Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2017-08-16
Buyer: Arden & GEM CSU
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 85130000: Dental practice services

Technical requirements: The normal working hours for the majority of NHS dental practices fall within 8:00 to 18:30 on weekdays. Out-of-hours dental services are those which have been specifically commissioned to provide treatment for urgent dental problems which occur outside of these hours or on public holidays.
Urgent dental care services are particularly important in managing severe dental and facial pain and preventing dental conditions from becoming life threatening. Users of urgent dental care services tend to be those with a high level of oral health needs. A lack or inadequate provision of unscheduled dental services could lead to adverse consequences for patients and additional pressures on medical services, including GP out-of-hours services and Accident and Emergency departments.
This procurement will deliver the Out-of-Hours Urgent Dental Care Treatment service (the Service). This includes the service objectives, the hours of service provision required and patient access standards.
The contract may be divided into lots relating to the geography of the region. A single bidder may be awarded contracts for all of the lots or any combination deemed appropriate based upon the responses received during the tender process.
The contract will be for the performance of dental Out of Hours services within the geography. Lots will be determined based upon a review currently being finalized by the commissioner and will be made available to all bidders as the contract is opened for competition. Bidders will receive a full specification and be entitled to bid for as many lots as they feel they can successfully deliver.
The Contracting Authority intends to use an eTendering system in this procurement exercise and reserves the right to use a reverse auction.
The services to which this notice relates fall within the Light Touch Regime of the Public Services Contracts Regulations 2015 ('the Regulations').
Neither the publication of this notice nor the employment of any particular terminology nor any other indication shall be taken to mean that the contracting authorities intend to hold themselves bound by any of the Regulations save those applicable to the procurement of Light touch Regime services. These opportunities may be divided into lots. Please see published documentation for further detail.
Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender: 1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once). — Browse to the eSourcing Portal: https://ardengemcsu.bravosolution.co.uk and click the link to register— Accept the terms and conditions and click ‘continue' — Enter your correct business and user details — Note the user-name you chose and click ‘Save' when complete. — You will shortly receive an e-mail with your unique password (please keep this secure). 2. Express an Interest in the tender — Login to the portal with the user-name/password — Click the ‘PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers' link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier) — Click on the relevant PQQ/ ITT to access the content. — Click the ‘Express Interest' button at the top of the page. — This will move the PQQ /ITT into your ‘My PQQs/ My ITTs' page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only) — You can now access any attachments by clicking ‘Buyer Attachments' in the ‘PQQ/ ITT Details' box 3. Responding to the tender — Click ‘My Response' under ‘PQQ/ ITT Details', you can choose to ‘Create Response' or to ‘Decline to Respond' (please give a reason if declining) — You can now use the ‘Messages' function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification. — Note the deadline for completion, then follow the on-screen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT. — There may be a mixture of on-line and off-line actions for you to perform (there is detailed on-line help available). You must then submit your reply using the ‘Submit Response' button at the top of the page. If you require any further assistance please consult the on-line help, or contact the eTendering help-desk.