Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training

This Contract Award Notice follows the publication of a Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency (VEAT) Notice published on 13th October 2023 which informed the market of the intention of NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Boards (HWE ICB) to increase the value of an awarded contract to Hertfordshire Care Providers Association (HCPA) to deliver Oliver McGowan mandatory training across Hertfordshire and West Essex.

The original contract value awarded was £152,958 (inclusive of VAT). This contract began on 1st April 2023 and will expire on 31st March 2024.

Since the contract was awarded, NHS England have awarded further funding to the ICB to support the delivery of the training. This additional funding is £379,696 (inclusive of VAT). The availability of further funding was unknown to the ICB at the time that the original contract was awarded.

The VEAT was published as the total cumulative value of the contract, including the additional funding, fell within the scope of the Public Contract Regulations for non-light touch services. Within the VEAT, the Authority confirmed the application of a voluntary 10-day standstill period. This standstill period has now passed, therefore this notice confirms the award of the contract to HCPA. VEAT Reference: 2023/S 000-030222.

This training has been introduced by the government as a requirement for CQC registered service providers to ensure their employees receive learning disability and autism training appropriate to their role. This is to ensure that the health and social care workforce have the right skills and knowledge to provide safe, compassionate, and informed care to autistic people and people with a learning disability becoming a legal requirement from 1st July 2022.

The Oliver McGowan training will comply with the code of practice / CQC regulations. A key and unique element of the training is recruiting experts by experience to deliver aspects of the training. The training is a mixture of hour long live webinars and full days of face to face training, dependent on the level of expertise required.

Given the timescales for the additional funding to be spent, it was not possible to conduct competition and achieve the national targets for the training to be delivered. Changing provider at this stage would also mean potential destabilisation of the training plan in place. Therefore, there is a clear benefit from maintaining continuity of the service delivered by the incumbent provider.

The Contracts Finder Notice to confirm the original award was published on 14th April 2023, procurement reference: tender_362578/1203410.

The contract awarded date in this notice is the date on which the variation for the additional funding was agreed following the close of the 10 day standstill period.