Community Audiology AQP - South East London CCG

NHS South East London CCG is seeking to award new contracts for Community Adult Audiology services under an Any Qualified Provider (AQP) model. The aim of the service will be to provide a comprehensive patient-centered Community Adult Audiology service which will include the provision of hearing aids for age related hearing loss (non complex) in-line with national guidance (NICE) and local requirements for the patients registered with a GP Practice within South East London CCG.

New AQP contracts will start on 1st April 2022 and run for a period of three years until 31st March 2025 with a further extension option of up to two years to 31st March 2027. The indicative annual value of activity through the AQP is £2,700,000 (Ex VAT). Please note that AQP contracts awarded will have no minimum contract value as the contract value for a particular AQP provider will be dependent on activity and patient choice.

The Authority will consider requests from Preferred Bidders who are not existing AQP providers for a later contract commencement date. However, where any AQP contracts start later than 1st April 2022, the end dates will still be fixed at 31st March 2025 and 31st March 2027 (initial period end date and extended period end date respectively).

The Authority wish(es) to receive responses to the ITT from suitably qualified and experienced Providers with the necessary capacity, capability and premises (or a demonstrable ability to provide the necessary capacity and capability within the requisite timescale, which is notified to Potential Bidders in the ITT) to provide the range of Services as set out in the ITT, in a safe and effective manner subject to any conditions specified in the Contract or any tender documents issued in connection with the Procurement.

Further details on the service requirements and specifications, the tariff of payment, the draft contract and the procurement process and evaluation criteria is set out in the procurement documentation accessible via the tender portal at the following link:

https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert/Index?advertId=a92bab86-9073-ec11-8110-005056b64545

The Procurement process will be facilitated entirely online via the ProContract e-tendering portal.

Interested applicants wishing to participate in the procurement and join the AQP must register on the portal, express an interest in the project, access the AQP documentation and complete the online questionnaires hosted on the portal and submit these via the portal prior to the deadline for submission. The deadline for completed bid submissions is 9th February 2022 at 12:00 (noon).

All clarification requests and correspondence pertaining to this opportunity must be directed through the portal. A timetable for the procurement, guidance re: process, and supplementary information relating to the contract opportunity is also available for download from the portal.

Additional information: London Shared Services (previously NELCSU) is managing this process on behalf of NHS South East London CCG (The Authority). The services to which this advert relates fall within Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (the Regulations) and the "Light Touch Regime" (LTR) governing the procurement of Health, Social, Education and Other service contracts. This contract is below the LTR thresholds. Neither the reference to the "Open Procedure" or the use of the term "Tender process", nor any other indication shall be taken to mean that The Authority intends to hold itself bound to any of the Regulations, save those applicable to below-threshold contracts for Schedule 3 services.