PRJ-1255-SEL ICB-Community Ear, Nose and Throat Services (ENT) ITT

PRJ1255 SEL ICB Community Ear, Nose and Throat Services (ENT) ITT

NHS South East London Integrated Care Board (NHS SEL ICB) (hereafter referred to as “the Authority”) invites Expressions of Interest (EOI) and completed Invitation to Tender (ITT) submissions from all suitable providers for the delivery of Community Ear, Nose and Throat Services under the NHS Standard Contract 23/24 for the boroughs within South East London (SEL) (“the Procurement”).

Background of the Service:
ENT services in SEL have been under pressure for several years. At the end of June 2023, over 22,000 patients were waiting for treatment, some for over 78 weeks. The SEL ENT non-admitted patient tracking list (PTL) grew by 13% between March 2022 and June 2023. Waiting times are long, with patients waiting over 32 weeks on average for a first appointment.

Given these factors, to reduce waiting times for patients and put ENT services on a sustainable footing, it is essential to capitalise on opportunities to increase capacity.

The main providers of ENT and Audiology care in SEL are:
• General Practice
• Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust (GSTT)
• King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (KCH)
• Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT)
• Adult Audiology Any Qualified Provider (AQP) providers
• Community ear wax removal service

NHS SEL ICB is looking to commission a community-based ENT service to diagnose and treat a range of ENT conditions within the service before final discharge back to the care of the patient’s own GP, or onward referral to secondary care where necessary.

Aim of the Service;
The aim of the service is to strengthen the ENT offering in SEL, by providing a link between primary and secondary care, building capacity and expertise within the community and diverting less complex activity away from secondary care.

The core service offer will include:
• a single point of referral for ENT, clinically triaging all referrals to reduce the number of inappropriate referrals to specialist services
• advice and guidance to primary care on management of patients
• a community service for management of patients with ENT conditions

Contract Length and Value:
The contract will have an initial term of 3 years (36 months), followed by an optional extension of 1 year (12 months) plus 1 year (12 months) at the discretion of the Commissioner. If all available extension is taken up in full the contract will have a maximum duration of 5 years (60 months).

The indicative contract value for this service is a minimum of £10,845,010 for 3 years and a maximum of £18,404,335 for 5 years). VAT inclusive, as applicable.

The indicated contract value shown is dependent on delivery of planned activity types and volumes.

Further details of the Requirements are set out in the Service Specification.

How to Bid:

The Procurement process will be facilitated entirely online via the e-procurement portal ProContract. It is requested for interested organisations to register on the ProContract e-procurement portal by following the below link;

https://procontract.due-north.com/Register

Interested Applicants wishing to participate in the procurement must register on the portal, express an interest, and complete the online questionnaires hosted on the portal prior to the deadline for submission stated. All clarification requests and correspondence pertaining to this opportunity must be directed through the portal. The deadline for any clarification questions is provided within the ITT Guidance Document.


The Procurement is being managed by the NHS London Commercial Hub (NHS LCH) hosted by NEL ICB, on behalf of the Authority, in connection with a competitive Invitation to Tender (ITT) exercise that is being conducted via a process, based in part on the open procedure under the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (“the Regulations” (as amended)).
The Service falls within the scope of the Light Touch Regime (LTR) – Section 7 (Reg 74-76) of the Regulations governing procurement of Health, Social and related services listed under Schedule 3 of the Regulations. None of the references to “Open procedure”, “ITT”, the use of the term “tender process”, or 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 LTR provisions.
Bidders are also to note that information relating to this procurement is provided in good faith, and may be subject to amendment by The Authority.