NHS England - South West - Provision of NHS Personal Dental Services in Rush Hill, Bath & North East Somerset

AWARD NOTICE - NHS England - South West (the Commissioner) sought to commission dental services for the delivery of approximately 14,000 Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) per annum, for patients living in and around the Rush Hill area of Bath & North East Somerset. The procurement was carried out by NHS South, Central & West Commissioning Support Unit (SCWCSU) on behalf of the Commissioners.

The purpose of undertaking the procurement was due to the Commissioner receiving notice from the previous provider of the service. The service was previously provided from Rush Hill Dental Access Centre, 20 Rush Hill, Bath, Somerset, BA2 2QH, and the new service will be required to be delivered from within a 3 mile radius of BA2 2QH.

The 14,000 are expected to provide dental services for approximately 6,000 patients (based on the NHS England - South West average of 2.3 UDAs per patient).

The Commissioner will be contracting for the Services using the standard Personal Dental Services (PDS) Agreement and an appended service specification. The Agreement is offered for a 5 year period which is anticipated to commence on 1st November 2018*.

UDAs are offered at a fixed price of £23.60 per UDA exclusive of VAT which is non-negotiable.

The successful bidder will be required to accept new patients from the start of the agreement. It is expected that the majority of patients will be those displaced by the closure of the service previously provided at Rush Hill Dental Access Centre, 20 Rush Hill, Bath, Somerset, BA2 2QH.

The successful bidder will also be required to work closely with the NHS England Commissioning Team in order to co-ordinate and promote patient access to achieve the expected level of dental performance.

The service specification is an appendix to the NHS (General Dental Services /Personal Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005.

*The Commissioner anticipated services to commence on the 1st November 2018, however if new premises needed to be sourced by the successful provider the contract start date would be negotiated during mobilisation with the Commissioner.

Additional information: The services are healthcare services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations, but is instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77).