Community health services

Tender description

A clinical model for an extended access service has been developed and SWCCG now intends to award the contract to deliver the service to the most capable provider. By this notice, SWCCG signals its intent to award a Lead Provider contract for an initial term of 2 years (with an option to extend for a further period of 3 years) without further publication, unless expressions of interest are received from alternative economic operators in response to this Notice. In reaching their conclusion the SWCCG have complied with their statutory obligations to ensure that the contract award will be the most economically advantageous for the local health and care systems and that the award is made to the most capable provider to provide the service. In line with the General Practice Forward View and the NHS Shared Planning Guidance for 2017-2019, NHS South Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (SWCCG) is the body responsible for “[extending] and [improving] access [to general practice services] in line with requirements for new national funding”. A clinical model for an extended access service has been developed and SWCCG now intends to award the contract to deliver the service to the most capable provider. By this notice, SWCCG signals its intent to award a Lead Provider contract for an initial term of 2 years (with an option to extend for a further period of 3 years) without further publication, unless expressions of interest are received from alternative economic operators in response to this Notice. In reaching their conclusion the SWCCG have complied with their statutory obligations to ensure that the contract award will be the most economically advantageous for the local health and care systems and that the award is made to the most capable provider to provide the service. Background: SWCCG has developed a Plan (Transforming General Practice Together) which responds to the General Practice Forward View. Within the Plan, extended access is seen as a key enabler to support the sustainability and transformation of general practice services through services being delivered in an integrated way at scale. The national and local core requirements of the extended access service are: — delivery of the 7 national requirements identified in the NHS Shared Planning Guidance (as they relate to: timing of appointments, capacity, measurement, advertising and ease of access, digital, inequalities and effective access to wider whole system services), — incorporation of specific features which address the national requirement for effective access / connection to wider system services thereby enabling delivery of the principles identified in the national Urgent and Emergency Care Review, — full patient record access enabling effective integration with in-hours general practice and responding to messages heard through public and patient engagement, — direct booking available to all CCG Member Practices, NHS 111 and the GP Out of Hours service as a minimum, — ability to flex and evolve over time in response to the needs of the registered patient population, including sub-populations within the south Warwickshire geography (e.g. GP Networks are established around populations of circa. 30 000-50 000 people), — maximum use of existing system infrastructure (estate, IT infrastructure, etc.) thereby minimising set up costs and maximising the value of the investment available, — ability to achieve service mobilisation within the required timeframe (by 03 September 2018). Service Scope: The new service will incorporate general practice services as defined in the national General Medical Services (GMS) contract and other services commonly delivered in a general practice setting (for example, screening programmes). The service will incorporate innovative delivery models e.g. service offers which target specific patient cohorts. Contract: It is anticipated that the most capable provider will, in summary: — hold a Lead Provider contract for the term of the contract, — manage some or all of the third-party contracts relating to the in-scope services, — transform the access to and delivery of general practice services, — meet a defined set of performance measures. SWCCG has a statutory duty to have regard to the need to reduce health inequalities and the appointment of a Lead Provider for an extended access service will be a key contractual mechanism for achieving this. The Lead Provider will be expected to work in partnership with other stakeholders who have an impact on the wider determinants of health and well-being and delivery of services to meet the overall contract objectives.