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PROCUREMENT

 

How we undertake a standard healthcare procurement

1.  Background and introduction

1.1   Each procurement that we are asked to undertake will follow a basic outline process but may be customised to suit the needs of the individual service in question.

1.2   The Department of Health document Procurement Guide for commissioners of NHS funded services Health Services [1] will be utilised as a guide to decide the most appropriate method of procurement but NHS Rotherham must ensure that there is adequate advertising of the requirements and all processes must be fair and equitable to all potential providers of the services.

In addition we must follow the Principles and Rules for Cooperation and Competition[2]which forms part of the Operating Framework to establish the system rules governing cooperation and competition in the commissioning and provision of NHS Services in England. This document comprises 10 principles that cover – commissioners’ obligations when commissioning, procuring and paying for services; commissioners and providers must cooperate in the delivery of services; obligations to ensure cooperation and competition; rules governing mergers and vertical integration.   

1.3   At the outset the project management structure for the procurement will be decided and the team members will come together to agree the responsibilities and actions required. As a minimum, the following must be agreed upon:

  • Key stakeholders are clear on the process that is being followed
  • A procurement timetable should be drawn up
  • Outline roles and responsibilities to be developed
  • Any additional resources/funding needed to take the procurement forward

1.4   It is important to realise that the Procurement team do not lead the procurement; this must be led by the commissioner of the services.

1.5  Healthcare services being procured will invariably fall within Part B of Schedule 3 to the Public Contract regulations 2006 (as amended) and Annex 11B to Council Directive 2004/18/EC. Thus, the procurement would not be subject to the requirements of the main EU regulations, except those applicable to Part B services. UK procurement policy also applies and this requires that Value for Money (VfM) be sought in all public procurements; VfM is to be achieved through competition unless there are compelling grounds to the contrary. Guidance regarding this is outlined in the aforementioned Procurement Guide.

1.6  Whilst, under Part B, there is no requirement to advertise the requirements in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) there is an expectation that sufficient advertising will be undertaken that is appropriate to the level of contract and also to the type of services to be procured. As a minimum, an advert must be placed on the NHS Supply to Health website at http://www.supply2health.nhs.uk/S2HHome.aspx and where applicable in trade journals, local publications and any other relevant media.

1.7  Contracts shall be awarded following a standard procurement route and usually via acompetitive Invitation to Tender (ITT) process.

1.8  ITTs will be issued accompanied by agreed evaluation criteria that are designed to determine the bid that represents the best solution to deliver the specified requirements. It is imperative to share these criteria with potential bidders and each procurement will have different criteria according to the requirements of the service. The best VfM bid will be that which is judged to offer the optimum combination of service capability and quality (including clinical standards, safety, deliverability and other specified areas). 

2.     Procurement Objectives

2.1  The core objective of any NHS Rotherham procurement will be to deliver the best possible healthcare services to Rotherham residents within the financial resources available.

2.2  The following success factors will be used to assess the overall procurement exercise:

Quality & Effectiveness

Services must meet or exceed all relevant standards consistent with good clinical practice

Access

The services procured must be available to relevant patients in locations and facilities which meet local access needs

Integration

Services must contribute to the long-term development and integration of relationships between all providers of local NHS services and key local stakeholders

Service commencement

The successful bidder will be expected to commence services within the timeframes detailed within the ITT

Value for Money

The services must offer VfM and be deliverable within NHS Rotherham budgets.

 

3.     The Procurement Process

3.1   Each procurement will have 4 distinct STEPS:

STEP 1:  Advert, Memorandum of Information (MOI) and Expressions of Interest (EOI)

STEP 2: Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ), Meet the Buyer event (as appropriate), PQQ evaluation and short-listing

STEP 3: Invitation to Tender (ITT), ITT evaluation and clarification, bidder presentations (as appropriate)

STEP 4: Contract Award

3.2  However, potential bidders will be advised that NHS Rotherham reserves the right to vary the selection procedure to support continued competition, avoid unnecessary bidding costs,or to adhere to subsequent technical or legal guidance at its sole discretion. Any such variation to the procedure will be kept to the minimum necessary to meet justifiable requirements and will be fully documented. In the case of relatively low value procurements the pre-qualification process is removed in order to reduce the administrative burden for both the commissioner and the potential bidder.

3.3  Standard document templates are available and will be used by NHS Rotherham throughout  the procurement process to minimise confusion, reduce duplication and to introduce standardisation to the process.

3.4 STEP 1:  Advert, Memorandum of Information (MOI) and Expressions of Interest (EOI)

3.4.1 Advert

The objective is to provide the best possible coverage of NHS Rotherham’s requirements and attract a broad spectrum of suitably qualified and experienced providers from across all healthcare sectors. As a matter of course, an advert will be placed by the procurement team on the NHS Supply to Health website at http://www.supply2health.nhs.uk/S2HHome.aspx. National and/or local adverts may be placed, depending upon the type of procurement involved,which may include professional journals and websites. The advert will remain open for a reasonable period of time and will give a brief overview of what the procurement will cover in terms of outline specification, contract period and estimated contract value. A final closing date will appear in the advert after which EOIs will no longer be accepted.       

3.4.2  Memorandum of Information (MOI)

This is a standard template document that is designed to give an overview of the  procurement. The content of the MOI will be critical in providing potential bidders with an initial understanding of the nature of the procurement and also offers guidance in the procurement processes, service requirements and information on the general commercial and service framework of the procurement comprising, amongst others (the categories below may be amended or added to depending upon the type of procurement):

  • Broad outline of the contract specification, but detailed enough to enable potential bidders to gauge the suitability and value of the contract
  • Contract type – e.g. NHS Contract for Community Services – Bilateral, Standard NHS Contract for Acute Services- ; contact duration
  • Clinical requirements
  • Workforce requirements, including any TUPE issues
  • Premises, Facilities Management and Equipment required – whether these are to be provided by NHS Rotherham or the potential provider
  • Payment Mechanism
  • Financial Standing
  • Insurance
  • The contract period
  • Depending upon the type of contract, the procurement may be subject to ongoing patient and public consultation under the NHS Act 2006. This needs to be stated within the MOI and that it is a statement of intent but subject to consultation. The full and final scheme details will be made available to shortlisted bidders within the ITT documents.

Potential bidders are also alerted to the legal and governance expectations and are asked to complete a Conflict of Interest Declaration where applicable. The MOI is drawn up by the lead commissioner, with appropriate assistance from the procurement lead and then issued by the procurement lead to those expressing an interest in the procurement.

3.4.3    Expressions of Interest (EOI)

Potential bidders who are interested in the procurement are asked to register that interest using the Trust’s current eProcurement system (Bravo https://yhcpc.bravosolution.co.uk. This is a secure electronic tendering portal that is used by both buyers/commissioners and (potential) bidders and is designed to be a ‘level playing field’ for all procurements whereby all (potential) bidders are treated fairly and equitably. Once an expression of interest has been logged, access to the   secure portal is given to allow bidders to view the MOI and have opportunity to view and complete the PQQ.

3.5   STEP 2:  Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ), Meet the Buyer event (as appropriate), PQQ evaluation and short-listing

3.5.1 Pre Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ)

The PQQ is a template document that is essentially divided into two parts; the first part is drawn up by the commissioning lead and contains guidance information about the PQQ process, including the format of the evaluation process; the second part is for completion by the potential bidder. The PQQ is drawn up by the lead commissioner, with appropriate assistance from the procurement lead and is made available on the Bravo portal to those expressing an interest in the procurement. It is designed to evaluate the capability, capacity and eligibility of potential bidders, with the objective of arriving at a list of pre-qualified bidders for the procurement. It is important to note that the PQQ process examines the potential bidder and not the bid proposal (i.e. not their service delivery solution or price).   Throughout the period that the PQQ is open there may be a clarification question and   answer process that is co-ordinated by the procurement lead with all information (unless it is deemed to be commercial in confidence to that bidder) being shared with all PQQ recipients, via Bravo, to ensure that no potential bidder is disadvantaged.

The PQQ responses required from the potential bidders in the second part of the document cover the following categories and may be amended or added to as appropriate to the procurement in question:

  • Details of the potential bidder and its business structure
  • Legal and Regulatory information
  • Financial information
  • Clinical Requirements
  • Health and Safety information
  • Workforce information
  • Information Management and Technology information
  • Property, Facilities Management and Equipment
  • Environmental Management System
  • Vertical Integration

3.5.2   Meet the Buyer

The intention of an event such as this is to provide interested parties with further information on the procurement process, completion of the PQQ and NHS Rotherham’s expectations of the successful provider; one may not be appropriate for every procurement.  It will also allow potential bidders to make an informed decision to be made on whether they wish to continue with the procurement process. The commissioning lead and the procurement lead will arrange such an event and anyone having expressed an interest will be given the opportunity to attend.

3.5.3  PQQ Evaluation and Short-listing

Completed PQQs will be opened electronically after the closing date by the procurement team. The preliminary/initial evaluation will be undertaken by a panel drawn up and agreed by the commissioning lead. This will typically include the commissioning and procurement leads, a finance representative, clinical representatives as required and any other relevant parties who can offer expect guidance and assessment. The evaluation criteria will have been stated within the PQQ and is usually broken down into a preliminary/initial evaluation,followed by a more detailed one. An initial evaluation of any automatic pass/fail questions will be undertaken and any submission found to be non-complaint at this stage will be eliminated. The preliminary/initial evaluation will cover aspects such as:

  • Have all the questions been answered?
  • Has the PQQ been delivered with the signed declaration?
  • Has the PQQ been submitted in the format requested?
  • Have an adequate number of referees been provided?
  • Ongoing liabilities that threaten the potential provider’s ability to deliver the service?
  • Failure to provide an adequate Health & Safety statement
  • Failure to accept the key commercial terms

The preliminary/initial evaluation will be undertaken by a panel drawn up and agreed by the commissioning lead. This will typically include the commissioning and procurement leads,a finance representative, clinical representatives as required and any other relevant parties who can offer expect guidance and assessment. 

The procurement lead will record the outcome of the evaluation process and agreement will be reached as to whether a further short-listing process needs to be undertaken; this will depend upon the number of PQQs returned. Throughout the process the procurement lead will ensure that those having submitted a PQQ are advised in of the outcome of each stage.

3.6   STEP 3: Invitation to Tender (ITT), ITT Clarification, ITT evaluation and clarification, bidder presentations (as appropriate)

3.6.1  Invitation to Tender (ITT)

Short-listed bidders will then be issued with the NHS Rotherham ITT documentation, which will aim to determine the bidder’s ability to meet the service requirements and within the budget allocated. The documentation contains standard sections relating to:

  • Guidance document on the ITT process and how to complete the documents
  • Conditions of Tender
  • The Specification
  • Conditions of Contract, including any supplementary ones
  • Pricing Schedule
  • Additional information requests
  • Form of Offer
  • Certificate of Non-Canvassing
  • Clarification Request

Reference will also be made either within the Specification or as a separate document, to the evaluation criteria that will be used to assess the returned tenders. There may also be additional documents included depending upon the type of procurement in question.

All documents are issued electronically via Bravo and made available to all bidders, stating the date and time on which the tender will close.

3.6.2  ITT clarification

Throughout the tender process, bidders may request clarification on any aspect of the documentation; this must be completed via the Bravo system so that the procurement lead can co-ordinate the responses and ensure that the information is shared with all other potential bidders.

3.6.3  ITT evaluation and clarification

The returned tenders will be opened electronically after the closing date. The project group will then meet to evaluate the bids using the pre-determined evaluation criteria; a record of the evaluation will be retained. In the event of clarification on a submission being required, this will be undertaken by the procurement lead who shall contact the bidder and request clarification using the Bravo system.

3.6.4   Bidder Presentations (as appropriate)

It will depend upon the type of procurement whether these are required and the requirements may vary depending on the objective of the presentation. For example, they may be required for further clarification purposes or the panel may be looking for the bidder to explain further their proposed service delivery arrangements. Clear instruction will be given to the bidders in advance and advised whether the presentations will contribute towards their overall scoring.

3.7 STEP 4: Contract Award (including standstill period), opportunity for debrief, period up  to contract start, award notice published

3.7.1 Contract award (including standstill period)

Following the evaluation process a final recommendation will be made by the project team on the bid that represents the best overall offer for NHS Rotherham. No provider will be recommended if all bidders fail to provide a technically acceptable solution with an acceptable price, on contractual terms that reflects the desired risk allocation, good VfM and  affordable services to NHS Rotherham.                

Commissioning Executive approval will be required and it is likely that Board approval will  also be required before a contract may be formally awarded. Time for these submissions will be factored into the overall procurement timetable.

Whilst under the Remedies Directive(2007/66/EC), which came into effect on 20th December  2009, and under Part B services there is no absolute requirement for a 10 day Alcatel standstill period, NHS Rotherham will allow for this standstill period within all procurements. The successful bidder will be notified, together with the unsuccessful bidders, of the outcome of the evaluation with the intention of the contract commencing on the pre- determined date for the period stated within the original documentation.

3.7.2  Bidder Feedback

All unsuccessful bidders will be given feedback on their bids with details of the scores they attained relative to the winning bid with the intention being that this satisfies the expectations within the aforementioned Remedies Directive.  This process is designed to be constructive for the bidder and to advise them on any strengths and weaknesses in their bid.

3.7.3   Period up to Contract start

The contract will commence on the appointed date, with the time between the award notice and that being utilised to complete contract schedules and iron out any outstanding issues. During this period the Procurement team may hand over the contract responsibility to the Commissioning Lead and the Contracting Team who will monitor and manage the contract.

3.7.4   Award Notice Published

Whilst we are not obliged to advertise Part B Services in the OJEU, we must publish an award  notice. This must be published in the Journal within 48 days of the contract having been  awarded.

We will also publish the award notice on the Supply2health website.



[1] Procurement Guide for commissioners of NHS-funded services 30 July 2010 DH Gateway ref: 14611

 

[2] Principles and rules for cooperation and competition 30 July 2010 DH Gateway ref: 14611

 



Last reviewed: 27/03/2012

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