NHS Standard Contract 2017/18-2018/19 (updated January 2018) Technical Guidance – updated 16 January 2018 to provide clarification on the use of GC9 in relation to ambulance response time standards under the STF arrangements.
- NHS Standard Contract 2017/18 and 2018/19 Template SDIP for Sustainability and Transformation Fund performance
- Shorter-form Contract User Guide
- Shorter-form Contract interactive PDF
- Data Sharing Requirements to support Development of Urgent and Emergency Care Dashboards – Guidance for Data Providers
- UEC Analytics Model – minimum data requirements (updated 27.01.17 to improve quality of data item definitions, describe data sources, and to support clinical hub pilot work in 111).
National Variations to 2017/18 and 2018/19 NHS Standard Contracts
Guidance on the process to effect the mandatory 2017-19 National Variation to existing contracts, the terms of which extend beyond 31 January 2018, and the National Variation templates are available below. Commissioners must now ensure that the appropriate National Variation is implemented for all of their contracts, to take effect from 1 February 2018.
- Guidance on National Variations to existing 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017-19 (November 2016 edition) full length contracts, and 2016/17 and existing 2017-19 (November 2016 edition) shorter-form contracts
- National Variation Agreement for existing 2015/16, 2016/17 and 2017-19 (November 2016 edition) form contracts
- National Variation Agreement for existing 2016/17 and 2017-19 (November 2016 edition) shorter-form contracts
- Simple National Variation Agreement template 2017-19 (January 2018) (full length or shorter-form)
Local Variations to 2017/18-2018/19 (January 2018) NHS Standard Contracts
- Guidance on the Variations Process: full-length and shorter-form contracts
- Variation Agreement for use with full-length or shorter-form contract
NHS Standard Sub-contract
- NHS Standard Sub-Contract for the Provision of Clinical Services 2017/18 and 2018/19 (full length and shorter-form versions) – Guidance (updated January 2018)
- Template Sub-Contract for the Provision of Clinical Services (for use with NHS Standard Contract (full length) 2017/18 and 2018/19) (updated January 2018)
- Template Sub-Contract for the Provision of Clinical Services (for use with NHS Standard Contract (shorter-form) 2017/18 and 2018/19) (updated January 2018)
- Template Sub-Contract for the Provision of Clinical Services (for use with NHS Standard Contract (shorter-form 2017/18 and 2018/19) – TUPE Provisions
Model Collaborative Commissioning Agreements
- Model Collaborative Commissioning Agreement (single contract option)
- Model Collaborative Commissioning Agreement (multiple contract option)
Fair Deal for Staff Pensions
Provisions Applicable to Primary Care Services
Proforma Contract Management Forms and Change in Control Notification
NHS Standard Contracts 2017/18 and 2018/19 Equality Impact Analysis
Changes to the 2017-19 (November 2016 edition) Contract
Comparison documents showing the changes made from the NHS Standard Contract 2017-19 (November 2016 edition) to the NHS Standard Contract 2017-19 (January 2018 edition) are available here:
- Particulars full length comparison
- Service Conditions full length comparison
- General Condition full length comparison
- Particulars shorter-form comparison
- Service Conditions shorter-form comparison
- General Condition shorter-form comparison
Separate consultation on arrangements for research studies (now closed)
NHS England has now launched a consultation on changes to arrangements for research studies, covering the terms under which commercial research trials are funded and conducted, as well as arrangements for excess treatment costs. This consultation proposes changes to Service Condition 26 of the NHS Standard Contract, for implementation through a National Variation at a future date. (These are additional to the changes which we previously proposed to the Contract in the draft National Variation published in October 2018.) The consultation on research arrangements is available via the NHS England website and runs until 1 February 2018.
Consultation – October 2017 (now closed)
The NHS Standard Contract was issued in November 2016 to cover the two-year period from April 2017 to March 2019. NHS England committed to forego any major review of all aspects of the NHS Standard Contract for 2018/19. However we did make clear that, should there be any significant legislative or policy changes, it would be necessary to issue a National Variation to the Contract. With the recently announced changes to ambulance response standards, a National Variation is now required.
We have now published, for consultation, proposals for in-year National Variations to the NHS Standard Contract 2017/18 and 2018/19 (Full Length) and to the NHS Standard Contract 2017/18 and 2018/19 (Shorter Form). We have also published the associated Technical Guidance in draft form.
The consultation papers below describe the main, material changes we are proposing in the Contracts, and we would welcome comments from stakeholders on our proposals.
Comments on the National Variations should be sent by 10 November 2017 to england.contractsengagement@nhs.net. We also welcome feedback on the draft Technical Guidance.