NHS England South West - NHS Tier 2 Oral Surgery Services across the South West - Market Engagement Event

This notice is placed as a PIN to facilitate engagement with potential providers and relates only to pre-procurement market engagement.

NHS England (NHSE) South West, on behalf of the Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) in the South West region, are recommissioning NHS Tier 2 Oral Surgery Services across the South West and seek to determine the level of market interest in the provision of these services. NHSE are in the early stages of engagement and invite potential providers to attend a series of initial market engagement events, taking place across the region in November and December 2023.

Oral surgery deals with the diagnosis and management of pathology of the mouth and jaws that requires surgical intervention. It involves the treatment of children, adolescents and adults, and the management of dentally anxious and medically complex patients. Further information on the services can be found in the Oral Surgery clinical standards: NHS England » Oral surgery clinical standard

The services will provide Level 2 Oral Surgery for patients, either residing in or currently under the care of a General Dental Practitioner (GDP), in the South West. Consideration is being given to procuring separate contracts across the region, subject to the outcome of market and stakeholder engagement.

All Mandatory Dental Services, including simple non-surgical extractions, are excluded from the scope but some services will include Sedation in accordance with the Guidance for Commissioning Sedation for Dental Services in Primary Care 2017.

The aims of the service (with and without Sedation) are to:

• ensure that equitable, accessible, cost effective, high quality Minor Oral Surgery (MOS) services are available to the public locally; • increase the availability and accessibility of the primary care based MOS services to those patients who require sedation to support them to receive a minor oral surgical procedure locally; • release pressures and waiting times for treatment at secondary care centres; and • reduce the number of patients receiving minor oral surgical procedures under general anaesthesia.

Currently existing services are provided on a range of contract types, to various specifications. The intention, through this recommissioning exercise, is to standardise the provision of level 2 Oral Surgery provision across the region through the use of a standard specification and pricing mechanism.

Performers will need to be accredited to provide the services to a Level 2 standard. The accreditation will be through an accreditation panel led by the Managed Clinical Network for Oral Surgery. Further information on accreditation can be found in the commissioning guide: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/guidance-for-the-accreditation-of-performers-of-level-2-complexity-care-dec-2018.pdf

Additional information: The market engagement events have been scheduled at the following dates, times and locations: • Thursday 7th December 2023, Bristol, 1.00-4.00 • Friday 8th December 2023, Taunton, 10.00-1.00

At the events, further detail of the Commissioner's aims and objectives for the services will be shared and potential providers will have an opportunity to help inform the recommissioning strategy.

Each event will follow the same format and therefore an organisation need only attend one event. Two events are being held, solely to enable greater coverage and accessibility.

The events are open to all providers who may want to deliver NHS Tier 2 Oral Surgery Services in the South West region, in the future. If you would like to attend any of the events, please register your interest by sending an email to [email protected], titled 'Registration for Tier 2 Oral Surgery Services Engagement Event' and including the following details by no later than 12 noon Friday 24th November 2023: - Company name; - Attendee(s) name(s); - Attendee(s) contact details (email address(es) and telephone number(s)); - Confirmation of which event you would like to attend.

Further details of the events, including venue information, will be provided to those who register. This may include the sharing of draft service specifications and pricing mechanisms to help facilitate discussions during the events.

Places will be initially limited to 2 attendees per provider, but this may be extended nearer the time.

This exercise is being managed by NHS South Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioner(s).

This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit the Commissioners or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest.

The Commissioners will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise.

The services are healthcare services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations, but is instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77).