Prior Information Notice for Diabetic Eye Screening Procurement for NHS England Midlands & East (Central Midlands) South Locality

Tender description

England Midlands & East (Central Midlands) would like to inform potential Providers of a potential procurement that will take place late 2019 / early 2020 for Diabetic Eye Screening Procurement for NHS England Midlands & East (Central Midlands) which will cover the following geographical locations: • Hertfordshire • Bedfordshire • Buckinghamshire • Milton Keynes Purpose of Service The Diabetic Eye Screening programme seeks to reduce the risk of sight loss amongst people with diabetes by the prompt identification and effective treatment, if necessary, of sight threatening diabetic retinopathy at the appropriate stage during the disease process. Screening events for persons with diabetes may comprise: - Routine digital screening - first stage of the screening pathway, where digital images are obtained, graded and a referral outcome is decided; - Digital surveillance - the pathway under which a person with diabetes requires monitoring on a more frequent basis than annual routine digital screening but there is no current requirement for the person with diabetes to be referred to hospital eye services (HES); and - Slit lamp biomicroscopy (SLB) surveillance - the method of screening people with diabetes for whom adequate retinal examination cannot be obtained by retinal photography. Service Objectives / Requirements This will be achieved by delivering evidence-based, population-based screening programmes that: • identify the eligible population and ensure effective service delivery designed to optimise uptake of service, • are safe, effective, externally and independently monitored, quality assured, and put meeting the patient's clinical needs at the heart of the service offer, • lead to earlier detection, appropriate referral, effective treatment and improved outcomes, • are delivered and supported by suitably trained, competent, qualified, clinical and non-clinical staff who, where relevant, participate in recognised on-going Continuous Professional Development (CPD), and Quality Assurance (QA) schemes, • have effective Quality Assurance and audit arrangements embedded in the service. Service Specification To ensure a consistent and equitable approach to the provision and monitoring of NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programmes (NDESP) across England, the local specification is consistent with the national service specification. The service specification for the NDESP outlines the service and quality indicators expected by NHS England (the Commissioner) for their responsible population. The current published national service specification can be found at the below link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/public-health-national-service-specifications.