Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2017-01-31
Buyer: NHS Wirral Clinical Commissioning Group
Country: UK
Region: Wirral
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 85100000: Health services | 85323000
Estimated value: 3538643 GBP

Technical requirements: To deliver additional General Practitioner (GP) Services in Wirral, outside of the services commissioned under General Medical Services (GMS), Alternative Provider Medical Services (APMS) and Personal Medical Service (PMS) Contract(s) by NHS England. This additional capacity aims to offer Wirral residents access to their Wirral Registered GP's, during weekends and evenings.
No other prime contractor could employ existing GP practices to deliver these services during their limited time of operation as all registered Wirral GPs will only work for their respective federation. GP's from outside of the Wirral peninsula would be unable to deliver these services as patients are not registered with them and would be unable to register with 2 separate practices. Therefore there is no market for such services.
The Contract is being awarded to the GP Federation, Primary Care Wirral Limited. Its member GP practices will be subcontracted to deliver the services to ensure the appropriate Care Quality Commission Licences are being utilised.
The Contract is being awarded to the GP Federation, Wirral GP Provider Ltd. Its member GP practices will be subcontracted to deliver the services to ensure the appropriate Care Quality Commission Licences are being utilised.
Background: GP Services are currently provided by 53 GP Practices across Wirral, under contract from NHS England. Funding has been made available to Wirral CCG to offer extended GP Primary Care services to Wirral residents, through pre-booked appointments. These extended services are offered by way of weekday evenings and on a Saturday at a number of Hub locations.
All but a small number of Wirral GP practices are members of 1 of 2 GP Federations, as such 2 contracts will be awarded, 1 to each Federation, using the NHS Standard Contract. These contracts will be for the extended hours of operation only and will not include the GP Services commissioned by NHS England.
This VEAT notice serves both as a transparency notice and a standstill period on our intention to award these contracts. If you represent a provider whom believes they can deliver these services please contact Richard Burgess via email (Richard.burgess3@nhs.net) to detail any objection to this VEAT notice. Following the 10 day standstill period if the CCG receives no substantiated objections, a paper will be presented to the CCGs Governing Body, recommending the award of this contract, using the award without prior publication process as detailed within the Public Contract Regulations 2015.
The technical justification for using the Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication is that GP Services are required to be delivered from existing infrastructure consistent with the GP services being offered under the NHS England Contract. This will both make the service accessible to patients, giving patients the ability to see their existing practitioners, and economically viable based on the limited hours of operation.
The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by a breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland).