Health services

Tender description

NHS North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group is working towards the establishment of whole system urgent treatment service Collaboration through an Alliance contracting model. NHS North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group is challenged financially and by the demographics of a growing elderly population within an urgent care system which is currently fragmented, difficult for patients to navigate, open to duplication and facing increasing demand. The CCG has made the decision that working with a group of providers and establishing a whole system urgent treatment service collaboration (the UTS Collaboration) through an Alliance contracting model will be the best solution to provide an affordable, sustainable and fully integrated Urgent Treatment Service to support the developing Primary Care hubs in North East Essex. The scale and breadth of the services involved requires the involvement of several providers driving service transformation, sharing risk and responsibility and offering a range of unique and diverse perspectives whilst avoiding fragmentation of service provision. In August 2017, the CCG published an early engagement notice on the Contracts Finder website inviting suitably qualified providers to attend what became a series of market engagement events. In November 2017, the CCG published a Prior Information Notice inviting expressions of interest from providers willing to make the commitment to collaboration in an alliance way of working, and who believed they had the necessary experience in multi-disciplinary integrated care; willing to work with other statutory providers; willing to work with the current providers and capable of financially holding and managing the scale of risk through a degree of income risk. Only one joint expression of interest was received from a group of providers and it is envisaged that this group of providers will join with the CCG to form the Collaboration. The Full Members of the Collaboration are: — East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, — Anglian Community Enterprise, — Care UK, — GP Primary Choice, — The Mayflower Medical Centre, — North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group. Associate members of the Collaboration are: — East of England Ambulance Trust, — Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust. The CCG believes that this group of providers and supporting partners are uniquely placed to deliver an affordable, sustainable and fully integrated Urgent Treatment Service to support the developing Primary Care hubs in North East Essex. Due to the CCG’s commissioning exercise, which includes ascertaining that the proposed organisations are the most capable providers to best secure the delivery of the urgent treatment service and also due to an absence of wider competition, the CCG has made the decision to award the contracts below. The UTS Collaboration will be responsible for the provision of an urgent treatment service in North East Essex. The Services included in the scope of the UTS are as follows: — A&E in Colchester — Minors activity, — GP Streaming service at Colchester Hospital, — Walk in Centre in Colchester, — Minor Injury Units in Clacton and Harwich, — Primary Care Extended Hours. The proposed contractual term is for a period of 4 years with an option to extend by a further 3 years. In accordance with Regulation 72 (1) (a) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the services covered by the arrangement may change and expand as the partnerships develop through an Alliance agreement. Examples of areas that could be considered by the Collaboration for future delivery include further A&E activity, GP streamer, and Primary Care local enhanced service for extended access.