NECS442

North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) is working for and on behalf of NHS England North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) to conduct market engagement to obtain input and feedback in preparation for the tender of an Ophthalmology (Cataract & Glaucoma) service for the following lots and areas:

• Lot 1 - Glaucoma - Newcastle/Gateshead, Northumberland & North Tyneside

• Lot 2 - Cataract - Newcastle/Gateshead, Northumberland & North Tyneside

The Contracting Authority would like to gather soft intelligence from the market and are publishing a Request for Information (RFI) for each lot.

The RFI and further documentation including a draft service specification will be available on the Intend Portal https://in-tendhost.co.uk/nhsnecsu/aspx/home from Thursday 19th August 2022 and the deadline for responses will be 12 Noon Friday 2nd September 2022. Please note that all communications and RFI submissions will be conducted via the Intend Portal. The portal can be accessed at any time of the day and it is free to register.

Please note that this exercise is not part of any pre-qualification process. It is intended as an awareness, communication and information gathering exercise offering an opportunity for provider organisations to help inform potential future service models and/or commissioning intentions.

To register an interest in responding to this market engagement exercise and obtain a copy of the Request for Information documentation please go to the Intend portal: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/nhsnecsu/aspx/home .

North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) is utilising an electronic tendering tool (In-Tend) (e-Tendering system) to manage this market engagement exercise and communicate with potential bidders in accordance with Regulation 22 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (as amended).

It is free to register on In-Tend, which can be accessed at any time of day providing you have a working internet connection. Should you have any queries, or you are having problems registering please contact the In-Tend helpdesk via: support@in-tend.com or call on 0845 557 8079 / +44 (0) 114 407 0065.

The helpdesk is open Monday - Friday between 9 a.m.-5.30 p.m.

Additional information: To register an interest in responding to this market engagement exercise and obtain a copy of the Request for Information documentation please go to the Intend portal: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/nhsnecsu/aspx/home