Community Pharmacy Technician Training and Development Programme (Pilot), Health Education England - NHS/SoEPS/16.315 Market Engagement and Request for Information (RFI)

HEE has been asked to commission a Community Pharmacy Technician Training and Development Programme that drives forward workforce transformation across the NHS to support locally delivered integrated care models. Upskilling the pharmacy workforce is seen as essential to workforce transformation and enabling the expansion of the multidisciplinary primary care team, utilising pharmacy's contribution to locally led and integrated care as described by the NHS Five Year Forward View. The Community Pharmacy Technician Training and Development Programme will provide support to post registration community pharmacy technicians to develop their professional and leadership roles within community pharmacy. The programme will provide both organisation and workforce development support for community pharmacies, and individual training and development opportunities for individual pharmacy technicians. The ambition is for the community pharmacy technician to be an integral part of the community pharmacy workforce, optimising use of their professional skills and knowledge, taking on management responsibilities and leadership roles within pharmacies that significantly contribute to delivery capability and capacity, and ultimately improve patient/service user outcomes and experience.

Bid evaluation will include quality criteria that reflects HEE Quality Standards. Following this procurement, training for up to 25 community pharmacy technicians will be available through a central provider. The providers and participating pharmacy technicians are expected to have an active participation in the programme of evaluation coordinated by NHS England's research and evaluation team. This PIN is to advise prospective providers of the Commissioners intention.

A Community Pharmacy Technician Training and Development Programme - Market Engagement Workshop will be held on:

Thursday 17th August 2017 from 9.30 to 12.30 at Friends House 173 - 177 Euston Road, London, Greater London, United Kingdom, NW1 2BJ

This will provide an opportunity for potential providers to find out more about the aims of the tender and contracts, the process involved as well as network with others. HEE will use the opportunity to gather intelligence from providers which may influence the final tender.

Please RSVP by Friday 11th August with the name, title, email address and telephone number for attendees (a maximum of two attendees per organisation) to:

HEE.pharmreforms@hee.nhs.uk

Request for Information (RFI) from Health Education England:

This is a process designed to help Health Education England (HEE), the Commissioner, to form a view of the best way to commission a pilot training and development programme for registered pharmacy technicians employed in community pharmacies and is not the beginning of a tender exercise. Providers are invited to access the RFI document at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/soepscommissioning/aspx/Home and respond by 12pm on Wednesday 2nd August 2017.

Additional information: This is an initial one-year contract with a maximum value of £325,000. These figures include VAT. Please note payment will be related to Financial Years.

The deadline for submission of completed RFI forms is Wednesday 2nd August 2017, via the In-Tend portal. Project title: Community Pharmacy Technician Training and Development Programme (Pilot), Health Education England - Request for Information (RFI), please access the RFI for the document. Should Bidders have any queries, or are having problems using the portal, they should contact the In-tend dedicated Supplier Helpdesk by calling 0845 557 8079 Monday to Friday (9am to 6pm) or email support@in-tend.co.uk.

The commissioner reserves the right not to proceed with the Procurement, or any part thereof, or change the requirements and timescales as necessary at any time.

It is the intention of the commissioner that the procurement will be conducted as on OJEU Service Contract using an Open Procedure under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The ITT is expected to be published in September 2017 with delivery of care home training to commence from January 2018.

A separate advert will be released advising when the procurement is live for submissions.