Market Engagement: Procurement for the provision of a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) for Surrey

NHS England is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from providers who have the capability and capacity to undertake a contract for the provision of a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) for Surrey, and would wish to take to part in a potential re-procurement exercise.

The procurement is likely to commence in August 2016, and the new contract is due to begin in June 2017.

The initial contract duration is currently anticipated to be three years, with the potential to extend by a further two years, but this is yet to be confirmed and the precise term will be advised at a later date. The maximum available funding for this service is expected to be £1.9million per annum.

In April 2013, NHS England became responsible for the commissioning of Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs). A SARC provides services to victims of rape or sexual assault regardless of whether the victim reports the offence to the police or not. SARCs provide immediate medical care and support for victims of sexual violence, with onward referral to other health and social care services. SARCs can see both recent victims and victims whose experiences were in the past, and can offer victims the opportunity to assist in a police investigation of their crime, including undergoing a forensic medical examination. The Surrey SARC also provides services for children and young people in partnership with community providers across Surrey.

The Surrey SARC is commissioned by NHS England under an NHS Standard Contract, working with the Surrey Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and other commissioning and provider partners to enable the delivery of Sexual Assault Services. These activities are coordinated from the local Sexual Assault Management Board.

A copy of the service specification has been made available to potential bidders with this notice.

Interested parties should be aware that the current SARC will be holding an open day on the 15th of July. This event is not a part of the formal procurement process, but would afford potential bidders an opportunity to visit the current centre. For further information please contact J.Fagg@NHS.net.

If you wish to express an interest in taking part in a future procurement exercise to identify a provider to deliver these services, please register on the In-Tend portal and submit a completed Provider Sounding Questionnaire by 12pm on 24th June 2016.

To register on In-Tend please visit:

https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Registration

The Provider Sounding Questionnaire can be accessed by selecting ‘View Synopsis’, visible in the Tender tab of the Tender Management page.

Please send the completed questionnaire by correspondence on the below project:

NHS E South (South East) - Procurement for the provision of a Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC) for Surrey SCW/NHSEQ81/00000223/2016

Further information in the additional text section

Additional information: Potential bidders should be aware that a previous procurement exercise took place in 2015 for this service, but did not result in contract award. Whilst commissioners will work to minimise duplication of effort in the tender documentation for any providers who took part in that process and wish to bid for this procurement, all parties should note that this is a new procurement and participation or otherwise in the previous exercise will not have any bearing on treatment of any bidders in this procurement, or afford any special dispensations.

Further, this notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit NHS England or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest. NHS England will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise.