SINTONS NEWSFLASH – NOTIONAL RENT APPEALS UPDATE

Landmark NHS Litigation Authority ruling allows GP Practices a three year period to appeal notional rent changes.

The NHS Litigation Authority (NHSLA) has ruled that NHS England cannot look to prescribe their own time limits for practices appealing against changes to rent reimbursement.

It has confirmed that GP practices contractually have three years from the date of initial assessment under GMS contracts within which to bring such an appeal if they are not in agreement with their new Notional Rent figure and NHS England must make every effort to resolve the matter before it is referred to disputes.

The ruling came about after a group of practices looked to appeal against their notional rent assessments, only to be told that as they had failed to do so within the three month time period outlined in the letters they were sent by NHS England following the rent assessments, they were effectively time barred.

Whilst NHS England has advised that it is considering what action to take following the outcome of the appeals, the NHSLA was clear in its ruling that one party (in this instance being NHS England) cannot impose timescales for appeals to be submitted that are inconsistent with the regulations contained with GMS contracts.

If your Practice has been the subject of a valuation in the last three years that you have previously believed you were out of time to appeal, or if you are currently engaged in a valuation and require professional advice, please contact our dedicated Healthcare Real Estate team and we can put you in contact with specialist advisors who will be able to assist you.

Visit our Healthcare Twitter account @Sintonshc today or join our LinkedIn Group for Healthcare professionals to be kept up to date on key issues.

If you need any information about this or any other healthcare related matter, please contact Victoria Armstrong or a member of the healthcare team.

Victoria Armstrong 
Partner
0191 226 7858
victoria.armstrong@sintons.co.uk