Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
HEALTHCARE QUALITY IMPROVEMENT PARTNERSHIP
128 City Road
London
EC1V2NX
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKI43 - Haringey and Islington
Companies House
06498947
Internet address(es)
Main address
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
National Paediatric Critical Care Audit
Reference number
HQIP NCA 2130
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 85000000 - Health and social work services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement at the time of conclusion of the contract:
The overarching aim is to stimulate improvements in care for patients by measuring
variations in quality, experience and outcomes. During this contract period, the successful
tenderer will need to build on the achievements of the audit to date and enhance the ability
for the audit to be used for healthcare improvement.
Data is most useful locally for healthcare improvement when its provision to clinical teams is
timely, the data is refreshed regularly and appropriate tools, support and guidance
accompany the data outputs. The intent is for all of these features of the audit to be
implemented and improved during the period of this contract.
This re-commission provides an opportunity to move the audit on from data collection for
healthcare planning and research, to data driven healthcare quality improvement. Tenderers
should propose five clinically important, realistic and measurable (SMART) 3-year
improvement aims.
Tenderers should consider improvement aims from the following areas, but can also propose
aims from other areas:
• Reduce:
o the risk of dying
o unplanned extubation rates
o specialist PCC transport service refusals for urgent transfer
o the number of children transferred to a unit more than two hours (travel by road) away
o the central line infection rate
o the length of stay for children with complex medical needs
o the number of unnecessary cardiac surgery admissions to PCC Level 3
o emergency readmission rates
• Increase the proportion of parents and families who have excellent care experiences (with a
baseline measure)
The audit supplier will work with commissioners, funders, specialised commissioning and
operational delivery networks (ODNs) to create a coherent strategy for how the
improvement goals listed above, or similar, will be achieved.
two.2.7) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession
Duration in months
60
Section four. Procedure
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Contract award notice concerning this contract
Notice number: 2022/S 000-010764
Section five. Award of contract/concession
Contract No
HQIP NCA 2130
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:
6 December 2021
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract/concession has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
The University of Leeds
Leeds
LS2 9JT
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
Royal Charter, England
RC000658
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (at the time of conclusion of the contract;excluding VAT)
Total value of the procurement: £1,079,396.20
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership
London
Country
United Kingdom
Section seven: Modifications to the contract/concession
seven.1) Description of the procurement after the modifications
seven.1.1) Main CPV code
- 85000000 - Health and social work services
seven.1.3) Place of performance
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
seven.1.4) Description of the procurement:
The overarching aim is to stimulate improvements in care for patients by measuring
variations in quality, experience and outcomes. During this contract period, the successful
tenderer will need to build on the achievements of the audit to date and enhance the ability
for the audit to be used for healthcare improvement.
Data is most useful locally for healthcare improvement when its provision to clinical teams is
timely, the data is refreshed regularly and appropriate tools, support and guidance
accompany the data outputs. The intent is for all of these features of the audit to be
implemented and improved during the period of this contract.
This re-commission provides an opportunity to move the audit on from data collection for
healthcare planning and research, to data driven healthcare quality improvement. Tenderers
should propose five clinically important, realistic and measurable (SMART) 3-year
improvement aims.
Tenderers should consider improvement aims from the following areas, but can also propose
aims from other areas:
• Reduce:
o the risk of dying
o unplanned extubation rates
o specialist PCC transport service refusals for urgent transfer
o the number of children transferred to a unit more than two hours (travel by road) away
o the central line infection rate
o the length of stay for children with complex medical needs
o the number of unnecessary cardiac surgery admissions to PCC Level 3
o emergency readmission rates
• Increase the proportion of parents and families who have excellent care experiences (with a
baseline measure)
The audit supplier will work with commissioners, funders, specialised commissioning and
operational delivery networks (ODNs) to create a coherent strategy for how the
improvement goals listed above, or similar, will be achieved.
seven.1.5) Duration of the contract, framework agreement, dynamic purchasing system or concession
Start date
1 April 2026
End date
31 March 2027
seven.1.6) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession:
£1,799,396.20
seven.1.7) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
University of Leeds
Leeds
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
Royal charter, England
RC000658
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME
No
seven.2) Information about modifications
seven.2.1) Description of the modifications
Nature and extent of the modifications (with indication of possible earlier changes to the contract):
In addition to the existing requirements of the contract, the contract is modified to include Level 2 and ECMO workstreams. This modification was stated in the initial tender documents as a potential to be included when funding became available.
The additional work will be as follows:
The key tasks and objectives are:
- To collect data on Level 2 Admission and ECMO Referral and Admission.
- Support data entry and undertake data validation.
- Provide regular reporting outputs, to support reporting on a national scale, including data for the Specialised Services Quality Dashboards, as per the quality metrics defined by NHSE.
- Provide user access management for users at Level 2 units and ECMO centres, including PCC ODN/Clinical Networks, and where appropriate, NHSE national and regional staff
- Provide and undertake database maintenance.
- Undertake statistical analysis for the purpose of appropriate reporting and benchmarking.
- On-board newly designated Level 2 units.
- Conduct routine data validation with participating Level 2 units and routinely monitor data quality.
- Provide Level 2 units with a summary report based on their first year of data collection. This is an interim report for units whilst the expansion is still in progress. This provides units with a guide as to what can be produced using the raw data collected and available to download from PICANet.
- Develop a virtual validation visit schedule for the Level 2 units, with the aim of meeting with units once every 12 - 18 months, in line with the Level 3 programme of visits
- Conduct ECMO data validation via inclusion in the PICU virtual validation visits and six weekly validation emails and begin to address data completeness and quality issues.
- Maintain an ECMO Referrals data download and implement an ECMO Admissions data download for participating centres.
- Conduct ECMO Admission case ascertainment checks, harmonised with the PICU Admission checks.
- Present updates on the Level 2 paediatric critical care data collection and ECMO data collection to the paediatric critical care community at relevant meetings and conferences.
- Maintain the Level 2 Admission and ECMO datasets to ensure the collection is contemporary, in line with evolving technology, practice and other PICANet datasets.
seven.2.2) Reasons for modification
Need for additional works, services or supplies by the original contractor/concessionaire.
Description of the economic or technical reasons and the inconvenience or duplication of cost preventing a change of contractor:
This additional work was explicitly stated in the specification, pending funding agreement by NHS England. A change in contractor for a 12 month period would not be in the best interest of public funding. Additionally, this would duplicate work currently underway by the Authority as this additional work will be included in the recommissioning of this contract due to take place in 2026/2027.
seven.2.3) Increase in price
Updated total contract value before the modifications (taking into account possible earlier contract modifications, price adaptions and average inflation)
Value excluding VAT: £1,799,396.20
Total contract value after the modifications
Value excluding VAT: £2,201,876.20