Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2019-03-22
Buyer: NHS Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 33000000 | 33100000 | 33192000 | 33192100 | 39516110
Estimated value: 10331497 GBP
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: This is a voluntary ex ante transparency notice and is intended to provide notice of the Contracting Authorities intention to award 2 24-month contracts under 2 lots; 1 for the lease of Dynamic Pressure Area Care Mattresses and Cushions and 1 for a Managed Service for Pressure Area Care Mattresses and Cushions, both covering North East Essex, Mid Essex, Basildon and Brentwood and Thurrock. The Contract Value provided in this VEAT Notice is in aggregate and covers the 2-year term and the 12-month potential extension.
This voluntary ex ante transparency notice is intended to provide notice of the Contracting Authorities (hereafter, all references to “the Contracting Authorities” will mean NHS Mid Essex CCG, NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCG, NHS Thurrock CCG and North East Essex CCG) intention to award a 24-month (1.4.2019 to 31.3.2021) contract to the incumbent provider, Talley Group for the lease of Dynamic Pressure Area Care Mattresses and Cushions (“the PAC Services”) in North East Essex, Mid Essex, Basildon and Brentwood and Thurrock, with a potential extension provision of 12 months. This contract is for the supply of specialist equipment (PAC mattresses and cushions) on a rental basis to patients living in the community based on clinical needs, enabling patients to do tasks they would otherwise be unable to do. It is essential in supporting patients to maintain independence and the health system as a whole because without the equipment, patients would need to be admitted to hospital or care home and discharges from hospital would be delayed.
The provision of the PAC Services has been governed by a sub-contract to a main Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) to which the Contracting Authorities (CA) benefit via a collaboration with Essex County Council under Section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 and Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972. The ICES contract provides equipment on behalf of ECC, Thurrock Council and the NHS, allowing frail, elderly and physically disabled people to live independently within their own homes and to facilitate discharge from hospital and ensuring an efficient provision of specialist equipment in the community. The existing ICES contractor has confirmed an intention to step away from and hand back the PAC Services in North East Essex, Mid Essex, Basildon and Brentwood and Thurrock by end March 2019.
There is an unacceptable risk that even if a provider were identified via an accelerated procurement procedure, there would very clearly be insufficient time to complete a robust contract mobilisation involving critical mobilisation risks including workforce and a significant “swap out” of 7 000 existing stock items in the community, equating to approx. 3 500 patients, estimated to require between 6–9 months to implement in a robust and safe manner.
As such, the CAs intend to use all reasonable endeavours to safeguard continued service delivery, minimising any inconvenience likely to be caused to patients as a result of the premature termination of the PAC Service. The CAs find themselves in a position whereby for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the CAs, they must ensure continuity of a high quality and safe provision of the PAC Service for all eligible patients by 31.3.2019. For the aforementioned reasons, the CAs deem that the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive with negotiated procedure cannot be complied with.
The CAs are thus mitigating this unacceptable risk of service failure by engaging with the incumbent provider and focusing on local integration and collaboration. It is deemed that only the incumbent provider is technically capable of taking on the scale of the PACS Service within timescales available and for continuation of the PAC Service at existing standards from 1.4.2019. The contract duration and option to extend has been carefully considered allowing appropriate timescales to develop and finalise the overall strategy and governance, exploring options to enable the future recommissioning of both services jointly as a health and social care package via undertaking a robust procurement exercise with a safe transfer of services to our patients.
The CAs intend to conduct a robust due diligence process via a negotiated procedure with the incumbent provider to arrive at a final decision supported and approved by the governing body and intend to award a contract no later than 31.3.2019.
Option to extend at sole discretion of the Contracting Authorities for a further period of 12 months.
The Contract Value provided in this VEAT Notice for lot 1 is in aggregate and covers the 2-year term and the 12-month potential extension for lot 1.
This voluntary ex ante transparency notice is intended to provide notice of the Contracting Authorities (hereafter, all references to “the Contracting Authorities” will mean NHS Mid Essex CCG, NHS Basildon and Brentwood CCG, NHS Thurrock CCG and North East Essex CCG) intention to award a 24-month (1.4.2019 to 31.3.2021) contract to the incumbent provider, Talley Group for a Managed Service for Dynamic Pressure Area Care Mattresses and Cushions (“the PAC Services”) in North East Essex, Mid Essex, Basildon and Brentwood and Thurrock, with a potential extension provision of 12 months. This service will ensure that the specialist equipment that is on loan to people living in the community is delivered, fitted, installed, adjusted, repaired/refurbished, collected, decontaminated and recycled. This service is essential in supporting patients to maintain independence and the health system as a whole because without them patients would need to be admitted to hospital or care home and discharges from hospital would be delayed.
The provision of the PAC Services has been governed by a sub-contract to a main Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) to which the Contracting Authorities (CA) benefit via a collaboration with Essex County Council under Section 75 of the National Health Service Act 2006 and Section 101 of the Local Government Act 1972. The ICES contract provides equipment on behalf of ECC, Thurrock Council and the NHS, allowing frail, elderly and physically disabled people to live independently within their own homes and to facilitate discharge from hospital and ensuring an efficient provision of specialist equipment in the community. The existing ICES contractor has confirmed an intention to step away from and hand back the PAC Services in North East Essex, Mid Essex, Basildon and Brentwood and Thurrock by end March 2019.
There is an unacceptable risk that even if a provider were identified via an accelerated procurement procedure, there would very clearly be insufficient time to complete a robust contract mobilisation involving critical mobilisation risks including workforce and a significant “swap out” of 7 000 existing stock items in the community, equating to approx. 3 500 patients, estimated to require between 6–9 months to implement in a robust and safe manner.
As such, the CAs intend to use all reasonable endeavours to safeguard continued service delivery, minimising any inconvenience likely to be caused to patients as a result of the premature termination of the PAC Service. The CAs find themselves in a position whereby for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the CAs, they must ensure continuity of a high quality and safe provision of the PAC Service for all eligible patients by 31.3.2019. For the aforementioned reasons, the CAs deem that the time limits for the open or restricted procedures or competitive with negotiated procedure cannot be complied with.
The CAs are thus mitigating this unacceptable risk of service failure by engaging with the incumbent provider and focusing on local integration and collaboration. It is deemed that only the incumbent provider is technically capable of taking on the scale of the PACS Service within timescales available and for continuation of the PAC Service at existing standards from 1.4.2019. The contract duration and option to extend has been carefully considered allowing appropriate timescales to develop and finalise the overall strategy and governance, exploring options to enable the future recommissioning of both services jointly as a health and social care package via undertaking a robust procurement exercise with a safe transfer of services to our patients.
The CAs intend to conduct a robust due diligence process via a negotiated procedure with the incumbent provider to arrive at a final decision supported and approved by the governing body and intend to award a contract no later than 31.3.2019.


Winner: Talley Group Limited
Award value: 10331497