Request for Information - Community Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy Service (NHS Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG)

NHS Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) wishes to engage with the wider market via a Request for Information (RFI) process, in order to potentially inform future service model development and/or commissioning intentions for the provision of Community Services for the Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees localities.

This engagement exercise concerns the following Community-based Service: Paediatric Speech & Language Therapy.

The CCG is seeking to develop a service model for a high quality community-based

Specialist Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy service, for children & young people with disorders of speech, language or communication which may present as disorders of articulation, phonology, receptive language, expressive language, vocal quality, fluency or social use of language.

It is intended that the service will also provide coverage for children young people with eating, drinking and swallowing disorders. These disorders of speech, language and communication, and of eating, drinking and swallowing, may be associated with co-occurring conditions (such as developmental delay, learning disability, hearing impairment, neurological impairment, physical disability, cleft lip or palate, velopharyngeal dysfunction) or environmental factors (e.g. lack of stimulation). NHS Hartlepool & Stockton-on-Tees CCG has developed a draft service model for the provision of this service for the geographical locality of Hartlepool & Stockton-on-Tees.

Accordingly, the CCG wishes to undertake soft market testing in order to gain a better understanding of both the level of interest within the external market in the delivery of this services, and to understand whether further innovation and value for money can be derived via the proposed future service models.

North of England Commissioning Support Unit (NECS) is managing this process for and on behalf of NHS Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG. If your organisation would like to register an interest in responding and obtain a copy of the Request for Information documentation please go to the NECS E-Tendering Portal: https://in-Tendhost.co.uk/necs . If your organisation has not previously registered on the NECS E-Tendering Portal, please ensure that you do register in order to access the RFI documentation. It is free to register on the portal, which can be accessed at any time of day.

Once registered, to view details of the RFI exercise, please navigate to “NECS169d – Request for Information (Community Paediatric Speech and Language Therapy for Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees)” and select “View Details”. Please then select the button marked “Express Interest” – you will then be able to access the RFI documentation.

Any organisations who wish to provide a response to this RFI are requested to complete and return their response by 12:00 noon on 30th September 2015, by uploading them onto the NECS E-Tendering Portal using the designated placeholder.

Additional information: Following receipt of the RFI responses, NHS Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees may seek to hold 1:1 sessions with those organisations who submit an RFI response. It is envisaged that (should the CCG decide to hold such sessions) that these will take place during week commencing 12th October 2015. However, the CCG will confirm this with all responding organisations.

Please be aware that all communications and submissions will be conducted via the NECS E-Tendering Portal. A dedicated helpdesk is available should potential providers have any queries about, or problems with, the portal; 0844 2728810 (Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm) / e-mail: support@in-tend.co.uk.

PLEASE NOTE – this facility allows providers to express an interest in this proposed service. It is NOT a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire exercise and is NOT part of any pre-qualification or selection process. It is intended as an awareness, communication and information gathering exercise which will assist NHS Hartlepool and Stockton-on-Tees CCG to inform potential future service models and / or commissioning intentions. An Expression of Interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in the RFI process nor does it infer any preferential or special status on those providers who do submit an interest.