Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
729 The Ridge
St Leonards on Sea
TN37 7PT
Contact
Angela Alletson
Telephone
+44 3001314511
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKJ2 - Surrey, East and West Sussex
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
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
Virtual Ward GP Support Service
Reference number
ES/24/1268
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 85121100 - General-practitioner services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
A seven day per week service supporting the Trust Virtual Ward consisting of:
• Daily attendance and patient review at a VW virtual ‘board round’ to discuss patients – as appropriate
• Medical decision making & prescribing as required for VW patients
• Escalation to ESHT Consultants from relevant specialties to support the VW team
• Medical advice – available during working hours – for the Virtual Ward team
• Occasional home visiting (rarely required) if it is clearly beneficial and will
• Support the Virtual Ward team in communication and working with carers and relatives
• Support the Trust in the development of Virtual Ward pathways, VW awareness, and efficacy of access/referral/discharge processes
The GPs supporting the service are required to be able to offer face to face reviews occasionally and attend in person some development or service meetings, in a timely fashion and at short notiice – i.e. need to be working within East Sussex, able and willing to travel.
The GPs also need to be experienced in general, skilled in supporting acute illness and in particular for patients with Frailty.
The GP service must include GPs experienced in supporting virtual wards (to help with their own supervision and development).
The GPs supporting also need to be familiar with local systems and processes (e.g. HSCC, JCR, UCR, PSL etc arrangements). GPs in the service need to be able to maintain good relations with ESHT Consultants (where relevant) and other primary care colleagues in East Sussex.
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: £900,000
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKJ2 - Surrey, East and West Sussex
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
A seven day per week service supporting the Trust Virtual Ward consisting of:
• Daily attendance and patient review at a VW virtual ‘board round’ to discuss patients – as appropriate
• Medical decision making & prescribing as required for VW patients
• Escalation to ESHT Consultants from relevant specialties to support the VW team
• Medical advice – available during working hours – for the Virtual Ward team
• Occasional home visiting (rarely required) if it is clearly beneficial and will
• Support the Virtual Ward team in communication and working with carers and relatives
• Support the Trust in the development of Virtual Ward pathways, VW awareness, and efficacy of access/referral/discharge processes
The GPs supporting the service are required to be able to offer face to face reviews occasionally and attend in person some development or service meetings, in a timely fashion and at short notiice – i.e. need to be working within East Sussex, able and willing to travel.
The GPs also need to be experienced in general, skilled in supporting acute illness and in particular for patients with Frailty.
The GP service must include GPs experienced in supporting virtual wards (to help with their own supervision and development).
The GPs supporting also need to be familiar with local systems and processes (e.g. HSCC, JCR, UCR, PSL etc arrangements). GPs in the service need to be able to maintain good relations with ESHT Consultants (where relevant) and other primary care colleagues in East Sussex.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: 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:
This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by midnight 12/06/2024. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR. Representations should be made to esht.procurement@nhs.net.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section five. Award of contract
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
31 May 2024
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
South Downs Health and Care Ltd
12 Brodrick Close Hampden Park
Eastbourne
BN22 9NQ
Telephone
+44 7936917642
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKJ2 - Surrey, East and West Sussex
National registration number
10075871
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: £300,000
Lowest offer: £900,000 / Highest offer: £900,000 taken into consideration
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by midnight 12/06/2024. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR. Representations should be made to esht.procurement@nhs.net.
Decision makers: Simon Dowse – Director of Transformation, Strategy & Improvement and Abigail Turner – DDO, CHIC Division.
A seven day per week service supporting the Trust Virtual Ward consisting of:
• Daily attendance and patient review at a VW virtual ‘board round’ to discuss patients – as appropriate
• Medical decision making & prescribing as required for VW patients
• Escalation to ESHT Consultants from relevant specialties to support the VW team
• Medical advice – available during working hours – for the Virtual Ward team
• Occasional home visiting (rarely required) if it is clearly beneficial and will
• Support the Virtual Ward team in communication and working with carers and relatives
• Support the Trust in the development of Virtual Ward pathways, VW awareness, and efficacy of access/referral/discharge processes
The GPs supporting the service are required to be able to offer face to face reviews occasionally and attend in person some development or service meetings, in a timely fashion and at short notiice – i.e. need to be working within East Sussex, able and willing to travel.
The GPs also need to be experienced in general, skilled in supporting acute illness and in particular for patients with Frailty.
The GP service must include GPs experienced in supporting virtual wards (to help with their own supervision and development).
The GPs supporting also need to be familiar with local systems and processes (e.g. HSCC, JCR, UCR, PSL etc arrangements). GPs in the service need to be able to maintain good relations with ESHT Consultants (where relevant) and other primary care colleagues in East Sussex.
Noting the requirements above:
a) The current provider meets ALL the criteria
b) The quality of the provision to date exceeds expectations and is critical to service quality overall. The service provider has directly support innovation of the service, pathways, promotion or the service within ESHT and wider GP community. They are also working with us on innovating training for VW medical support.
c) The VW service and GP service provider have a well embedded and positive working relationship. The arrangement offers an exemplar for integrated acute, community and primary care working and collaboration – to deliver a service that offers better outcomes for patients and use of health and care resources
d) The GP service continues to offer significant value vs recruiting our own GPs, using our own consultant resource or using ‘agency’
e) The service recruits manages and provides GPs through the Federation. Lessons and challenges from the ESHT approach to recruiting in-house GPs for our UTC model indicate that this approach, working with the Federation, is more sustainable, more resilient and more cost-effective. (We are exploring options to use this model for other services)
f) The GP service provided is critical to delivery of the VW – which represents an increase in patient choice
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust
Eastbourne District General Hospital
Eastbourne
bn21 2ud
Country
United Kingdom