Specialist Dementia-Related Neurology Service

This notice is to inform the market of the direct award of a 24-month contract to Cognitive Neurology LTD for the provision of Specialist Dementia-Related Neurology Services for NHS Sussex ICS ('the Integrated Care System') East commencing 1st April 2023.

Specialist Cognitive Neurology provision is a vital element for patients with a complex Dementia presentation and ensures that people presenting with complex symptoms receive an appropriate diagnosis and can access treatment and services appropriate to their needs. The contract forms an integral part of NHS Sussex (East) Memory Assessment Service (MAS) provision in the legacy H&R and EH&S CCG areas. The service provides specialist diagnostic assessment including MRI Scanning, Lumber Puncture and associated Neuropsychological and Electroencephalogram (EEG) testing.

NHS Sussex has directly awarded this 24 month contract to Cognitive Neurology LTD to ensure key organisational change and transformation objectives, including the development of equitable Sussex wide approaches to Dementia service delivery are delivered. The direct award acts to align existing MAS contractual arrangements.

This will provide the necessary additional time for NHS Sussex to complete and embed its necessary transformation work and to understand better and accurately specify future specifications for these services. This will then inform commissioning intentions which will be put to the market in 2024/25.

The direct award is made in the context of meeting patient need and improving service equity at a time of significant national and local strategic service delivery transformation; therefore the direct award is felt to be strategically and clinically appropriate.

Additional information: With the recent transition to ICS status a Sussex wide Dementia Pathway review is in process. The continuation of the existing arrangement for this service will ensure service continuity and patient safety, whilst the review process completes and the findings are collated to inform future commissioning intentions.

Refer to South of England Procurement Services to trigger the review process. This process can be further escalated to NHS Improvement or High Court of England and Wales.