ESX Non-Obstetric Ultrasound (NOUS) AQP

Procurement of a Non-Obstetric Ultrasound Service (NOUS) under an Any Qualified Provider (AQP) approach. The Commissioner is NHS Hastings and Rother as Lead Commissioner, NHS High Weald Lewes Havens CCG and NHS Eastbourne Hailsham Seaford as Associate Commissioners. The Commissioner is supported in this project by NHS South East CSU (SECSU) and its procurement partner NHS Commercial Solutions (NHSCS), which is managing this procurement.

A local, direct access non-obstetric ultrasound service with staff qualified to appropriate levels of skill and experience, using ultrasound equipment which complies with the guidance set by the Royal College of Radiologists, connection to NHS image transfer solutions, the ability to integrate with the e-referral system, robust performance management systems and stringent levels of clinical governance.

The care pathway being commissioned is pre-appointment communication with Patients, the diagnostic investigation and a report being sent to the referrer, which covers not only the description of the investigation and the findings, but also where appropriate covers any recommendations for further imaging or investigation and advice on management. Structured reporting will be encouraged to support local referrers in their options for further clinical management. The service will need to be fully quality assured, validated and supported by the local Commissioners.

With this AQP approach all bidders who complete the accreditation process to (a) demonstrate capability and capacity to deliver the service and (b) accept the standard NHS contract terms and conditions and (c) accept the Commissioner's standard tariff price will become qualified providers. All qualified providers will be offered the standard NHS contract with the same terms, conditions, and price. The contract will have no guaranteed minimum level of activity and no restricted maximum level of activity. Providers will be paid according to the actual activity level delivered.

Bidders should note that the indicative contract value is an estimated total cost of the service rather than an individual contract value, as it will be spread across multiple providers. The service has a tariff which is determined in advance by the commissioner and applied to all providers equally. The provider has no guaranteed level of activity, and hence no guaranteed contract value

The Commissioner will also use the accreditation aspects of the AQP process to gain assurance of provider's capability and capacity to deliver services commissioned as part of a bundle of general secondary care services not using an AQP approach.

Additional information: This procurement is being conducted using the Bravo eSourcing portal. Details of how to register on Bravo and how to access the procurement within Bravo are in the attached document "How to apply for this procurement". This procurement is identified on Bravo as project_1895 - ESX Non-Obstetric Ultrasound AQP itt_2037 - ESX NOUS AQP P2016-004