Regional Mental Health Act Approval Panels

This future opportunity notice is intended to provide interested suppliers with the opportunity to gain Information and an understanding of a potential Department of Health (DH) requirement, and to provide information to interested suppliers about the associated supplier day which will be run in Central London on the morning of the 25th July. The requirement - Under section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (“the MHA”) the Secretary of State for Health approves, for the purposes of that section, registered medical practitioners who have "special experience in the diagnosis or treatment of mental disorder”(“s12 doctors”). Additionally, under section 145(1) of the MHA, the Secretary of State is to approve persons to act as “an approved clinician for the purposes of the Act” (“Approved Clinicians”). These functions are collectively referred to as ‘the Approval functions’. The Approval functions have been vested in the Secretary of State since the enactment of the MHA, but had been delegated by virtue of regulations made under the National Health Service Act 1977 and directions issued under the National Health Service Act 2006, most recently to Strategic Health Authorities (“SHAs”). SHAs ceased to exist when the relevant provisions in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into force. The Department of Health became responsible for the Approval functions. Following a review and a procurement exercise the Secretary of State contracted with four approving bodies. These contracts are due to terminate on 31st March 2017. The Department of Health (“DH”) plans to seek bids from organisations to provide the services as described in the attached draft procurement documentation (the specification, ITT part B). As this notice (and the published prior Information notice) are at pre-procurement (pre Invitation to Tender) stage, the attached documents are therefore draft and for Information only, may change and may not fully reflect any eventual final versions. The proposed Contract will cover four regions as described in the documentation; being Lot 1, Panel one - North of England. Lot 2, Panel Two - Midlands and East. Lot 3, Panel Three - London. Lot 4, Panel Four - South of England. A pre-procurement event will be held on the 25th July 2016 in Central London. If you would be interested in attending this event, please email [email protected] to register your interest by the 20th July. When expressing an interest organisation's should provide: (I) the contact details of the service provider's representative (ii) a single paragraph summary of your organisation's experience including whether you are a Small to Medium sized Enterprise or Voluntary Sector Organisation . This summary may be shared with other participants in order to promote discussion. An agenda and information pack will be sent to you. This notice is for Information only and the Department of Health reserves the right to not proceed to tender. See TUPE note.

Additional information: This notice is intended to provide information to interested bidders, and to advertise the supplier event. The event is intended to be an opportunity for interested suppliers to gain information on the requirement, ask questions, provide feedback on the draft specification, including any issues, and to network on the day. Potential suppliers should note that, in accordance with Government's policies on transparency, DH intends to publish the Invitation to Tender (ITT) document, and the text of any Contract awarded, subject to possible redactions at the discretion of DH. Further information on transparency can be found at: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/content/transparency-overview. This notice is for Information only and the Department of Health reserves the right to not proceed to tender additionally the Department reserves the right to discontinue the proposed tendering process and not to award the contract. The information contained in this notice is only indicative of the DH's current thinking and is neither exhaustive nor binding and the DH reserves the right at its absolute discretion to amend it at the time of issue of any further notice or notices or at any other time. The DH shall not be liable for any costs incurred by those expressing an interest in participating in the supplier day nor for any bid costs in any associated future procurement exercise. The estimated value given includes the optional extension period. The current expectation is that TUPE will apply and given that the staff expected to be in scope to transfer participate in the NHSPS it is expected that New Fair Deal will apply.