Dental practice and related services

Tender description

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands CSU on behalf of NHS England — Midlands and East (Central Midlands) would like to inform you of an opportunity to provide Community Dental Services across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes. NHS England Midlands and East (Central Midlands) commissions a full range of NHS dental services on behalf of its population. The NHS 5 year forward view sets out new ways of working so that the NHS does more to prevent ill health and use its finite resources in the most effective way. It cites examples of multi-speciality working within community settings. We are using the philosophy of the 5 year forward view to develop the specification for community dental services. NHS England Midlands and East (Central Midlands) (the Contracting Authority) is seeking to identify suitable providers of Community Dental Services (CDS) as part of its strategy for the development and delivery of special care dentistry and paediatric dentistry across Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Northamptonshire and Milton Keynes. Key components of the delivery model: — Core CDS Provision — providing quality dental care to special care and paediatric groups and selected other hard to reach groups, in both clinic and community settings, — providing a range of public health functions for special care and paediatric groups. To limit the number of general anaesthetics carried out on children, the CDS will act as the gatekeeper for children and adults referred for treatment under general anaesthesia and sedation. Working in collaboration with Health Education England (HEE), NHSE, PHE, acute trusts and general dental practitioners to support this transition, — provision of dental services for Bariatric patients who cannot otherwise access other dental services, — urgent or emergency dental care for people who meet the criteria of this service, — advanced services either for patients receiving comprehensive care or on referral, — treatment under sedation including general anaesthesia, — domiciliary dental services, — oral health screening, — teaching and training for dental team members. This specification may also cover: — oral health promotion and epidemiolgy. The lotting strategy for this procurement is yet to be determined. A needs assessment and service review is being undertaken to identify existing need and projected future health needs of the population within this particular specialised cohort. The procurement will include a new pathway based around a single service specification with regards to paediatric referrals to eliminate pre-existing inequalities in the services. A GA pathway redesign is being conducted as part of this procurement process.