Non-Obstetric Community Ultrasound Service for Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire

Tender description

The following is an invitation to a market engagement event regarding a potential future procurement exercise. Any details and timescales stated within this advert are for guideline purposes only and should not be taken as a guarantee. Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Groups (shortly to become part of a single Integrated Care System) are considering procuring a non-obstetric community diagnostic ultrasound service across both regions. The proposal is to go out to procure the same service across both areas but offer this out to tender as two lots, one to cover Buckinghamshire and one to cover Oxfordshire. The commissioners are looking for providers who can deliver a safe and clinically effective service that will provide rapid local access to diagnostic non-obstetric ultrasounds for patients registered within the specified population. The service would need to:  be provided across multiple locations to make it easily accessible to the people across the whole of the area they are covering.  adopt a whole systems approach to the delivery of care and ensure services are safe, effective, patient centred, timely, efficient and equitable.  be directly accessible for GPs and other qualified primary care professionals within the respective areas and will be requested via the electronic referral system.  accept referrals from other providers within the local healthcare system or the Out of Hours Service.  be compliant with all regulatory requirements and, where appropriate, will require CQC registration to be maintained throughout the contract period. The non-obstetric diagnostic ultrasound service the CCGs are looking to commission (for patients over 18 and registered with a GP within region) will include the following: • Upper/General abdominal ultrasound scans- includes assessment of the aorta (including screening of first-degree relatives of patients with abdominal aortic aneurysm), biliary tract, gallbladder, inferior vena cava, kidneys, liver, pancreas, retroperitoneum, and spleen • Pelvic Ultrasound Scans - including transabdominal and transvaginal • Renal / bladder / prostate scans • Scrotal / testicular ultrasound scans • Musculoskeletal (as referred by the MSK MATT service) • Vascular (excluding suspected DVT) The contract is expected to be for 3 years with the option to extend for 2 further years and is anticipated to commence on 1st February 2023. We will be hosting an online market engagement event on the afternoon of Monday 20th June and invite all interested parties to join. At the event we will touch on the contract model, service specification, activity and finances. We will be seeking views on appetite and ability to provide the service as proposed and will provide opportunity for open discussion and feedback. Providers interested in joining the event should contact Mark Stanbrook by emailing mstanbrook@nhs.net (and cc'ing caitlin.dyke@nhs.net) to express their interest.