Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent GP Out of Hours Services - Service Specification Engagement Exercise

The Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent CCG Commissioners are seeking engagement with potential providers, sub-contractors and the market in general in relation to the service specification for future provision of GP Out of Hours services in Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent.

Interested parties are invited to feedback their comments in relation to the proposed service specifications.

A message from Commissioners can be viewed on the MLCSU Bravo Portal at https://mlcsu.bravosolution.co.uk. These documents can be viewed at ITT 827 and the closing date for feedback is Sunday 27th June 2021 17:00hrs.

It should be noted that the CCGs do not guarantee to consider or adopt any of the proposals put forward by the market.

The Commissioners are planning on procuring GP Out of Hours services across the six Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent CCGs effective from the 1st April 2022. The procurement will be split into two LOTs:

1. North Staffordshire - covering Stoke-on-Trent CCG and North Staffordshire CCG
2. South Staffordshire - covering Stafford & Surrounds CCG, Cannock Chase CCG, East Staffordshire CCG and South East Staffs & Seisdon Peninsular CCG.

The contract covering the South Staffordshire region is additionally expected to provide GP Out of Hours cover for the Staffordshire prisons.

The service specification aligns with the requirement of the National Service Specification for Integrated Urgent Care services https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Integrated-Urgent-Care-Service-Specification.pdf and will deliver the following core components of the service:

Receive calls from NHS 111

Receive calls from Health Care Professionals (HCPs) seeking additional clinical telephone advice for patients being attended in their place of residence or public place

Ability to consult patients by a variety of means including remotely, face to face either at specified hubs or in their own homes.

Provide GP support to the Clinical Assessment Service to assess patients requiring clinical assessment, this is in addition to the 'speak to' dispositions.

Please note that within Staffordshire we will be consulting on the future Urgent Treatment Centre (UTC) configuration across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, there is an aspiration that GP Out of Hours providers align with this offer in the future.

It is proposed that services will be awarded for a period of five years with the opportunity to extend this for an additional two years.

Organisations wishing to offer feedback can obtain the information at https://mlcsu.bravosolution.co.uk . Organisations should access the information and return any feedback in writing via the messaging service within this portal.

Additional information: At this stage this is an engagement exercise only and not a call for competition. This engagement exercise will be operated via electronic means using the internet. Midlands and Lancashire CSU is conducting this exercise on behalf of the Commissioners. Details will be made available via documentation and information released on the Midlands and Lancashire CSU portal at https://mlcsu.bravosolution.co.uk Candidates wishing to participate must register at https://mlcsu.bravosolution.co.uk

Candidates already registered will not need to re-register.

Right to Cancel: The Contracting Authority reserves the right to discontinue the process at any time, which shall include the right not to award a contract or contracts. This is not a call for tenders and the Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept any tender received, and reserves the right to award a contract in part, or to call for tenders should as considers necessary.

The Contracting Authority shall not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by any candidate or tenderer in connection with the completion and return of the information requested in this notice or any future related exercise.

All dates, time periods and values specified in this notice are provisional and the Contracting Authority reserves the right to change these.

Transparency: The Contracting Authority is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) and may be required to disclose information received in the course of this procurement under FOIA or the EIR.

In addition, and in accordance with the UK Government's policies on transparency, the contracting authority intends to publish procurement documentation and the text of any resulting contractual arrangements, subject to possible redactions at the discretion of the Contracting Authority.

Any redactions, whether in relation to information requests under FOIA, the EIR or policies on transparency will be in accordance with those grounds prescribed under the Freedom of Information Act. If and when this requirement is offered to tender, this will be done via electronic means using the internet. Midlands and Lancashire CSU is conducting this procurement exercise as a central purchasing body for another NHS body with whom the successful bidder(s) will enter into contracts for the supply of the services.

Any other public-sector body detailed within this notice, wishing to access the contract may do so only with permission from the contracting NHS body.

The CCGs reserve the right to change plans and proposals for any forthcoming procurement exercise as a result of feedback obtained and do not guarantee to consider or adopt any of the proposals put forward by the market.

Any queries or communications should be directed through the Bravo portal messaging service and the Commissioners reserve the right to broadcast any communications and/or fe