Market Engagement Exercise for Provision of Procurement for Dental Out-of-Hours services in Great Yarmouth & Waveney, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough for NHS England Midlands & East (East)

Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AGCSU) on behalf of NHS England Midlands & East (East) would like to invite potential Providers to participate in a series of interactive Market Engagement exercises, including a 'Meet the Buyer Day' which will inform the market of the intention to procure Dental Out-of-Hours services for Great Yarmouth & Waveney, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.

The provision of these services will enable the Commissioners to improve Out of Hours Services in Great Yarmouth & Waveney, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough in relation to access, which will provide dental care closer to home, improve patient experience, promote health and well-being and early intervention and prevention. Improving patient outcomes are focal points of the procurement of healthcare services within NHS England.

As a result of this procurement exercise an agreement will be established for a period of 4 years, with a service commencement date of 1 April 2019. TUPE may apply to this contract.

The Market Engagement Event will take place through a webinar (interactive session) at 6.00pm to 7.00pm on 20 August 2018. Providers will need access to a computer / laptop or other digital device, and attendance will be through registration only.

If you would like to register to attend the market engagement webinar then please express your interest through the Arden & GEM CSU procurement Portal - pqq_504: https://ardengemcsu.bravosolution.co.uk.

Providers will need to submit questions prior to the webinar, through the Bravo messaging facility, the Commissioners will provide responses to the questions submitted by Providers in the Q&A section of the webinar. Questions should be submitted through the portal by no later than 4.00pm on 15 August 2018.

The Market Engagement webinar will give Providers;

The Meet the Buyer Day will take place on Friday 10th August 2018 between 9.30am and 2pm. If you would like to register for the 'Meet the Buyer Day', please register through the Arden & GEM CSU procurement Portal - pqq_523: https://ardengemcsu.bravosolution.co.uk. Deadline for registration and submission of questions is 12.00 noon on 8 August 2018. Please see additional information attached, which provides information on what the meet the buyer day is about how to register and book a time slot .

Please note that an expression of interest in this market engagement exercise will not automatically entitle Providers involvement in any future procurement exercise. Any procurement conducted as a result of this event will be advertised separately and all organisations wanting to participate will need to respond to the procurement advertisement as and when it may be published.

Additional information:

It is intended that the ITT documentation will be available through the Arden & GEM CSU procurement portal from around 31 August 2018 for all completed ITT bids to be submitted by 10.00am on 1 October 2018.

. To access (please see web link below).:

https://ardengemcsu.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html

NHS England Midlands & East (East) would like to hold a 'Meet the Buyer day' with potential Providers. Providers will have the opportunity to meet with the Commissioners and ask questions about the Service that are important to them. A time slot will be allocated to each Provider which will last 15 minutes. Providers will need to submit the questions they wish to ask the Commissioners through the Bravo messaging facility prior to the 'Meet the Buyer Day', so that the Commissioners have the opportunity to provide full responses to the questions on the day.

In order to ensure equal treatment of all Providers, AGCSU will publish questions asked by Providers, with the Commissioners responses where common themes have arisen. This is unless the question is deemed to be specific only to the Provider asking the question, and is not considered relevant to the procurement process or ITT. Providers can indicate if a question is commercially sensitive or of a confidential nature. Providers must set out the reasons for non-disclosure to other Providers. AGCSU will consider the reasons for non-disclosure and if the question and response will potentially benefit other Providers, AGCSU will hold at their discretion the right to refuse such a request and will inform the Provider of the decision. The Provider will then have the right to withdraw the question.

How it works

Timelines

• Deadline for booking time slots and questions is 2.00pm on 8 August

Meet the Buyer Available Time Slots

11.30am