Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2020-10-05
Buyer: Health Service Executive (HSE)
Country: IE
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 33112000: Echo and ultrasound equipment | 33112300 | 33124120 | 85100000: Health services | 85150000: Medical imaging services
Estimated value: 1500000 EUR

Technical requirements: HBS Procurement intends to establish an authorisation scheme with an initial term of 3 months (which may be extended for a limited period at the absolute discretion of the HSE) to secure suitable service providers located in Ireland to meet the HSE’s requirements for the provision of a general radiology ultrasound services from the service providers’ premises with consultant radiologists, provided by the service provider, reporting back to the Referring Hospital.
This is to deal with a substantial waiting list backlog of approximately 12 000 ultrasounds to be carried out for public patients.
HBS Procurement intends to establish an authorisation scheme with an initial term of 3 months (which may be extended for a limited period at the absolute discretion of the HSE) to secure suitable suppliers located in Ireland to meet the HSE’s requirements for the provision of a general radiology ultrasound services from the service providers’ premises with consultant radiologists, provided by the service provider, reporting back to the referring hospital.
This is to deal with a substantial waiting list backlog of approximately 12 000 ultrasounds to be carried out for public patients.
Hospital role: the hospital will validate their waiting list by contacting each patient. The validation will involve the following steps: ask the patient if they still require an ultrasound scan; if they do not require an ultrasound scan, the patient will be removed from the waiting list.
If the patient does still require an ultrasound scan, the hospital will go through a list of appointed service providers with the patient and will ask the patient to select their preferred service provider.
Ask the patient to provide their consent for their information to be shared with their preferred service provider.
The hospital will then provide a list to the service provider of patients who have consented for them to provide their scans. The service provider will use this list to contact the patients to book them in for scans. This list will be shared regularly as new patients are validated and as a means for the hospital to monitor the progress being made by the service provider.
The relevant hospital sites will validate their patient lists by contacting the patients to check if they still wish to attend an ultrasound appointment and if they do to offer them the choice of service provider. The hospital will maintain a list of patients and their selected service providers and will use this list to communicate the patient details to the service provider and monitor progress. The service provider will be responsible for contacting the patient, booking their ultrasound scan, providing the ultrasound scan, reporting on the scan, returning the radiology report and images to the hospital/GP and maintaining a register of patients seen to share with the relevant hospital site(s). The requirement is that the service provider will have systems in place to allow the easy sharing of images and reports with the relevant hospital sites/GPs, minimising the need for manual uploading of information. The processes implemented will comply with GDPR and data protection guidelines.
Interested parties are advised that although the process is being advertised on the procurement portals, this is in fact a simple authorisation scheme and not subject to Directive 2014/24/EU. Service providers meeting the minimum qualifying standards set out in Appendix I, and which have entered into the panel contract offered by the HSE will be appointed and will be reimbursed by the HSE at a fixed price details of which are set out in Appendix II.
Interested parties are requested to complete the evaluation questionnaire and submit it to the address below:
Assistant Category Specialist
HBS Procurement – Sourcing and Contracts.| Health Business Services
Email: emma.osullivan@hse.ie Tel: 021 4928070
The closing date for the first evaluation is 8 October 2020. It is envisaged that the process will be operational for patients by the 15 October 2020.
Details of each appointed service provider will be provided to patients on the waiting list. The patients are entitled to choose which service provider s/he wishes to use.
Appointed service providers will be required to offer appointments to patients within 7 calendar days of a referral/request for an appointment and the service provider’s consultant radiologist report is to be submitted to the referring hospital within 3 Business days of each appointment.


Award value: 1500000