Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2016-03-09
Buyer: NHS Business Services Authority
Country: UK
Region: Blackpool
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 85000000 | 85121200: Specialist medical services | 85141000: Services provided by medical personnel | 85147000 | 85148000

Technical requirements: The main office for NHSBSA pensions administration for England and Wales is based in Fleetwood, Lancashire.
The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to inform the market operators of a Supplier Boot Camp which the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is hosting at 13:00 hours, 22.3.2016, with opportunities for individual supplier meetings thereafter to be held on 22nd, 23rd and 24th March, in London. The Boot Camp is in relation to the procurement of a contract for the provision of Medical Services which aims to make decisions on, and provide for independent advice on, ill health and injury benefit applications made under the regulations of the NHS Pension Scheme and the NHS Injury Benefit Scheme.
The NHS Pension Scheme is an unfunded occupational pension scheme, backed by the Exchequer, operating under regulations made by the Secretary of State. The NHS Pension Scheme is open to all NHS employees and employees of other approved organisations covering England and Wales. The NHS Pension Scheme receives contributions in the region of 9 000 000 000 GBP per annum and makes payments of a similar amount. It is the largest centrally administered pension scheme in Europe.
The NHSBSA is a Special Health Authority and an Arm's Length Body of the Department of Health and provides a range of critical central services to NHS organisations, NHS contractors, patients and the public. This consists of the end-to-end process of administering the NHS Pension and NHS Injury Benefit Scheme on behalf of all scheme members, NHS pensioners and employers.
The Supplier Boot Camp is part of the NHSBSA's preliminary market consultation phase and its purpose is to give the market a broad indication of the Medical Services that the NHSBSA currently intends to procure and to receive feedback from the market as to the NHSBSA's proposed strategy to procure these services.
Following the presentation from the NHSBSA, the NHSBSA then intends to offer all suppliers the opportunity of an individual meeting with members of the project team. These meetings will take place on the afternoon of 22.3.2016 and all day on 23rd and 24.3.2016, depending on the numbers of suppliers attending. Once suppliers register for the Supplier Boot Camp, a request can be made for an individual meeting. Suppliers should be aware that the discussions at the individual meetings will be documented, and the resulting details will be made publicly available as part of the Supplier Boot Camp Materials (See VI.2)).
22.3.2016, Timings: 13:00 hours start for the NHSBSA presentation to all followed by individual 1 hour meetings with organisations from 15:00 on 22nd March and then continuing into 23rd and 24th March as required. Timings for each organisations individual meetings will be confirmed after each expression of interest to take part in the Boot Camp.
Location for the presentation and subsequent meetings will be the Addleshaw Goddard Offices, Milton Gate, 60 Chiswell St, London EC1Y 4AG.
If you would like to attend, you are required to register by 15.3.2016 by contacting Jonathan Whitley
There is a maximum of 3 attendees per organisation allocated for the presentation and similarly for the individual supplier meetings.
This notice is published for information purposes only. It is not a call for competition. It is currently intended that a contract notice will be published as a call for competition once the NHSBSA's proposed strategy is fully developed.
All additional related information provided by the NHSBSA at the Supplier Boot Camp, including the indicative timeline, the details of the discussions at the individual supplier meetings (see II.4) and the
questions asked and answers given during the general question and answer sessions (the Supplier Bootcamp Materials) will be made available on the NHSBSA's website. Interested suppliers who are unable to attend the Supplier Bootcamp should register (using the details provided at II.8) in order to be notified when the Supplier Boot Camp Materials are available.
The NHS Pensions and Injury Benefit Scheme is a large and complex scheme, with a history of active scheme regulation originating from 1948, the same year in which the NHS was established. The Scheme is now the largest contributory pension scheme in Europe, serving 2.84 million Members and Pensioners from 9,547 different Employing Authorities.
There are circa 2 500 new applications for Ill Health Retirement (giving rise to over 3 000 assessments) and circa 550 new applications for Deferred Benefit (giving rise to over 600 assessments) annually. New Injury Benefit applications are in excess of 100 (giving rise to over 200 assessments) per year. The broad scope of envisaged Medical Services required is detailed in the following list. The scope may be subject to change and is provided as an indication as to the profile of the required Medical Service to allow potential bidders to determine their interest in the opportunity. The service provider will be required to make decisions on applications for NHS ill health retirement benefits, NHS Injury Benefit Scheme and other cases where reasonably requested by the NHSBSA and in line with the NHS Pension Scheme Regulations and NHS Injury Benefit Regulations.