SC23191 Coroner Removals and Transfer Service

Tender description

Kent County Council is planning a procurement process to carry out their statutory obligation under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, to deliver a Coroner Removals and Transfer Service for the four Kent coroner areas ( Mid Kent & Medway, North-West Kent, North-East Kent and Central & South-East Kent). This Market Engagement exercise is intended to help the Council understand the level of interest in the opportunity, and potential service offerings from the market. The Council plans to use the information and feedback we receive to develop our plans for the future delivery of this Contract. This is an open engagement exercise in which both existing (operating under the current contract) and potential service providers are invited to participate. All interested organisations are invited to complete a Market Engagement Questionnaire. The council will consider feedback received and may invite a small number of the participants to take part in further Market Engagement exercises. The council will be in contact if you are selected to take part in these sessions. All responses to this questionnaire should be submitted via the Kent Business Portal, no later than 5pm on Tuesday 16th April 2024. All questionnaire responses will be treated as ‘commercial in confidence’. Alternatively, responses can also be emailed to joseph.kay@kent.gov.uk Lot 17: Proposed Coroners Removals Contract Lotting : 1: Sevenoaks A (above m25)  2 : Sevenoaks B (below m25)  3: Dartford & Gravesham  4: Tunbridge Wells 5: Tonbridge and Malling  6: Medway 7: Maidstone 8: West Swale  9: East Swale 10: Ashford  11: Canterbury  12: Shepway 13: Thanet 14: Dover NEK 15: Dover CSEK  Proposed Coroner Transfers Contract Lotting: 16: East Kent  17: West Kent Coroners are independent judicial officers, appointed by the local authority within the coroner area. Local authorities have a legal obligation to support the work of Coroner’s, to fund all the costs of the service and to provide the necessary resources to enable them to carry out their statutory obligations under the Coroners and Justice Act 2009. This includes the provision of appropriate contractual arrangements for the removal of the deceased. For the four Kent coroner areas of Mid Kent & Medway, North-West Kent, North-East Kent and Central & South-East Kent, KCC is the lead authority for the administrative areas of Kent and Medway. KCC is legally responsible for meeting all the costs of the coroner service. Medway Council meets its share of all the costs of the service and the basis for this arrangement is set out in a service level agreement. Coroners investigate deaths that have been reported to them if they have reason to think that: The death was violent or unnatural; The cause of death is unknown; or The deceased died while in prison, police custody or another type of state detention. When a death is reported to the Coroner, he or she: establishes whether an investigation is required; if yes, investigates to establish the identity of the person who has died; how, when, and where they died, and any information to register the death; and uses information discovered during the investigation to assist in the prevention of other deaths where possible. Coroners Removals The coroner may decide that a suitable practitioner (normally a pathologist) is required to examine the deceased and carry out a post-mortem examination to discover the cause of death. In this scenario, the deceased needs to be transported from where it is lying to a designated mortuary for further enquiries to be made (to hold a post-mortem if required). The movement of the deceased to the mortuary constitutes a “Coroners Removal”. In the cases where a post-mortem has been deemed necessary, the deceased needs to be transferred from the location of death to one of the designated post-mortem facilities below; QEQM Hospital, Margate William Harvey Hospital, Ashford Medway Maritime Hospital, Gillingham Tunbridge Wells Hospital, Pembury Darenth Valley Hospital, Dartford Coroners Transfer In some cases, it is necessary to transfer the deceased from a designated mortuary to another designated mortuary. These transfers can occur locally as a transfer between mortuaries within Kent and Medway but can occur outside of Kent. This is due to the specific expertise that different mortuaries possess (E.g. London mortuary specialises in child deaths, Brighton mortuary specialises in infectious cases etc.) Cases like these where the deceased is transferred between mortuaries are more commonly known as a “Coroners Transfer”. This procurement is seeking suppliers to deliver both a Coroner Removals and a Coroners Transfer service across the four Kent coroner areas. The providers are required to perform the services: 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year; For a coroner’s removal to be at the place of death within 1 hour of being directed to attend by Kent County Constabulary; For a transfer, to have completed it within 48 hours of being directed to do so by a Coroner’s Officer; The contract lots (1.6) provides a suitable breakdown of the areas that service providers will be able to bid for in the upcoming contract. This breakdown in service areas is provisional, as the Council will remain flexible to feedback from the market on the proposed lots for the contract.