Integrated Community Musculoskeletal (MSK) Service for Darlington

North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) are working for and on behalf of NHS Darlington CCG who wish to commission an Integrated Community MSK service for Darlington and are inviting expressions of interest in this tender opportunity.

The overarching outcome of the service is to enhance the management of patients within primary care and actively manage the demand for secondary care services; ensuring patients have speedy access to appropriate treatment.

This service is for patients with musculoskeletal symptoms where all alternative conservative treatments have been considered as first line management. The service will deliver:

-A single point of contact for patient management through the pathway by trained practitioners -Clinics in easily accessible locations throughout the community. -Access to highly specialised advice and treatment for both patients and other professionals in the management of all MSK conditions -Assessment by a specialist practitioner to identify those red flags not detected by the GP -Manage patients on CBT principles -To provide back pain service in line with Regional Back Pain Programme’s (RBPP) pathway in line with current NICE guidance -Specialist practitioner will maintain overall direction of the management plan -Provision of developed care pathways which allow smooth transition between primary and secondary care interface ensuring timely intervention / referrals and rapid access to emergency diagnostics or treatment offering patient choice where appropriate.

The aims of the Integrated Community MSK Service are to:

-To deliver a service which meets the needs of the local health community -To ensure patients receive appropriate assessment and treatment in a timely manner to help reduce long term disability -To ensure patients are only referred for surgical intervention or appropriate further advice/diagnostics where appropriate -To follow agreed pathways that optimises patient outcomes and use of resources.

Additional information: It is anticipated that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations may apply for this contract. It is the bidder’s responsibility to verify TUPE information with the incumbent service providers (details of which will be provided in the tender documentation).

Under the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 the Contracting Authority must consider:

(a) how what is proposed to be procured might improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area where it exercises its functions, and

(b) how, in conducting the process of procurement, it might act with a view to securing that improvement

Accordingly, the subject matter of the contract has been scoped to take into account the priorities of the Contracting Authority relating to economic, social, and environmental well-being. These priorities are described in the Invitation to Tender and are reflected in environmental and social characteristics in the evaluation criteria for the award of the contract.

The contract is for an initial 3 years plus the option to extend the contract for a period of 2 years at the discretion of the Contracting Authority subject to satisfactory financial and contractual performance.

Please note the deadline for submission of all tender returns is 12 noon on 19 October 2016.

A bidder event will be held on Tuesday 27 September 2016 at Rooms 1&2, NHS Darlington Clinical Commissioning Group, Dr Piper House, King Street, Darlington, DL3 6JL between 14:00 and 16:00. Bidders will be provided with an overview of the aims and objectives of the new service, an overview of the tender documentation and the procurement process. Further information regarding registration for this event can be located within Document 1 of the tender documentation.

NECS is utilising an electronic tendering tool to manage this procurement and communicate with potential bidders. Accordingly, there will be no hard copy documents issued to potential bidders and all communications with NECS, including your submission, will be conducted via the PROACTIS portal https://www.proactisplaza.com/SupplierPortal/?CID=NECS

It is free to register on the portal, and it can be accessed at any time of day providing you have a working internet connection. Should bidders have any queries, or are having problems registering on the portal; they should contact the PROACTIS helpdesk via:

[email protected] or

http://proactis.kayako.com/suppliernetwork/Core/Default/Index

The helpdesk is open Monday – Friday between 9am – 5.30pm