Mid and West Essex End of Life and Hospice Services

Concepts

• health services
• essex clinical commissioning group
• chelmsford
• epping
• ipu
• mid essex
• home service
• west essex end of life and hospice services
• west essex end of life
• nhs west essex clinical commissioning group

Location

Mid and West Essex

Description

This is a Contract Award Notice made by the Contracting Authorities; NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, (hereinafter referred to as “the Authority”) in compliance with their local standing financial instructions (SFIs), for delivery of the following Services; an Inpatient Unit (IPU), a Hospice at Home service, a Bereavement service and a Rapidly Deteriorating Patients – bespoke care service, covering the population of Mid Essex. Additionally IPU, Hospice at Home and Bereavement Services are also delivered in West Essex. This Contract Award Notice follows the Voluntary ex ante transparency notice (2022/S 000-007491) published: 18 March 2022. All services will be contracted for a period of 24 months, from 1st April 2022 – 31st March 2024. The aggregate contract value is forecasted at £8,230,000 (including VAT) over the two-year term, equating to £6,858,333 (excluding VAT).

Total Quantity or Scope

This is a Contract Award Notice made by the Contracting Authorities; NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS West Essex Clinical Commissioning Group, (hereinafter referred to as “the Authority”) in compliance with their local standing financial instructions (SFIs). The contract award is made to Farleigh Hospice for delivery of the following Services; an Inpatient Unit (IPU), a Hospice at Home service, a Bereavement service and a Rapidly Deteriorating Patients – bespoke care service, covering the population of Mid Essex. Additionally IPU, Hospice at Home and Bereavement Services are also delivered in West Essex. … The Contracting Authority is yet to agree appropriate inflation and uplift for this contract for the period of 2022/23 and 2023/24. These will be dealt with as Contract Variations in accordance with the NHS Standard Contract Terms and Conditions. The Authority deems any such variations are not substantial or material changes, as they occur due to external causes beyond the Authority's control, including changes in contract value driven by changes in patient volume. The Authority will publish appropriate Notices accordingly to communicate any such future changes to the market, once final.

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 85100000 - Health services

Indicators

• Award on basis of price.

Legal Justification

The Service falls within Schedule 3 (‘social and other specific services’, also known as the “Light Touch” Regime) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) as amended by The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 (‘PPAR 2020’). The Authority is currently in a transitional period with the expectation to be superseded as a statutory body, by an Integrated Care Board in late 2022. The organisation shall have a key function as part of the overall Integrated Care System. At the current time, longer-term strategies across all sectors are under discussion and longer term commissioning decisions and or procurements cannot take place until these legal arrangements are confirmed. The Authority has therefore taken a decision to award a contract to the incumbent provider to manage critical risks and ensure consistency in provision of care that meet the needs of the population. The Authority has conducted relevant due diligence to establish this is an appropriate provider to deliver these services including evidence regarding the providers CQC status, which was a ‘no need for inspection’ this year due to submission, and positive patient experience reported; recipient of awards from voluntary sector body, Hospice UK. Additionally, the provider is considered most technically capable of providing the most economically advantageous solution to the Authority under the current environment whilst transitioning to the ICB, because the NHS is contributing to the overall costs for core Hospice activities/services being delivered by the provider already, and so gets a return on investment. The Authority is applying the NHS Standard Contract Terms and Conditions to support a combination of services, some of which are part funded and one service which is 100% funded under a single clinical contract, to ensure appropriate clinical governance and service delivery quality as well as consistency of service to patients. However, staff are not ringfenced to the 100% funded service and work across different areas.

Other Information

The Service to which this procurement relates fall within Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as amended by as amended by The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020, (the "Regulations"). As such, the Contracting Authority does not intend to hold itself bound by any of the Regulations, save those applicable to Schedule 3 Services.