Health services

Tender description

This notice is placed in order to facilitate early engagement with potential providers, and relates only to a pre-procurement market engagement event for an adult hearing service on behalf of the following NHS Greater Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs): Bury, Heywood Middleton and Rochdale, Manchester, Oldham, Salford, Stockport, Tameside and Glossop and Trafford. The procurement will be an Any Qualified Provider (AQP) process. The CCGs are developing its commissioning approach for the award of a renewed AQP contract(s) for an adult hearing service for the population of their CCG and intend to commence a procurement process to award a new contract(s) to provide the service from 1.10.2020 for a period of 3 years, with the option to extend for a further 2 at the CCGs discretion. It should be noted that under the AQP model, there will be no guarantees of volume or payment in the contract(s) awarded. Whilst the contract(s) will have a 0 GBP value budget, estimated costs associated with this service procurement, based on 5 years (including an option to extend for 2 years) is 33 300 000 GBP. The aim of the service is to provide a comprehensive service for adults experiencing hearing and communication difficulties who feel they might benefit from hearing assessments and rehabilitation including the option of trying hearing aids with aftercare and support, in line with the national commissioning framework, other national guidance and local requirements. The vision for people with hearing problems is for them to receive high quality, efficient services delivered closer to home, or a more convenient location within accessible transport routes, with short waiting times and high responsiveness to the needs of local communities, free at the point of access. Key principles of an integrated hearing service, within which the adult hearing service operates, are as follows: — improve public health and occupational health focus on hearing loss, — reduce prevalence of avoidable permanent hearing loss, — encourage early identification, diagnosis and management of hearing loss through improved service user and professional education, — provide person-centred care, and respond to information and psychosocial needs, including for the effect on partners (or service user’s chosen support) of living with poor hearing, — support communication needs by providing timely signposting to lip reading classes and assistive technologies and other rehabilitation services, — promote inclusion and participation of people who are deaf or hard of hearing, — compliance with clinical guidance and good practice, and — improve the service through research and development and the adoption of new evidence based technologies and practices. More detail on the proposed service and model can be found in the draft service specification. The CCGs wish to undertake soft market testing on the proposed commissioning model, therefore prospective providers are warmly invited to attend a pre-procurement market engagement event at 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. on 17.2.2020, at NHS Salford CCG, Salford Room, Mezzanine Floor, St James's House, Pendleton Way, Pendleton, Salford, M6 5FW. The CCGs would welcome attendance from those organisations or individuals who may be interested in delivering this service, either in their own right or as a subcontractor, to assist the CCGs to achieve a better understanding of the provider market. The event will be an opportunity to meet with the CCGs, network with other providers, hear more about the service and to provide valuable input by discussing the critical issues, challenges and opportunities that relate to future commissioning and provision of the service. The CCGs will use the discussions they have with providers and outputs form the event to inform the way forward in terms of the service specification and pricing model. In order to book a place and view the draft service specification, please register an expression of interest on the EU Supply e-Tendering Portal reference 38752. Please submit your completed market engagement event registration form via the messaging system on EU Supply, using the following link https://uk.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/edittransaction.asp?TID=38752, by no later than 4 p.m. on 13.2.2020. Please note a maximum of 2 places per organisation is permitted.