- Scope of the procurement
- Lot 1 - Hub covering North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humber and the Midlands
- Lot 2 - Hub covering East of England, London, South East and South West
- Lot 3 - Tissue Establishment - North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humber & Mids
- Lot 4 - Tissue Establishment East of England, London, SE and SW
- Lot 5 - Fertility and Endocrine Restoration Services NW, NE, Yorks and Humber
- Lot 6 - Fertility and Endocrine Restoration Services EoE, London, SE & SW
Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
NHS England
1st Floor, Quarry House, Quarry Hill
Leeds
LS2 7UE
Contact
Anna Salt
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKE - Yorkshire and the Humber
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at
https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
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
Fertility service for preservation and use of reproductive tissue for service users who cannot store mature eggs/sperm who are at high/very high risk of infertility
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 85000000 - Health and social work services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AGCSU), on behalf of NHS England Specialised Commissioning (referred to as the Commissioner), is undertaking a market engagement exercise to understand the current and future capacity and capability of the potential providers within this specialised area. Interested parties are encouraged to register their interest and participate in the market questionnaire which will provide feedback to commissioners. Please note that this is not a call for competition although the commissioner would encourage all potential providers to respond to this market engagement exercise.
NHS England would like to identify suitably qualified and experienced providers who are interested in being part of an integrated single fertility preservation service for people at high risk/very high risk of infertility and endocrine failure.
A previous market engagement exercise was undertaken in February 2023 as part of the work to support the case for the service to attain NHSE commissioning which was confirmed in August 2023.
The key objective of this Market Engagement process is to update the market with detail about the finalised proposed model for delivery and the requirements of the service specifications. This will enable commissioners to assess providers’ interest, capability and capacity to provide this Service(s) to serve the population of England. The population covered by the service specifications include people who meet the eligibility criteria, supported by evidence. Given the specialised nature of this service, referrals from the devolved nations and further afield may also be received and accepted subject to appropriate commissioning arrangements and approvals.
The service will be delivered through an integrated hub and spoke model to support integrated service delivery. The Hub will be located in a hospital based clinical service and will provide the leadership, advice and co-ordination/monitoring for the overall fertility preservation programme. This model centralises the specialist fertility expertise in the Hub whilst enabling, ovarian and testicular tissue collection to take place in the service user’s surgical treatment centre (Spokes). The Hub and Spokes will work with a tissue establishment that can cryopreserve ovarian and testicular tissue with pathways into services that can provide fertility and endocrine restoration using cryopreserved ovarian tissue (but not for testicular tissue at this stage as this treatment is not yet clinically available).
It is anticipated that this service will be commissioned under 6 Lots as detailed below. The Hub(s)/TE(s) sites will work with a network of spoke sites. It is anticipated that direct awards will be made to the Spoke sites as part of NHSE existing arrangements with children and young adult cancer PTCs/BMT centres and are thus not identified as a separate Lot. Providers can express interest in one, multiple or all Lots, depending on their capability and capacity: The Fertility Service is a National Service and Providers who express interest in individual lots must demonstrate how they will work with other Providers to ensure equity of access and quality of service across England.
• Lot 1 – Hub covering North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humber and the Midlands NHS Regions
• Lot 2 – Hub covering East of England, London, South East and South West NHS Regions
• Lot 3 – Tissue Establishment covering North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humber Regions and the Midlands NHS Regions
• Lot 4 Tissue Establishment covering East of England, London, South East and South West Regions
• Lot 5 – Fertility and Endocrine Restoration Services covering North West, North East, Yorkshire and Humber and Midlands NHS Regions
• Lot 6 Fertility and Endocrine Restoration Services covering East of England, London, South East and South West NHS Regions
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: Yes
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Lot 1 - Hub covering North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humber and the Midlands
Lot No
1
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 85100000 - Health services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKD - North West (England)
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
As detailed in the PIN
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Lot 2 - Hub covering East of England, London, South East and South West
Lot No
2
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 85100000 - Health services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKH - East of England
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
As detailed in the PIN.
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Lot 3 - Tissue Establishment - North West, North East, Yorkshire & Humber & Mids
Lot No
3
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 85100000 - Health services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKD - North West (England)
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
As detailed in the PIN.
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Lot 4 - Tissue Establishment East of England, London, SE and SW
Lot No
4
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 85100000 - Health services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKH - East of England
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
As detailed in the PIN.
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Lot 5 - Fertility and Endocrine Restoration Services NW, NE, Yorks and Humber
Lot No
5
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 85100000 - Health services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKD - North West (England)
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
As detailed in the PIN.
two.2) Description
two.2.1) Title
Lot 6 - Fertility and Endocrine Restoration Services EoE, London, SE & SW
Lot No
6
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 85100000 - Health services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKH - East of England
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
As detailed in the PIN.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
20 May 2024
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
There are three service specifications that describe an integrated single fertility preservation and restoration service. The link to the service specifications is here: NHS England » Service specifications: fertility preservation and restoration
This notice is to advise prospective providers in the market of the commissioner’s intention to commission this service. The outcome of this market engagement will help inform commissioners of the current and future capacity and capability of the market and will be considered with other evidence to inform the commissioning approach. It is possible that as a result of this exercise, a formal tender process may not be required but instead a simpler provider selection process will be undertaken. Where it is noted that competition is absent in any of the Lots, direct awards may be considered. All providers will be notified of next steps following the conclusion of this market engagement exercise. An assurance process may be required if a direct award is recommended.
It is anticipated that the contract duration for this service will be 5 years, including an option to extend for an additional 5 years.