Pathology services

Tender description

The Lord Advocate, through the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has responsibility in Scotland for the prosecution of crime in Scotland and the investigation of sudden or suspicious deaths which require further investigation. As part of the process of investigating deaths, the procurator fiscal may, in order to establish the cause and mechanism of death, instruct post-mortem examinations at specified mortuaries. The intention is to issue a contract notice for these services in the coming weeks. The purpose of this PIN Notice is to carry out a market engagement exercise to provide information to the market and to gather market intelligence from organisations that can deliver these services to inform the creation of the tender documents and support the tender process. The aim is to give contractors as much notice as possible to allow them to start thinking about their plans for delivering the services and to prepare for the tender process. It is intended to award a 5-year contract with potential for a further up to 2 year extension. The Crown Office seek to procure the provision of pathology and mortuary services required by the crown for deaths requiring further investigation across Scotland. The initial intention is to split the procurement into four lots covering: Lot 1: North region (covering the local authority areas of: Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Highland; Moray; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; and the Shetland Islands). Lot 2: West region (covering the local authority areas of: Argyll and Bute; Dumfries and Galloway; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Renfrewshire; Eilean Siar; Glasgow City; Inverclyde; North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Renfrewshire; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; and West Dunbartonshire. Lot 3: East region (covering the local authority areas of: Clackmannanshire; City of Edinburgh; Dundee City; East Lothian; Falkirk; Fife; Midlothian; Scottish Borders; Stirling and West Lothian. Lot 4: All lots (covering all 32 local authority areas). The intention is to allow the contractors to bid for one or more than one (including all) lots. It is anticipated that the services required for each of the areas will include: post mortem examinations (one and two doctor post mortems examinations), minimally invasive post mortems, histopathology, neuropathology, microbiology, virology, bacteriology, radiology and the provision of body storage. These services will be required for both adult and paediatric pathology. There may also be a requirement for post mortem imaging but this has yet to be decided. In addition the service provider will be expected to provide suitable mortuary facilities (whether themselves or through sub-contracting arrangements) and mortuary staff and equipment to facilitate the provision of the post mortem investigations. The intention was to hold supplier engagement events to allow pre-procurement market engagement. However, in view of the current restrictions due to Covid-19, the aim of this notice is to give some information to the suppliers on COPFS's current plans for the timing of the procurement process as well as the design of the service. This will give service providers as much time as possible to prepare for any tender to be issued and also to allow service providers to feed back on the proposals by completing a questionnaire. The questionnaire should be uploaded onto the portal by 1 May 2020 at 12 noon. The Crown Office seek to procure the provision of pathology and mortuary services required by the crown for deaths requiring further investigation across Scotland. The initial intention is to split the procurement into four lots covering: Lot 1: North region (covering the local authority areas of: Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Highland; Moray; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; and the Shetland Islands). Lot 2: West region (covering the local authority areas of: Argyll and Bute; Dumfries and Galloway; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Renfrewshire; Eilean Siar; Glasgow City; Inverclyde; North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Renfrewshire; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; and West Dunbartonshire. Lot 3: East region (covering the local authority areas of: Clackmannanshire; City of Edinburgh; Dundee City; East Lothian; Falkirk; Fife; Midlothian; Scottish Borders; Stirling and West Lothian. Lot 4: All lots (covering all 32 local authority areas). The intention is to allow the contractors to bid for one or more than one (including all) lots. It is anticipated that the services required for each of the areas will include: post mortem examinations (one and two doctor post mortems examinations), minimally invasive post mortems, histopathology, neuropathology, microbiology, virology, bacteriology, radiology and the provision of body storage. These services will be required for both adult and paediatric pathology. There may also be a requirement for post mortem imaging but this has yet to be decided. In addition the service provider will be expected to provide suitable mortuary facilities (whether themselves or through sub-contracting arrangements) and mortuary staff and equipment to facilitate the provision of the post mortem investigations. The intention was to hold supplier engagement events to allow pre-procurement market engagement. However, in view of the current restrictions due to Covid-19, the aim of this notice is to give some information to the suppliers on COPFS's current plans for the timing of the procurement process as well as the design of the service. This will give service providers as much time as possible to prepare for any tender to be issued and also to allow service providers to feed back on the proposals by completing a questionnaire. The questionnaire should be uploaded onto the portal by 1 May 2020 at 12 noon. The Crown Office seek to procure the provision of pathology and mortuary services required by the crown for deaths requiring further investigation across Scotland. The initial intention is to split the procurement into four lots covering: Lot 1: North region (covering the local authority areas of: Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Highland;Moray; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; and the Shetland Islands). Lot 2: West region (covering the local authority areas of: Argyll and Bute; Dumfries and Galloway; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Renfrewshire; Eilean Siar; Glasgow City; Inverclyde; North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Renfrewshire; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; and West Dunbartonshire. Lot 3: East region (covering the local authority areas of: Clackmannanshire; City of Edinburgh; Dundee City; East Lothian; Falkirk; Fife; Midlothian; Scottish Borders; Stirling and West Lothian. Lot 4: All lots (covering all 32 local authority areas). The intention is to allow the contractors to bid for one or more than one (including all) lots. It is anticipated that the services required for each of the areas will include: post mortem examinations (one and two doctor post mortems examinations), minimally invasive post mortems, histopathology, neuropathology, microbiology, virology, bacteriology, radiology and the provision of body storage. These services will be required for both adult and paediatric pathology. There may also be a requirement for post mortem imaging but this has yet to be decided. In addition the service provider will be expected to provide suitable mortuary facilities (whether themselves or through sub-contracting arrangements) and mortuary staff and equipment to facilitate the provision of the post mortem investigations. The intention was to hold supplier engagement events to allow pre-procurement market engagement. However, in view of the current restrictions due to Covid-19, the aim of this notice is to give some information to the suppliers on COPFS's current plans for the timing of the procurement process as well as the design of the service. This will give service providers as much time as possible to prepare for any tender to be issued and also to allow service providers to feed back on the proposals by completing a questionnaire. The questionnaire should be uploaded onto the portal by 1 May 2020 at 12 noon. The Crown Office seek to procure the provision of pathology and mortuary services required by the crown for deaths requiring further investigation across Scotland. The initial intention is to split the procurement into four lots covering: Lot 1: North region (covering the local authority areas of: Aberdeen City; Aberdeenshire; Angus; Highland; Moray; Orkney Islands; Perth and Kinross; and the Shetland Islands). Lot 2: West region (covering the local authority areas of: Argyll and Bute; Dumfries and Galloway; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Renfrewshire; Eilean Siar; Glasgow City; Inverclyde; North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Renfrewshire; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; and West Dunbartonshire. Lot 3: East region (covering the local authority areas of: Clackmannanshire; City of Edinburgh; Dundee City; East Lothian; Falkirk; Fife; Midlothian; Scottish Borders; Stirling and West Lothian. Lot 4: All Lots (covering all 32 local authority areas). The intention is to allow the contractors to bid for one or more than one (including all) lots. It is anticipated that the services required for each of the areas will include: post mortem examinations (one and two doctor post mortems examinations), minimally invasive post mortems, histopathology, neuropathology, microbiology, virology, bacteriology, radiology and the provision of body storage. These services will be required for both adult and paediatric pathology. There may also be a requirement for post mortem imaging but this has yet to be decided. In addition the service provider will be expected to provide suitable mortuary facilities (whether themselves or through sub-contracting arrangements) and mortuary staff and equipment to facilitate the provision of the post mortem investigations. The intention was to hold supplier engagement events to allow pre-procurement market engagement. However, in view of the current restrictions due to Covid-19, the aim of this notice is to give some information to the suppliers on COPFS's current plans for the timing of the procurement process as well as the design of the service. This will give service providers as much time as possible to prepare for any tender to be issued and also to allow service providers to feed back on the proposals by completing a questionnaire. The questionnaire should be uploaded onto the portal by 1 May 2020 at 12 noon.