CSW - Coventry & Warwickshire Community COVID - 19 Testing Service - AWARD

*PLEASE NOTE* - Due to an error with the e-tendering platform this project COV-9277 has replaced COV-9245. It is exactly the same project as COV-9245 but with a different reference number on csw-jets.co.uk. The tender document set will remain coded as COV-9245.

Project COV-9245 has now been archived and you are required to express an interest in this new project to continue with the process.

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The government launched the national NHS Test and Trace Service on 28th May 2020. This national service is designed to control the virus and enable people to live a safer and more normal life. The overarching guiding principles being Test; Trace; Contain; Enable.

The objective of this procurement is to ensure that swift and effective local provision of community testing is always available to support the multiagency SARS-CoV-2 outbreak response in Coventry and Warwickshire in non-health and care settings and to ensure capacity for prevalence testing (i.e. proactive testing) within specific communities/settings as required.

The service will deliver this by delivering safe, consistent, equitable, and high-quality COVID-19 testing within defined settings and populations, timely transport of samples to laboratories, and - subject to which tests are used - communicating patient identifiable and aggregated data to key partners. The service will also deliver training and support to allied workers to increase testing capacity within the local system to be able to respond to multiple local outbreaks.

A sub-regional outbreak control plan for Coventry, Warwickshire, and Solihull has been developed (with individual local implementation plans), with eight key priorities; one of these priorities is identified as 'local testing capacity'. The local outbreak plan is available here.

The local testing service will need to ensure a swift response that is accessible to the local population to support outbreak testing in non-health and care settings (which are supported through other routes), and for individuals who may not be able to access current testing sites/for whom home testing is not appropriate.

It is proposed that two service providers will be procured to deliver community testing (initially antigen testing via nose and throat swab) for outbreaks in non-health and care settings, and for individuals who cannot access testing via other means. Coventry City Council will lead the procurement and the service will operate across Coventry and Warwickshire. The service activity will be called off the contract alternating each provider as per requirement, with the highest scoring provider given first service referral.

The providers will:

Deliver testing sessions within particular venues/settings, e.g. schools and early years, workplaces, residential accommodation for homeless and vulnerable migrant communities (in outbreak scenario/as part of the proactive testing programme as required)

Deliver...