Termination of Pregnancy Service

NHS Croydon Clinical Commissioning Group wishes to undertake an early market engagement for the provision of a Termination of Pregnancy Service (TOPS). This early market engagement invites interested service providers to complete and return the questions contained in the Memorandum Of Information, which is attached. Based on the outcome of the engagement NHS Croydon CCG will determine the procurement approach, including whether competitive tendering would be appropriate. If NHS Croydon CCG does determine that a competitive procurement is appropriate then the following indicative timescales are likely to apply.

The CCG is likely to offer a three year contract for TOPS with an option to extend for two years. The expected spend on this contract is circa £900k per year.

Termination of pregnancy - local context

Department of Health figures show that 2102 terminations were carried out for Croydon residents in 2014. This equates to a rate of 25.9 per 1000 resident women aged 15-44 as compared with the rate in London which is 20.9 and England & Wales which is 15.9 per 1000.

Croydon had the highest rate of repeat abortions in England & Wales at 49% in 2014. Croydon women under 25 who had a repeat abortion is 37% compared with 57% of women over 25.

Croydon demographics

The female population between ages of 15-44 is currently 81,000. This is expected to increase by 1.19% between 2014-19.

Service provision

The service should be accessible to Croydon residents and will be required to be provided 6 days per week with at least one late clinic on a week day open until 7:30pm. A telephone contact centre should be available for clients to understand what the service offers, their options, the risks, and book appointments 24 hours per day 365 days per year.

The Provider shall provide the service in accordance with best practice recommendations and guidance provided by Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecology, The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion – Evidence-based Clinical Guideline Number 7, November 2011.

For further information concerning the TOPS service, including proposed tariffs and Key Performance Indicators please refer to the attached Memorandum Of Information.

You are invited to complete and return the short market engagement questionnaire which can also be found in the Memorandum Of Information.

PLEASE RETURN YOUR RESPONSE ASAP, BY 12 NOON, MONDAY 25TH JANUARY 2016, BY EMAIL TO: CHRIS_WILLIAMS@NHS.NET