Request for Information (RFI) for The Provision of an Impacted Ear Wax Pathway of Care Service on behalf of NHS Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group

NHS Shared Business Services, on behalf of NHS Stockport Clinical Commissioning Group, are seeking information from Providers which will be used to help determine the commissioning approach for the Provision of an Impacted Ear Wax Pathway of Care Service for the population of the Stockport for all patients aged 16yrs and older. NHS Stockport CCG is seeking to commission a timely, high quality, evidenced based service for the treatment of ear clearance such as; compacted ear wax for non-complex patients.

The Provider(s) will be required to:

1.Give advice to patients on after care and self-care for patients who regularly need to have their ears de-waxed - including details of how to receive on-going treatment from the service;

2.Contribute to improved care of those with long term conditions ensuring effective multi-disciplinary approached where appropriate;

3.Provide a shared care approach ensuring communication and collaboration with relevant clinicians involved in the patient's care;

4.Provide a comprehensive, on-going, individual patient empowerment programme to enable patients to best manage their own care;

5.Provide information to aid service development including evidence of the benefits and impacts of the service;

6.Ensure the service is delivered in line with current policy, learning, best evidence and governance;

7.Operate within an agreed Governance framework, which includes a system of clinical and managerial supervision for staff with a focus on appraisal and continuing professional development;

8.Report clinical incidents and complaints in accordance with the CCG policy;

9.Learn from incidents to support the drive for service improvement;

10.Promote service peer review;

11. Comply with Care Quality Commission requirements.

Care pathway

•The service will carry out a full assessment of each ear. If treatment is appropriate within the scope of the service it will be given. If not and the patient does not meet the criteria the service will refer back to GP Surgery;

•Treatment for affected ears for the removal of wax/debris will be through irrigation or instrumentation or, where contra-indicated, micro-suction taking into account the exclusion criteria. Patients with non-complex ears may also elect to have treatment using micro-suction; •Patients with a history of problematic ear wax will be identified and specific advice given for on-going care and treatment;

•All patients will receive advice on self-care in order to reduce the frequency of treatment during their appointment. Patients will be able to self-refer where ear wax is recurrent although future treatment for the removal of ear wax only will be administered when required; •Patients who have hearing aids can also be treated for a build-up of wax and will be asked to make an appointment prior to their next planned visit to Audiology in order that their ears are clear of wax and so they can be properly

Additional information: Your RFI response will also help the CCG refine the service specification as well as inform the potential benefits of competition to improve services with regards to meeting the needs of service users, improving quality, value for money and better integration without destabilising service provision. You are therefore encouraged to respond to all questions as fully as you can to evidence the relative benefits of a potential competitive process.

To align Stockport's capacity for treatment for impacted ear wax per head of population, Stockport CCG needs to increase the current capacity by 8,172 episodes to offer capacity of 14,988 episodes of care. This would enable patients to have treatment within two calendar weeks/14 days, which supports the proposed pathway of care.

For the purpose of this RFI, the Contract duration for this Service would be for 3 years with the option for the CCG to extend for a further 2 years. The Affordability Threshold is estimated to be £100,000 per annum which is inclusive of a 2.5% CQUIN Payment.

Completed questionnaires should be e-mailed to Rachael_frank@nhs.net by 5pm on 3rd March 2017