Community Ophthalmology Service on behalf of NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group - Request for Information

NHS Salford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) wishes to invite suitably qualified and experienced Providers to express an interest for the Provision of a Community Ophthalmology Service in Salford. This service is designed to meet the needs of the Salford registered population, ensuring that patients can access the right level of care in the right setting. The main aims of the service will be the assessment and management of patients whose eye conditions are at low risk of deterioration who are either referred by primary care for assessment or discharged from secondary care for monitoring.

It is anticipated that the contract would be for an initial period of 3 years with the option to extend for 2 further years.

The CCG is seeking to engage with suitably qualified & experienced Providers to inform the most appropriate route to market. A Market Engagement Questionnaire has been developed for completion, along with a summary of the draft Service Specification. If the CCG decides to undertake a formal procurement process then this is anticipated to commence in November 2017 through a notice on Contracts Finder/OJEU notice, with the intention to have a contract awarded by April 2018 and for Service to commence by August 2018. This is also being advertised in OJEU. An expression of interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in any subsequent procurement process nor does it infer any special status on those Providers who do submit an interest. Neither will this notice or any organisation's expression of interest commit the CCG to undertake any procurement of the Community Ophthalmology Service and the CCG has a right to withdraw the notice.

Providers wishing to express an interest in participating in this RFI/PIN process should register their interest on the EU Supply Website to access the full documentation. To register on EU Supply please log on to the following website: https://nhssbs.eu-supply.com and look for tender reference number 29111. The RFI documentation should be completed and submitted by 12 noon 2nd October, 2017.

Additional information: The CCG is not liable for any costs, fees or expenses incurred by any party participating in the soft market testing/sounding exercise. Any procurement of any services by the CCG in due course will be carried out strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Any responses provided will not be treated as commercially confidential and may be used by the CCG in the final Service Specification used for the contract but no organisation will be individually identified.

If you need technical support on the EU-Supply Portal, please contact the EU-Supply Helpdesk on 0800 840 2050 or support@eu-supply.com.