Functional Assessment Clinical Assurance and Training Services (FACATS)

A Addendum Notice
by DEPARTMENT FOR WORK AND PENSIONS

Source
Find a Tender
Type
Contract (Services)
Duration
3 year
Value
£2M
Sector
PROFESSIONAL
Published
26 Jun 2025
Delivery
16 Aug 2025 to 15 Aug 2028
Deadline
14 Jul 2025 22:59

Concepts

Location

United Kingdom:

Geochart for 1 buyers and 0 suppliers

1 buyer

Description

The Authority intends to award a public contract under section 19 of the Procurement Act 2023 (“PA 2023”). This procurement for the award of that public contract is being conducted as an open procedure in accordance with sections 20(1) and 20(2)(a) of PA 2023 for the award of a light touch contract in accordance with section 9 of PA 2023. Overview DWP commissions the provision of circa 2 million Assessments per year, which are conducted on behalf of DWP by Healthcare Professionals (HPs) employed by suppliers that were awarded Functional Assessment Service (FAS) Contracts (FAS Providers). These Assessments are used to help determine eligibility to certain disability related benefits including Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Universal Credit (UC), Employment Support Allowance (ESA) and other Specialist Benefits. The FAS Providers employ approximately 5,000 HPs to conduct Assessments on behalf of the DWP. To conduct Assessments, HPs are required to have appropriate knowledge of the clinical aspects and the functional effects of a wide range of health conditions and disabilities as well as specific knowledge of how to conduct the Assessments and the related policy. DWP owns a suite of benefit-related clinical Core Training and Guidance Materials (CTGM). The CTGM currently comprises a total of approximately 700 documents with a total of circa 30,000 pages. The CTGM is broken down into two categories, namely: a) CTGM relating to carrying out Assessments which accounts for the vast majority of documents. In addition to providing the guidance to HPs and Authority Clinicians when conducting Assessments, FAS Providers are also required to use the CTGM to inform and develop training programmes and associated materials for their circa 5,000 HPs. b) There are several CTGM documents for use by Authority Decision Makers. This category of CTGM includes guidance for Authority Decision Makers who determine eligibility for Attendance Allowance and Disability Living Allowance for Children. In addition, DWP engages approximately 200 Authority Clinicians who will also use the CTGM for reference. DWP is committed to ensuring clinical CTGM is annually reviewed and of the highest quality, evidence based, in-line with best practice and free from bias. The Authority currently anticipates awarding a contract for the services (as further described below) for an initial period of 36 months with an option (at the Authority’s discretion and subject to governance approval, available funding and satisfactory performance) for the Authority to extend the contract for a further period of up to 12 months by giving the Supplier written notice of no less than 20 Working Days before the initial term of the Contract expires. Contract subject-matter The following Services form the overall scope of Services required by the Authority under this procurement: a) Clinical QA Service - carrying out a review of the CTGM; b) Annual Clinical Training Course Service - delivering an annual clinical training course; c) Educational CPD Materials Service - developing educational CPD materials. The above Services are required to be delivered in accordance with: a) the relevant sections of the Specification, which is set out in Appendix B of the ITS; b) the relevant Service Levels, as set out in Appendix C of the ITS; and c) the terms and conditions of the Contract, for which a draft is set out in Appendix D of the ITS. The Authority has considered whether the FACATS Services could reasonably be supplied under more than one contract by dividing the procurement into lots. The Authority has concluded that splitting the procurement into lots could make the requirement disproportionately expensive to manage and increase the technical risk to deliver the requirement. The Services will be supplied under one contract. Weightings for the Technical Qualitative Questions: The weightings for Technical Qualitative Questions apply to the overall question and the Supplier should ensure any areas highlighted by the bullet points are covered within the overall response. No individual bullet point has a separate weighting and, subsequently, does not have a greater or lesser impact on the overall question, which will be assessed as a whole. Information will be evaluated against the pre-determined criteria as stated in the ITS. Suppliers' Tender Responses will be scored in accordance with the scoring criteria set out below. The score awarded for each question (in accordance with the scoring methodology detailed in paragraph 168 of the ITS) will be converted to a percentage score (in accordance with the question’s respective weighting shown in the table in paragraph 173 of the ITS) to give a total score using the following formula: Percentage score % = (Score awarded / Maximum score) x Percentage weighting Example: If a Supplier is awarded a score of 7 (Good) for Question 1, the percentage score awarded for that question will be: Percentage score % = (7/10) x 22.5% = 15.75% The maximum score available in respect of the Technical Qualitative Questions is 70%. The different weightings reflect the relative importance of each question to the Authority. Example CTGM documents:

Renewal Options

The Authority shall have the right to unilaterally extend the contract for a further period of up to 12 months (at the Authority’s discretion and subject to governance approval, available funding and satisfactory performance) by giving the Supplier written notice of no less than 20 Working Days before the initial term of the Contract expires, unless terminated earlier in accordance with the provisions of the Contract.

Award Criteria

Question 2.2.1: Example of a contract for similar services Please describe, using at least one example, where you have delivered similar clinical QA services for a major organisation (public or private sector) and how you will use the experience gained and lessons learned to deliver the Clinical QA Service detailed in the Specification. As a minimum your response should: 1. Detail the scope of services you delivered to the organisation and how they have relevance to the Clinical QA Service. 2. Detail your performance levels in delivering the similar services and describe how you will use your experiences to ensure the Service Levels in the Contract will be achieved. 3. Detail examples of where your service delivery exceeded the requirements of the relevant service description / specification, where you added value and how this will positively impact delivery of the Services for this Contract. 4. Give an example to demonstrate how you dealt with blockers and issues including evidence of where things didn’t go well, what you did to improve the situation and the approach you will take to manage blockers/issues that may arise on this Contract. Please complete your response using Arial font size 12 limited to three (3) A4 pages (including any diagrams, illustrations, graphics, etc.). Do not include any embedded documents.
Question 2.2.2: Recruitment & Retention of Supplier QA Clinicians Please describe in detail how you will recruit and retain Supplier QA Clinicians (during the mobilisation period and throughout the life of the Contract) to deliver the Clinical QA Service. Please include your rationale and evidence to support your approach. Also detail the processes your organisation will put in place to ensure no excluded person is employed or contracted by the Supplier for the role of Supplier QA Clinician (i.e. as detailed is Section 4.2.3 of the Specification which states if such person is currently employed or contracted by a FAS Provider (either directly or indirectly) to carry out the role of a Clinical Author on behalf of such FAS Provider, they cannot deliver services under this Contract). Your response should reflect any variance in approach for the following categories of Supplier QA Clinicians: • Supplier QA Clinicians directly employed by you, the Supplier organisation. • Supplier QA Clinicians employed by Sub-contractors; • Self-employed Supplier QA Clinicians with whom you propose to contract directly. As a minimum your response should: 1. Outline how you will ensure suitably qualified (i.e. meeting the credentials detailed in the Specification) and motivated Supplier QA Clinicians will be recruited: (i) initially to support a successful service commencement; and, (ii) throughout the life of the contract. 2. Outline how you will ensure no excluded person is employed or contracted by the Supplier for the role of Supplier QA Clinician. 3. Detail your proposed process for Supplier QA Clinician retention to support consistent delivery of the Clinical QA Service. 4. Detail how you will monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your proposed recruitment and retention approach. 5. Describe the key recruitment and retention challenges you envisage in relation to delivery of the Services and how you plan to overcome them (e.g. recruiting in a highly competitive market, ensuring the job description and expectations of the role are clear). 6. Describe how your Supplier QA Clinician resource planning assumptions allow for flexibility to respond to any factors including Supplier QA Clinician absence (e.g., Maternity/Paternity, long/short term sickness absence, annual leave), attrition (including during recruitment, on-boarding and initial training periods). Please complete your response using Arial font size 12 limited to three (3) A4 pages (including any diagrams, illustrations, graphics, etc.). Do not include any embedded documents.
Question 2.2.3: Skills and development of Supplier QA Clinicians Please describe in detail how you will ensure that Supplier QA Clinicians delivering the Clinical QA Service possess and retain the necessary skills, experience, and competencies to deliver as set out in the Specification throughout the life of the Contract. Please include your rationale and evidence to support your approach. Your response should reflect any variance in approach for the following categories of Supplier QA Clinicians: • Supplier QA Clinicians directly employed by you, the Supplier organisation; • Supplier QA Clinicians employed by Sub-contractors; • Self-employed Supplier QA Clinicians with whom you propose to contract directly. As a minimum, your response should: 1. Outline how you will approach and deliver specific training/upskilling for the Clinical QA Service: (i) initially to support a successful service commencement; and, (ii) throughout the life of the contract. 2. Detail the skills and experience of Supplier QA Clinicians in respect of functional impacts of disease and disability on a person's daily living activities and how such skills/experience will be maintained and kept up to date throughout the life of the contract. 3. Explain how you will assess and monitor competence of Supplier QA Clinicians to carry out the Clinical QA Service initially and throughout the life of the contract. Please complete your response using Arial font size 12 limited to two(2) A4 pages (including any diagrams, illustrations, graphics, etc.). Do not include any embedded documents.
Question 2.2.4: Quality of the Clinical QA Service Please describe in detail the processes you will put in place to manage, monitor, and report on the quality and consistency of CTGM document reviews under the Clinical QA Service to be carried out by Supplier QA Clinicians. Please include your rationale and evidence to support your approach. As a minimum, your response should; 1. Detail your processes for ensuring consistency of delivering the Clinical QA Service and avoidance of conflicting comments when reviewing similar CTGM documents (e.g. two separate CTGM documents which may cover asthma and ensuring both documents cross-reference to the same sources of clinical guidance). 2. Detail your processes for monitoring and analysing trends, managing, and improving all aspects of quality across your delivery to ensure what is detailed in the Specification are met, including performance against KPIs, management information, and any other reporting requirements. 3. Explain how improvement actions in relation to Clinical QA Service quality will be identified and undertaken to positively support the Supplier QA Clinicians in their performance and development. Please complete your response using Arial font size 12 limited to two (2) A4 pages (including any diagrams, illustrations, graphics, etc.). Do not include any embedded documents.
Question 2.2.5: Development and delivery of the Annual Clinical Training Course Service Please describe, using examples from previous experience, your approach to the development of training materials required under the Annual Clinical Training Course Service and how you will use the experience gained and lessons learned to deliver an excellent educational experience to all Authority Clinicians who participate at the face-to-face annual clinical training course. Please include your delivery methods and strategies to maintain engagement. As a minimum, your response should: 1. Detail how the Annual Clinical Training Course you develop will meet the requirements set out in Section 5.2 of the Specification. 2. Outline how you will approach and develop training, especially for content related to functional impacts of disease and disability on a person's daily living activities. 3. Detail the skills and experience within your organisation of training presenters / facilitators who can deliver engaging face-to-face CPD training courses. 4. Detail your approach to collaborating with DWP to co-create the learning objectives for the training course to ensure it meets the training needs of Authority Clinicians in maintaining up-to-date relevant clinical knowledge. 5. Describe, using examples from previous experience, how you will gather and review feedback and how this will be used to improve on the following years Annual Clinical Training Course Service. Please complete your response using Arial font size 12 limited to three (3) A4 pages (including any diagrams, illustrations, graphics, etc.). Do not include any embedded documents.
Question 2.2.6: Development and delivery of the Educational CPD Materials Service Please describe, using examples from previous experience, your approach to the development of educational CPD materials required under the Educational CPD Materials Service and how you will use the experience gained and lessons learned to ensure such materials are relevant, based upon functional impacts of disease, up-to-date, and engaging for a wide range of Authority Clinicians. Please include your delivery methods and strategies to maintain engagement. As a minimum, your response should: 1. Detail how the educational CPD materials you develop will meet the requirements set out in Section 6.2 of the Specification. 2. Outline how you will approach and develop educational CPD materials, especially for content related to functional impacts of disease and disability on a person's daily living activities. 3. Detail your approach to collaborating with DWP to co-create the learning objectives for the educational CPD materials to ensure they meet the CPD needs of Authority Clinicians in maintaining up-to-date relevant clinical knowledge. 4. Detail the skills and experience within your organisation to develop, publish and host CPD content that can be accessed by Authority Clinicians. 5. Describe, using examples from previous experience, how you will gather feedback and how this will be used to improve on the following years Educational CPD Materials Service. Please complete your response using Arial font size 12 limited to three (3) A4 pages (including any diagrams, illustrations, graphics, etc.). Do not include any embedded documents.
Commercial Envelope Price Methodology Any Tender which exceeds the Authority’s available budget for the first year of the Contract shall be treated as non-compliant and rejected. The Authority’s available budget for the first year of the Contract is £406,667 excluding VAT (i.e. £488,000 including VAT). If it appears to the Authority that any Tender may be abnormally low then the Authority may ask the Supplier to explain its price or costs. If following the Supplier's explanation, the Authority is not satisfied with the Supplier's account for the low level of price or cost in the Tender, the Authority may treat the Tender as non-compliant and reject it. Financial information should be submitted by Suppliers using the Pricing Quotation Template on the Portal. Further details on how to complete this Commercial Envelope can be found in the Pricing Quotation Template on the Portal. Financial Evaluation Methodology The weighting for pricing in the Commercial Envelope is 30% of the total available for the Tender. The price per Billable Page quoted by the Supplier for the Clinical QA Service will be multiplied by the total number of Billable Pages estimated per year, as detailed in the 'CTGM volumetrics' tab, i.e. 29,222 Billable Pages. The resulting value will be the Suppliers total Charges for the Clinical QA Service. The Suppliers total anticipated Charges for the Clinical QA Service will be added to the Suppliers quoted annual fixed prices for the Annual Clinical Training Course Service and the Educational CPD Materials Service. The resulting value will be the Suppliers total annual Charges for all Services. Each Supplier will be given a score under this Commercial Envelope using the calculation below: Calculation: ( A / B ) x 30% Where: A = the lowest total annual Charges for all Services from the Supplier who submitted the lowest total annual Charges; B = the total annual Charges for all Services for the Supplier being evaluated. Completing the Pricing Quotation Template You must complete the Pricing Quotation Template electronically using the spreadsheet provided. To open, click on the attachment, which should automatically open up the file. The attachment was produced in Microsoft Excel 365. Please ensure your Pricing Quotation Template response is completed in Microsoft Excel 2010 or later versions. All prices quoted in the Pricing Quotation Template must: a) be exclusive of VAT. b) not include indexation, as prices will be adjusted for indexation in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Contract.

CPV Codes

  • 80500000 - Training services
  • 80510000 - Specialist training services
  • 80511000 - Staff training services
  • 85000000 - Health and social work services
  • 85100000 - Health services
  • 85140000 - Miscellaneous health services
  • 85141000 - Services provided by medical personnel
  • 75310000 - Benefit services
  • 75311000 - Sickness benefits
  • 75313000 - Disability benefits

Indicators

  • Renewals are available.

Other Information

The Authority will provide copies of example CTGM documents (as listed in Appendix N to the ITS), to aid Suppliers in understanding the variation in content and size of individual CTGM documents. Due to CTGM documents being classified as Official and containing some information that is confidential, it is a requirement of the Authority that a Supplier completes and signs the Non-Disclosure Agreement (set out in Appendix O to the ITS) as a prerequisite of receiving the example CTGM documents listed in Appendix N. ** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. ** To ensure the Authority is not perceived as putting any Supplier at an unfair advantage or disadvantage, the Authority has decided that the requirement for Suppliers to “…provide contact details for a senior management representative within the organisation detailed in your example that is willing to act as a reference and who you have confirmed is willing to be contacted by DWP to verify the information you have provided in your response…” shall be removed from Question 2.2.1. This modification is incorporated into this revised tender notice and any affected tender documents. The Authority has considered the impact of this modification on applicable tender deadlines and has decided that there will be no extension to the tender submission deadline.

Reference

Domains