Prior Information Notice - Forthcoming Procurements of a Dental electronic referral service for NHS England Central Midlands

Tender description

Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AG CSU), acting on behalf of the NHS England (Central Midlands) (hereby known as The Commissioners) invites expressions of interest from the dental electronic referral service (DERS) providers to manage the appropriate clinical demand and allocation for approximately 150,000 referrals based on the tiers of complexity and excluding those referrals where the General Dental Practitioner (GDP) suspects a malignancy for the area. NHS England (Central Midlands) covers the following areas: from Hertfordshire through to Lincolnshire and from West Leicestershire through to East Leicestershire & Rutland (hereby referred to as the Central Midlands locality). The aim of the procurement is to remove inequalities in service provision of specialist and intermediary dental services for patients residing across the Central Midlands locality. The service will achieve an improved referral mechanism for patients, referrers and providers. A clinically triaged DERS will help facilitate a care pathway for a patient to see the right clinician, at the right time, in the correct health setting. DERS provider will be expected to work closely with relevant clinical networks, commissioners and acute service providers to ensure appropriate, timely, effective and safe dental treatment to the population in the Central Midlands locality. Commissioners are seeking bids providing innovative service models and solutions, which will enhance and compliment the clinical pathways, whilst supporting the transition to a paperless NHS. The Commissioner reserves the right to request expansion of this service in the future and acknowledges that any future expansion would be subject to negotiation; however, the successful DERS provider must be able to demonstrate that their systems and processes are capable of expansion, e.g. to manage referrals for additional specialties and over wider geography. A DERS system and its providers for the Central Midlands will need to: •Feature clinical triage that will be undertaken by Specialist providers •Permits patient choice •Informs commissioners with respect to referral patterns, and highlight training needs in individuals or GDP practices •Ensure that treatment takes place in the most clinically appropriate and financially effective setting •Provide a mechanism for clinically led triage •Ensure a fair and equitable service across Central Midlands locality, that promotes patient choice and reduces waiting times •Supports a consistent approach of referral management across Central Midlands locality •Proactively resolve waiting list pressures by redirecting patient flow via an up to date directory of services •Provide the ability for clinicians, commissioners and patients to track referrals through a unique referral number •Facilitate high quality referrals, and so achieve, better clinical effectiveness and efficiency through improved standards of information accompanying referrals