Procurement for the provision of Dental Helpline services to Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire

NHS England South West is seeking to procure Dental Helpline services for Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.

The Commissioners seek tender responses from providers who have the capability and capacity to undertake such a contract. This procurement is being carried out by NHS South, Central & West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners. The Commissioner will be contracting for the services using the National NHS Standard Contract. Contracts will be for an initial term of 2 years and are planned to commence from 1st April 2019. The maximum value of the service will be £93,352 per annum over two years. At the discretion of the Commissioner, the contract may be extended for a further 12 months.

The aim of the Dental Helpline service is to provide an accessible and equitable pathway for all callers transferred by NHS 111 within the BNSSG area region who require either urgent or routine dental care during the operational hours. This will be achieved by providing a single point of access for the effective triage and management of all dental problems, as an essential part of the delivery of urgent and routine dental care for patients residing in or visiting the BNSSG area.

The Service will ensure all callers transferred by NHS 111 as having a dental need, are appropriately triaged to the most appropriate service or offered appropriate advice.

The service will: -

Interested parties are invited to take part in an Invitation To Tender (ITT) process, based on the Open procedure, and designed to identify the Most Economically Advantageous Tender and therefore determine the incoming provider.

Additional information: Interested providers will be able to view the tender opportunity via the 'current tenders' list on the e-procurement system https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home

Or access the opportunity directly by following the link below: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/ProjectManage/538

In order to access the tender documentation you will need to 'express an interest' and register on the system. Bidders are required to respond to Selection Questionnaire and ITT questions directly within the system and attach any requested documents separately to the placeholders provided.

The services are healthcare services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations.

The tendering process will be conducted in accordance with the requirements and flexibilities provided by Articles 74 to 76 of the Directive, and Regulations 74 to 76 of the Regulations. The Authority will run a transparent tender process, treating all Bidders equally. For the avoidance of doubt, the Authority will not be bound by the Regulations or the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or any other regulations or legislation except for the specific parts or circumstances that apply to the procurement of these Services.

Neither the inclusion of a Bidder selection stage, nor the use of any language or terms found in the Directive or Regulations, nor the description of the procedure voluntarily adopted by the Authority ("Open", "Restricted", "Competitive Procedure with Negotiation", "Competitive Dialogue" or any other description), nor any other indication, shall be taken to mean that the Authority intends to hold itself bound by the Directive or Regulations, save by the provisions applicable to services coming within the scope of Annex XIV of the Directive / Schedule 3 of the Regulations.

The Contracting Authority intends to voluntarily observe the award decision notices provisions and 10 day standstill period described in Regulation 86 of the Regulations. Unsuccessful Bidders will receive scores and reasons for the decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning bid and the reasons why the Bidder/application was unsuccessful. Deadline for lodging of appeals should be in accordance with Regulation 87 and Regulation 91 of the Regulations.