Health services

Tender description

The primary aim of the service is to reduce the prevalence of obesity in the Basildon and Brentwood, Castle Point and Rochford, Southend and Thurrock CCGs' area, in order to improve the health of its resident adult population. The CCGs wish to procure a multi-disciplinary approach service to address behavioural, psychological and clinical challenges faced by obese individuals. The service will provide a programme of 14 sessions followed by a programme of 6 sessions of on-going support to enable patients to achieve the required outcomes. On 31.8.2017 the south Essex CCGs published a Request For Information (RFI) to the market to ascertain market appetite ahead of a procurement for the provision of Tier III Weight Management Services following the conclusion of the current contract with provider, MoreLife. As a result, 1 provider submitted their interest; the incumbent provider MoreLife. Following the outcome of the RFI, the south Essex CCGs reviewed the options for this provision and considered the interruption of service for patients should the decision be to launch a full procurement. (Due to the nature of the 14 week course cycle of this service, the incumbent would not be able to accept new patients in quarter 4 of the contract which would result in a gap of service). It was also recognised that the limited interest generated by the RFI suggested that a full procurement would not encourage new providers into this niche market. The governance committees of each CCG reviewed the options for this service and it was decided to offer a direct award contract to MoreLife for the year 2018/19.