Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB
WARRINGTON
WA11QY
Contact
Siju George
icbprocurementteam@cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKD61 - Warrington
NHS Organisation Data Service
QYG
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk/
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Health
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Commissioning Support Services
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 75122000 - Administrative healthcare services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
NHS Commissioning Support Services, including the provision of subject matter experts, systems and administration support across a range of corporate services including but not limited to GP IT, Business Intelligence, HR and Employment Services.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £35,200,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKD6 - Cheshire
- UKD7 - Merseyside
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Prior to the formation of the Integrated Care Board, the 9 individual Clinical Commissioning Groups within Cheshire and Merseyside obtained corporate services from the Commissioning Support Units, namely GP IT Service Support, Business Intelligence, HR Business Support, Employment Services, Health & Safety Advisory Service, Individual Funding Requests, IT Service Desk, Risk and Incident Management Systems, Healthcare Procurement Support and Referral Management Services. The ICB has a requirement to continue with these corporate support services.
Each service provided by the Commissioning Support Unit involves a range of subject matter experts, systems and administrative support.
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB is publishing this VEAT notice to confirm ICB's intention to award the Commissioning Support Services contract to NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU and NHS Arden & GEM CSU. Following publication of the VEAT notice on 4th February 2025, there will be a 10 day standstill period, concluding at midnight on 14th February 2025. During this time if the ICB receives no substantiated objections, the ICB aims to enter into the proposed contract with NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU and NHS Arden & GEM CSU on or after 7th March 2025. Key contact to detail any objection to this VEAT notice - Procurement Team via email: icbprocurementteam@cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations
Explanation:
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below:
Cheshire and Merseyside ICB are publishing this VEAT notice to confirm its intention to enter the Commissioning Support Services Contract(s). Following publication of the VEAT notice on 04/02/2025, there will be a 10-day standstill period, concluding on 14/02/2025. Following satisfactory conclusion of the standstill period the ICB will enter the contract for 36 months, until 31st March 2028 with an option to extend for a further 12-month period. This notice has been published pursuant to Regulation 12 (7) of PCR 2015.
Commissioning support units were established in April 2013 from the remains of the primary care trusts and strategic health authorities as part of the reorganisation of the National Health Service in England following the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and supported a range of corporate services including those listed in this notice. The 9 individual CCG contracts, which make up Cheshire and Merseyside ICB, transferred to the ICB in July 22 and were consolidated into one master contract, the ICB went through a transformation programme to assess the value of the service lines and in-housed several services and re-tendered several more. The plan during the life of the contract will be to benchmark individual service lines, not protected by NHS England, to ensure quality of service and value for money.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
Section five. Award of contract/concession
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
30 January 2025
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: Yes
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit
Bennett House, East Town Road, Hanley
Stoke on Trent
ST1 2QB
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKD - North West (England)
NHS Organisation Data Service
0CX
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
NHS Arden & GEM Commissioning Support Unit
Westgate House, Market Street
Warwick
CV34 4DE
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKD - North West (England)
NHS Organisation Data Service
0DE
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £35,200,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
Service Description:-
Business Intelligence: Data processing, warehousing & infrastructure to support reporting in Aristotle and Analyst Server. Full suite of Aristotle Xi Business Intelligence reporting tools.
Continuous development of Aristotle BI portal. Aristotle training and support & Analytical Services.
Insights (Complaints/Incident Reporting): License and system maintenance to access the Customer Service and Incidents modules and provide support for use across the ICB.
Subject Access Requests (SAR's): Receive, acknowledge, and administer any requests for advice/information (as appropriate) that are registered with the Authority and are validated Subject Access Requests across the ICB.
Employment Services & HR&OD: The ICB requires a broad range of people services to support its local team with the operational management of its people through the entire employee lifecycle from starting to leaving. The following services will be provided as 'core' people services Recruitment, Employment Services, Workforce Information and 'At scale' Human Resources.
Individual Funding Requests: Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) have a statutory responsibility for commissioning services including medicines and other treatments for the population it serves within available resources and by prioritising between competing demands. As part of these duties, there is a need to commission services which are evidence based, cost effective, improve health outcomes, reduce health inequalities, and represent value for money. The IFR process can be used to enable proper consideration of a patient's individual clinical circumstances to determine whether to fund drugs or treatments for an individual patient when they are not available to others from the same patient group. This contract will provide the expertise and processes needed to aid IFR decision-making at scale, embedding fair and ethical decision-making based on equity, clinical effectiveness, cost effectiveness and affordability.
GP IT: An NHSE protected contract for GP IT Support Services including but not limited to Equipment Asset Management, Software License Management, Registration Authority, NHS Mail Admin and Support, IG Support, IT Procurement, Clinical Systems Training and National Digital Services Implementation.
Procurement: Ad-hoc procurement expertise to facilitate PSR procurement tenders.
Referral Management: Delivery at scale for GP Referral Management booking and choice calls and updates to E-Referral and/or Gateway for other C&M areas, removing pressure from Primary Care (GP Practices) including bespoke training to GP's, Providers and Commissioners on e-Referrals.
H&S: This service includes but is not limited to updating, writing, and supporting H&S, Fire and Security policy activity including procedures and generic risk assessments. Act as ICB's 'Competent Person' for Health, Safety (Fire) and Security management. Provide Annual Health, Safety (Fire) and Security Report for ICB Board and interim reports, covering all 9 places for Directors and ICB Board . Investigate reported Health, Safety (Fire) and Security related accidents and incidents that may result in public and employee liability claims against the ICB where Health & Safety competence is required.
Data Services: Services include but are not limited to monthly processing of data and update of databases and reports in accordance with the national timeframe for mandated SUS flows and/or published local timetables for other datasets, cleanse data, pseudonymise data in line with national guidelines and data storage.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
NHS Cheshire and Merseyside ICB
Warrington
WA1 1QY
icbprocurementteam@cheshireandmerseyside.nhs.uk
Country
United Kingdom