NHS E Primary Medical Services in Chatham, Kent

NHS England are seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from providers who have the capability and capacity to undertake a contract for the provision of primary medical services to patients in the Chatham area of Kent and wish to take part in a potential procurement exercise.

The procurement is likely to commence in August 2016, and the new contract is due to begin in April 2017.

The procurement will be for the College Health practice in Chatham.

The contract term is envisaged to be for an initial 3 year period, with the option to renew for a further 2 years; this is subject to approval and the precise term will be advised at a later date. The contract will have an annual value in the region of £620,000. More detail will be available as the procurement process proceeds.

The vision at Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is to help people keep healthy and active and live longer healthier lives; not waiting until people become unwell for the health service to see them.

We recognise our role in reducing health inequalities in terms of both outcomes and access to services, and have placed prevention and health improvement at the heart of our strategic plan.

Medway CCG comprises 53 GP member practices from across the Medway towns, responsible for planning and buying local NHS services, serving a practice population of 309,033.

Our 2015/16 annual report identifies the following key points:

• According to the Office for National Statistics’ (ONS) mid-2013 population estimate, Medway's resident population is 271,105, an increase of 21,405 (8.6%) since 2001.. However net out-migration since 2001 has reduced overall population growth over this period.

• Approximately 2,000 Medway residents die each year (2,072 deaths in 2013), with significantly higher mortality rates found in males than females.

• The majority of the population (85.9%) in Medway are classified as White British, with the next largest ethnic group being Asian or Asian British (5.0% - not including Chinese). The three wards with the most ethnically diverse school populations are Chatham Central, Gillingham south and River wards.

• The population of Medway is slightly younger than the national average with a median of 37.7 years of age compared to the England median of 39.9 years.

Additional information: The outcomes that NHS England wishes to secure from the procurement include:

• Sustainable primary care, working at scale, based on Local Care Teams, aimed at integrating community based services around local populations
• Good access to services, both in Core Hours and beyond
• High quality management of long term conditions and health promotion

A Market event will take place on July 20th between 12.30 and 2.00 in the Medway area, to provide potential bidders with the opportunity to ask questions and hear more detail of the procurement process. If you are interested in bidding for this contract, please hold this date in your diary; more detail will follow nearer the time.

If you wish to express an interest in taking part in a future procurement exercise to identify a provider to deliver these services, please register on the In-Tend portal and submit a completed Provider Sounding Questionnaire by 12pm on 18th July 2016.

To register on In-Tend please visit:

https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Registration

Please send the completed questionnaire to Nicola.hayward@swcsu.nhs.uk by 12noon on 18th July 2016

This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit NHS England or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest. NHS England will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise.