Devon School Aged Immunisations Programme for NHS England South West

Tender description

The NHS School Aged Immunisation (SAI) programmes cover vaccinations to all children and young people of school age, whether they attend state school, independent school, complex needs schools or alternative settings such as home educated. NHS England Public Health Commissioning Teams are responsible for the commissioning of local SAI services under the Section 7a mandate in line with the national programme requirements and a national service specification. NHS England South West (NHSESW) is recommissioning the SAI Programme across the population of Devon. The current contract with the incumbent provider ends on the 31st July 2023, and the new contract will commence on 1st August 2023 with a 6 year initial term and the option to extend for up to 2 further years. NHSESW wish to secure the delivery of a high quality and safe immunisation service which achieves the highest possible coverage and in turn prevent avoidable illness and protect population health. Lot 1: The service will need to be sustainable, responsive, flexible and high quality in the long term and will need to offer the most efficient use of public funds and value for money. The provider must adhere to the national service specification and the SAI programme which currently includes<br/>• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations <br/>• Diphtheria, Tetanus and Poliomyelitis (Td/IPV) booster<br/>• Meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) conjugate vaccine<br/>• School-aged children’s Seasonal Influenza (flu) vaccinations <br/>• Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) catch up vaccinations.<br/><br/>The current eligible population is 158,498 and the majority attend one of the 410 primary schools or 65 secondary schools. We are looking for a provider that can provide continuity of service to the school aged population of Devon. The provider will seek to <br/>• improve uptake in all areas <br/>• maintain and expand on coverage of service <br/>• maintain progress to work towards a consistent service across the region <br/>• continue to provide targeted interventions to improve uptake in vulnerable groups <br/>• maintain excellent relationships with schools in the Devon area <br/>• maintain excellent engagement with stakeholders including service users to ensure the best service model is available<br/>• align with the national immunisation strategy<br/><br/>In addition to above the provider will work with NHSE within the term of the contract to-<br/>• identify priority areas for targeted investment to improve uptake amongst vulnerable groups <br/>• identify opportunities to invest in service development for the benefit of service users <br/>• reduce health inequalities by improving services<br/><br/>The overarching aim of the re-commissioning exercise is to secure high quality, responsive, flexible, safe and sustainable School Aged Immunisation services for Devon, from 1st August 2023.<br/>The school aged immunisation programme within Devon includes (subject to change): <br/>• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations <br/>• Diphtheria, Tetanus and Poliomyelitis (Td/IPV) booster<br/>• Meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) conjugate vaccine<br/>• School-aged children’s Seasonal influenza (flu) vaccinations <br/>• Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) catch up vaccinations.<br/><br/>In May 2022 a NICE guideline was published with the aim of supporting to increase Vaccine uptake in the general population [NG218]. Any new service must adhere to the recommendations.<br/>The following services are out of scope: <br/>• Children who are at school outside of Devon.<br/>• Travel vaccines<br/>• Any national programmes outside of the defined cohorts are not part of this procurement.<br/><br/>References made to standards and guidance throughout the specifications are in line with existing and current guidance; where standards and guidance are reviewed and updated during the life of the contract, School Aged Immunisation services must maintain compliance with any changes and as such the contract may be varied accordingly. Additional information: The Commissioners are holding a market briefing event via Microsoft Teams on 20/12/2022, Bidders who want to attend this event should contact the SCW procurement team through the e-procurement messaging system confirming the name and email address of those who wish to attend.