Scope
Description
This is a Pre-Tender Market Engagement (PTME) event only and is not a call for competition.
This PTME event seeks information for the potential procurement of a Supplier to provide Ophthalmology Services.
The purpose of this PTME is to:
• Help define the requirement.
• Help provide a better understanding of the feasibility of the requirement.
• Understand the best approach.
• Understand the capacity of the market to deliver and the possible risks involved.
• Gather views of the current market, specifically relating to existing and potential demand.
• Provide the market with an opportunity to ask questions, raise queries and any issues to be addressed at an early stage.
NHS Dorset ICB shall maintain commercial confidentiality of information received during the PTME.
About NHS Dorset
NHS Dorset is the commissioning organisation for the whole county of Dorset and undertakes the statutory responsibilities for clinical commissioning and is responsible for planning to meet the healthcare needs of people and communities in Dorset.
NHS Dorset vision is to make Dorset the healthiest place to live. By working together, NHS Dorset aims to achieve the best possible improvements in health and wellbeing for the Dorset population.
Background
Dorset population:
Dorset ICB serves a population of ~840,000 people. Our population is older than the national average with a quarter of people aged over the age of 65.
We have some extremely affluent areas such as sandbanks peninsula, alongside areas of deprivation including Boscombe in Bournemouth, and Weymouth and Portland in the West of the county.
Life expectancy is slightly higher than the national average at 80.5 for males and 84.8 for females.
There are areas of high and low population densities with rural and urban areas, bringing different challenges with access to care. The overall population is more dispersed than the national average.
We have a higher proportion than the national average with long term health conditions (19.4% vs 17.6%) with vast differences between the healthy life years enjoyed by the most affluent compared to the most deprived (variance of 19 years). 3% of the overall population is from a minority ethnicity, and these are mostly concentrated in urban areas.
Table: Age ranges for those registered with a Dorset GP who have not opted out of their records being shared for secondary use purposes.
Age band Population
0-9 68,473
10-19 90,037
20-29 88,708
30-39 102,916
40-49 100,875
50-59 108,507
60-69 110,423
70-79 94,074
80+ 63,030
About the proposed service:
NHS Dorset is seeking market engagement on ophthalmology services to aid development of service specifications and commissioning plans. A high-level ophthalmology pathway has been mapped, and we are seeking knowledge and experience from the market to further understand capacity requirements and innovative ideas to enable delivery of services whilst supporting the three left shifts:
• From treatment to prevention,
• From hospital to community, and
• From analogue to digital.
NHS Dorset is particularly interested to hear any solutions which safely move services from consultant-led care to other AHPs whilst ensuring good information transfer for those patients who require step-up and step-down care; and those which promote a risk-based approach to patient and capacity management without reducing patient safety or experience of care
Any contract award will under the Provider Selection Regime regulations.
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029
- 3 years
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 85100000 - Health services
Contract locations
- UKK - South West (England)
Engagement
Engagement deadline
11 July 2025
Engagement process description
NHS Dorset ICB invites interested parties to complete the questionnaire Dorset Ophthalmology Services by the 11th July 2025.
The questionnaire can be completed online at the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/9ithzdtjUd
If there is an issue with this link you can complete MSWord questionnaire version by requesting a copy from dorsetprocurement@nhsdorset.nhs.uk
A prospectus providing more information on this event can be requested via the dorsetprocurement@nhsdorset.nhs.uk which will include a Mapped high-level ophthalmology pathway.
Contracting authority
NHS DORSET INTEGRATED CARE BOARD
- NHS Organisation Data Service: QVV
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PGWM-4538-ZGJR
County Hall Colliton Park
Dorchester
DT1 1XJ
United Kingdom
Region: UKK25 - Dorset
Organisation type: Public authority - central government