Section one: Contracting authority/entity
one.1) Name and addresses
NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board
Aspen House, Stephenson Road, Severalls Business Park
Colchester
CO4 9QR
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKH3 - Essex
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://suffolkandnortheastessex.icb.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
PRIME Service to General Practice across Suffolk and North East Essex
Reference number
ACE-0715-2023
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 79500000 - Office-support services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
This is a voluntary ex ante transparency notice and is intended to provide notice of NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board’s ("the ICB") intention to award a 12 month contract term, for the provision of a PRIME Service to General Practice across Suffolk and North East Essex.
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: £119,453.06
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKH14 - Suffolk
Main site or place of performance
Suffolk and North East Essex
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
This is a voluntary ex ante transparency notice and is intended to provide notice of the ICB's intention to award a 12-month contract (from 1st April 2024 – 31st March 2025).
The contract value of the 12 month period is £119,453.06.
It is the ICB's intention to award this contract to the existing supplier, GP Primary Choice Ltd (GPPC) for the provision of a PRIME Service to General Practice across Suffolk and North East Essex.
Following a 12 month pilot project tested in response to identified needs within Primary Care, the ICB is seeking to extend this service for an additional twelve-month period.
This pilot has links to an earlier piece of work also delivered by GPPC, the Wrap Around Support and Recovery Group. This group was initiated and piloted to provide subject matter expertise to Practices where it became apparent that additional support was required to meet relevant standards of Primary Care service delivery such as those assessed by CQC.
The pilot undertaken within Primary Care, supported by non-recurrent Primary Care funding for 23/24, has undergone a full evaluation at the end of the pilot period, reviewing outcomes against need to determine future commissioning requirements. The initial outcome of the evaluation identified the need to secure ongoing provision of this service in response to General Practice needs.
With increasing pressures being faced across local General Practice, further conversations have occurred over the last year within the Sustainability and Resilience Programme, through engagement with Primary Care and key system stakeholders like the LMC, to understand what is needed to best respond to challenges faced now and into the future, and secure continuing high-quality care for patients.
This period of engagement has identified various interdependencies between existing commissioned services and further time is required to explore and understand the full impact of these interdependencies to inform future commissioning plans and the exact scope of service support offers required.
In the interim, to support the ongoing response to challenges and inform the development of the General Practice Support Programme, we will extend the PRIME service, for an additional 12 months.
GPPC who have delivered the service during the pilot period, are an established organisation within North East Essex, with key relationships and links with Primary Care as well as knowledge obtained about the needs within practices from the previous pilot term. This places them in a unique position to deliver this extension in a way that will support the ongoing realisation of the maximum benefits possible within the 12 month period, with minimal disruption to current service delivery, and no additional mobilisation requirements to inform future commissioning options.
This extension is necessary to ensure a thorough review of vital support arrangements for General Practice as part of the process in consideration towards the longer term arrangements for a substantive local support service once the contract comes to an end in March 2025, which depending on the outcomes from further review and evaluation could involve a competitive invitation to quote process, or a formal procurement in line with the relevant Procurement Regulations.
The ICB will award the contract utilising the NHS terms and conditions of goods and non-clinical services
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: Quality / Weighting: 100
Price - Weighting: 0
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:
The incumbent provider (GP Primary Choice Ltd) has successfully delivered this service for the past 12 months and has the knowledge, expertise and experience from close working partnerships with General Practice partners that is difficult to develop in a short space of time from any other provider.
This service retains in depth knowledge of the Practices it serves and embedded and trusted relationships with multiple partners, particularly in General Practice teams such as Practice Managers and Practice partners.. The current service provider has become known with local providers and has extremely positive feedback from all partners, which has taken considerable time and effort to obtain. Introducing a new provider risks disrupting these vital links, which would set back the service offer and increase the risks faced by General Practice.
It is well known that mistrust of services within this sector is apparent, hence relationship building has been a key requirement of this service throughout the course of the original pilot. GPPC has worked to develop relationships which support and enable access to key Practice data that assists in the identification and delivery of key quality improvement opportunities within Practices for the benefit of both the Practice and the population. It is believed that introducing a different organisation with different branding to deliver this service would significantly impact the ability to effectively engage with General Practice, due to the need to establish trust with individuals.
The service has experienced and trained staff in place that have worked locally within General Practice and developed that trust with General Practice teams which can flex to the needs of the Practices to maintain best practice throughout the length of the contract.
The ICB deem that changing providers at a time where General Practice are under increasing pressure and facing ever increasing challenges, would have an adverse impact on service delivery for the population that it serves. The ICB is therefore seeking to re-commission the current provider to continue its service delivery for the short duration of the 12 month contract to provide stability in a fragile environment.
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
Title
PRIME Team
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract/concession
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
21 December 2023
five.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire
GP Primary Choice Ltd
Unit 1, Block C, University of Essex Knowledge Gateway, Parkside Office Village,, Nesfield Road
Colchester
CO4 3ZL
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKH3 - Essex
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: £119,453.06
five.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
The Royal Courts of Justice
The Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
Country
United Kingdom
six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
The Royal Courts of Justice
The Strand
London
WC2A 2LL
Country
United Kingdom