Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
NHS England
Quarry House
Leeds
LS2 7UE
Contact
Andrew Powell
Telephone
+44 7702433551
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber
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
Gender Dysphoria Epilation Pathway
Reference number
C95491
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 85100000 - Health services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
Management and administration of the gender dysphoria epilation pathway:
Arrange timely facial hair and surgical site epilation at suitable epilation providers for all patients with valid referrals (via NHS-commissioned Gender Dysphoria Clinics) from the service start date onwards. The assumption is that the service will process 950 referrals per year.
Provide information and support on epilation to patients as needed, including on epilation modality and provider choice.
Make timely payments to epilation providers, maintaining close financial control to ensure only valid invoices are paid.
Record data on epilation referrals and treatment.
Provide a central point of contact regarding epilation for patients, surgical providers, Gender Dysphoria Clinics and Pilots and epilation providers.
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: £1,503,975
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UK - United Kingdom
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
Epilation is commissioned by NHS England for the alleviation of gender dysphoria, as described in the Gender Identity Services for Adults (Non-Surgical Interventions) service specification. Epilation referrals, for both facial hair reduction and surgical preparation hair removal, are currently managed by NHS England regional commissioners. This business case proposes that this function is moved to the Gender Dysphoria National Referral Support Service (GDNRSS). This is a service provided by Arden and GEM CSU and commissioned by NHS England to manage referrals for gender dysphoria surgery, including giving advice to patients and providing detailed reporting to NHS England.
The national epilation referral service to be provided by GDNRSS would:
· Arrange timely facial hair and surgical site epilation at suitable epilation providers for all patients with valid referrals (via NHS-commissioned Gender Dysphoria Clinics) from the service start date onwards. The assumption is that the service will process 950 referrals per year.
· Provide information and support on epilation to patients as needed, including on epilation modality and provider choice.
· Make timely payments to epilation providers, maintaining close financial control to ensure only valid invoices are paid.
· Record data on epilation referrals and treatment.
· Provide a central point of contact regarding epilation for patients, surgical providers, Gender Dysphoria Clinics and Pilots and epilation providers.
Note: This business case was approved through Commercial Panel on 3rd February 2022 (Reference NHS-CSU-2021-615). Due to a change in the method of paying the invoices of epilation providers, the CSU is now planned to pay the invoices directly for efficiency and be reimbursed by NHS England, which has added £1.2 million to the business case (bringing it over the £1m threshold). However, it should be noted that the £1.2 million is currently paid to epilation providers by NHS England regions and under the current proposal would be paid to epilation providers via the CSU, reimbursed by NHS England on a pass-through basis, funded by top-slicing from regions.
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:
We did not consider it appropriate to engage with other CSUs, because a key feature of the proposal is that it is an expansion of the existing Gender Dysphoria National Referral Support Service run by Arden and GEM CSU, which has been providing good value. Benefits of using the same CSU include a central point of contact for patients and professionals regarding gender dysphoria referrals (for surgery or epilation) and the existing expertise of the Arden and GEM team regarding the gender dysphoria pathway and patient experience.
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
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
1 July 2022
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
NHS ARDEN AND GREATER EAST MIDLANDS COMMISSIONING SUPPORT UNIT
St Johns House, East Street
Leicester
LE1 6NB
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UK - United Kingdom
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: £1,505,000
Lowest offer: £1,503,975 / Highest offer: £1,503,975 taken into consideration
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales
Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
InternationalRelationsJudicialOffice@judiciary.uk
Country
United Kingdom