Pulmonary Rehabilitation Services - Birmingham (Market Engagement)

Current outcomes for NHS Birmingham CrossCity patients with COPD are significantly worse than average, with poorer outcomes compared to both West Midlands and England averages.

COPD patients assessed as having an MRC breathlessness scale of three or more are eligible for Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) services, together with a relatively small number of patients with other chronic respiratory conditions.

There is a strong evidence base for PR, with research studies indicating that it can reduce mortality, improve health related quality of life and reduce the need for secondary care activity to manage exacerbations.

It is the intention of NHS Birmingham Cross City CCG to start a procurement process for Pulmonary Rehabilitation services for the Birmingham Cross City region in the next few months. It is expected that these services will be based on the PR national service specification published in August 2012. (A copy of this specification has been attached to this notice).

To help the CCG develop its procurement strategy it is seeking feedback from the market through providers completing and returning a questionnaire. This questionnaire is available through the Midlands and Lancashire CSU eProcurement system. Instructions on how to access and submit this questionnaire are provided later in this notice.

Additional information: NHS Birmingham CrossCity Clinical Commissioning Group intend to launch a procurement opportunity later in 2015 to source a service provider (or service providers) who will enter into an agreement(s) to deliver Pulmonary Rehabilitation services in the Birmingham region. As part of the development of their strategy for the procurement, the commissioning Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is seeking to engage with potential service providers. Accordingly, we announce the launch of a market engagement exercise and invite any organisations that are interested in the opportunity to be involved. The engagement exercise will comprise the publishing of documentation and information relating to the opportunity together with an information request for potential providers to complete and return. Note: Participation in the market engagement exercise is not a mandatory requirement for participating in any future procurement process. A contract notice will be placed in OJEU / Contracts Finder when the CCGs are ready to commence the procurement process. Should you wish to participate in any future procurement process you WILL need to respond to the contract notice when published. It is requested that responses to the market engagement information questionnaire are submitted by 5.00pm on Thursday 30th April 2015 via the Bravo eProcurement system. EXPRESSING INTEREST IN TAKING PART IN THE MARKET ENGAGEMENT: This exercise will be conducted on the Midlands & Lancashire CSU procurement portal at: https://mlcsu.bravosolution.co.uk. Candidates wishing to take part in this market engagement must register their expression of interest through the portal as follows: i) Candidates should register on the portal at https://mlcsu.bravosolution.co.uk (registration and use of the website is free of charge). If your organisation has registered previously, you do not need to re-register. ii) Once registered, candidates must express interest by a) logging-in to the Portal, b)selecting response to advert and PQQ (search for reference number pqq_354 - note that the reference is "pqq", but this is NOT a formal pre-qualification questionnaire), c) select Open Access PQQ, d) search for and access listing related to this contract and view details, e) click on Express Interest link iii)Once you have expressed interest, access the My PQQs page where you can access and download documentation providing information about the market engagement process. You must submit your reply by the deadlines stated. For technical support in submitting your expression of interest, contact the BravoSolution Help-desk on 0800 368 4850 or help@bravosolution.co.uk. If and when this requirement is offered to tender, this will be done via electronic means.