Home Oxygen Assessment and Review Service - Request for Information

On behalf of NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (Contracting Authority) and NECS - A Care Support System Organisation, it has come to our attention that a draft version of the technical questions for the forthcoming Home Oxygen and Assessment and Review Service procurement was shared with a potential provider organisation within the last few weeks in error.

The set of evaluation questions were shared with details of the associated scoring criteria and a copy of the final version of the service specification, so would have offered minimal advantage to any organisation having sight of them.

We believe that the new delivery model offers an improved service for our respective patient populations and consider that delaying the procurement is not in their best interests. It was not our intention for the information to be shared, but as a result we are taking actions to ensure a level playing field ahead of the start of the procurement process.

We are openly publishing the set of questions and weightings along with the specification that were issued in error, as part of a Request for Information process to gain feedback from any interested parties on the scope of questions.

We will be reviewing all comments in regard to the questions, weighting and specification and will make changes where we deem appropriate support a revised version of these documents being utilised as part of any future procurement process. This will ensure a level playing field for all interested providers moving forward.

We trust that these actions address any concerns that provider organisations may have and can confirm that the process will be conducted fully in line with the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (as amended).

It is important to note that this PIN is not a call for competition and as such potential providers will need to express an interest in any future tender opportunity once a contract notice is published on Find and Tender Service and on Contracts Finder.

To express an interest or view/feedback the Request for Information Documentation , please register on the In-tend e-tendering portal, which can be found at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/nhsnecsu and follow the registration instructions.

Please note that it is free to register on In-tend, which can be accessed at any time of day.

Should you have any queries, or are having problems using the portal, you should contact the e-Tendering provider by Email: support@in-tend.com or by phone 0844 2728810(Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5.00pm).

PLEASE NOTE: Request for information documentation will be available via In-tend from Thursday 22 September 2022 and the closing date 3pm on Friday 30 September 2022.