Community health services

Tender description

Agreement for the re-packing, re-labelling for individual use and distribution of stockpiled medicines into the community. The purpose of the procurement exercise will be to award a contract or contracts with distance selling pharmacies (DSPs) for the distribution of medicines to the population to treat Covid-19. The medicines to be distributed are currently unknown, as we await the results of clinical trials. These will be shared with suppliers as soon as is practically possible. At the moment, DHSC are working to a scenario similar to the first peak in order to ensure that a sufficient number of treatment courses could be delivered across the UK within a specified timeframe. The number of treatment courses that could need to be delivered under this scenario is: • around 3 million over a 3-month (13-week) period; • around 200,000 per week on average; and • around 600,000 in a peak week. To note, these figures are planning scenarios so may change as we get further information. For example, the ONS Covid-19 Infection Survey may provide better estimates of the proportion of people with Covid-19 likely to develop symptoms. Actual volumes may be lower depending on the progression of the pandemic. Different eligibility criteria may be applied that would also reduce the figures. These figures should not be shared with anybody who is not part of either an expression of interest (EOI) or a bid for this work. Therefore, we are asking suppliers to submit an EOI if they are: 1) able to robustly meet all their prescription nominations in the first instance (i.e. able to easily handle their BAU); and 2) meet the aforementioned delivery demand, be able to ramp up their capacity to meet this demand in a given timeframe or, if not all of it, state the proportion you would be able to be meet so we can make an overall assessment of the sector’s ability to deliver this requirement. In order to distribute these medicines in accordance with the treatment protocols established in the Covid-19 clinical trials, these medicines may need to be re-packaged down from their manufactured packs to a size that equates to a single treatment course. Even if they don’t need to be re-packaged, with the patient information included, they will need to be labelled for individual patient use. With the new label on the pack, they will then need to be distributed throughout the UK to patients who have been identified by NHS 111 or NPFS as needing the medicine to treat their symptoms (i.e. they are thought, after clinical assessment, to likely be suffering from Covid-19). This contract is intended to be used for the UK’s response to Covid-19 and beyond and will therefore last for 12 months from September 2020 with an option to extend for up to an additional 12 months.