Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2020-03-11
Buyer: NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU on behalf of NHS North Staffordshire CCG and NHS Stoke on Trent CCG
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 85100000: Health services | 85160000: Optician services
Submission deadline: 2020-04-01
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) currently commission a community (Tier 2) ophthalmology service based in various locations across North Staffordshire, Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Moorlands. This is offered on a basis of direct referral to patients registered with GPs contracted with these CCGs.
Services are available for service users registered with a general practitioner in North Staffordshire CCG and Stoke-on-Trent CCG.
Geographic area covered by North Staffordshire CCG (Including Staffordshire Moorlands) and Stoke-on-Trent CCG.
Commissioners wish to undertake a procurement exercise to appoint a single prime provider to deliver Tier 2 ophthalmology services.
The service will need to work closely with local partner organisations to ensure that a swift, coordinated pathway is followed.
The final full-service specifications are available on the Bravo Solutions eProcurement portal as Annexes 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d and 2e.
Light Touch Regime' services: this procurement is for clinical services which are light touch regime services for the purpose of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as specified in Schedule 3 of the Regulations(‘Regulations’). Accordingly, the contracting authorities are only bound by those parts of the Regulations detailed in Chapter 3 Particular Procurement Regimes Section 7. The contracting authorities are not voluntarily following any other part of the regulations. The procedure which the contracting authorities are following is set out in Annex 1. As the CCG is a relevant body for the purpose of the National Health Service (procurement, patient choice and competition) (No 2) Regulations 2013 these regulations also apply to this procurement.
Right to cancel: the contracting authority reserves the right to discontinue the procurement process at anytime, which shall include the right not to award a contract or contracts and does not bind itself to accept the lowest tender or any tender received and reserves the right to award a contract in part or to call for new tenders should it consider this necessary.
The contracting authority shall not be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by any candidate or tenderer in connection with the completion and return of the information requested in this contract notice or in the completion or submission of any tender, irrespective of the outcome of the competition or if the competition is cancelled or postponed.
All dates, time periods and values specified in this notice are provisional and the contracting authority reserves the right to change these.
Transparency: the contracting authority is subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR) and may be required to disclose information received in the course of this procurement under FOIA or the EIR.
In addition and in accordance with the UK Government's policies on transparency, the contracting authority intends to publish procurement documentation and the text of any resulting contractual arrangements, subject to possible redaction at the discretion of the contracting authority.
Any redaction, whether in relation to information requests under FOIA, the EIR or policies on transparency will be in accordance with those grounds prescribed under the Freedom of Information Act.
This tender will be operated via electronic means using the internet. Midlands and Lancashire CSU is conducting this procurement exercise as a central purchasing body for another NHS body with whom the successful bidder will enter into contract for the supply of the services.
Any other public-sector body detailed within this notice, wishing to access the contract may do so only with permission from the contracting NHS body.