Oxygen-therapy services

Tender description

The National Contracts will be established by NHS England on behalf of Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), who have the responsibility for commissioning the home oxygen service for service users. The Home Oxygen Service (HOS) provides a service to users in their own homes and also supports users working and travelling outside the home through the provision of appropriate oxygen supply and equipment. The services include, but are not limited to; the provision of a customer contact centre; processing and delivery of home oxygen requests; supply and installation of equipment; training and guidance for Service Users and/ or carers; managing oxygen supplies through replenishment of cylinders and Liquid Oxygen (LOX); reimbursement of electricity costs for concentrator users; and servicing and maintenance of equipment. NHS England is looking to establish a series of up to eight (8) new national contracts for home oxygen services as the current Framework Agreement for home oxygen is due to expire. This will be a multi-lot tender comprising 8 Lots (Regions), with individual suppliers appointed to individual lots (regions). The home oxygen service provides a service to users in their own homes and also supports users working and travelling outside the home through the provision of appropriate oxygen equipment. CCGs, have the responsibility for providing the home oxygen service to patients. The services that will be included in the Contracts includes, but is not limited to: — the provision of a customer contact centre, — processing and delivery of home oxygen requests, — supply and installation of equipment, — training and guidance for service users and/or carers, — managing oxygen supplies through replenishment of cylinders and Liquid Oxygen (LOX), — reimbursement of electricity costs for concentrator users, and — servicing and maintenance of equipment. Suppliers must be able to deliver all aspects of the service and must support the service that they provide with a suite of reports that enable clinicians to monitor the oxygen usage for their patients, and to be alerted when Service Users are not responsive to risk assessments and maintenance. This is in addition to reports that support reconciliation.