NHS England and NHS Improvement South West - Gender Dysphoria Services in the South West

NHSEI seeks Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from providers who have the capability and capacity (to be assessed as part of an eventual procurement/selection process) to deliver services for individuals on the NHS pathway of care for the treatment of gender dysphoria in the Southwest region of England in line with the National Specification for Services: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/service-specification-gender-identity-services-for-adults-non-surgical-interventions/

In June 2021 the NHSEI commissioning group held the Gender Identity Service Transformation SPRINT Workshop. The workshop highlighted the challenges that gender dysphoria services face in the region and the need for a new framework of services to be commissioned by April 2023. A prospectus supporting this market engagement is also attached for information. We highly recommend that all parties read the prospectus in full when registering their interest. Additionally, the high level objectives of the proposed framework are provided in a separate attachment.

The contract term will potentially be 7 years with an option to extend for a further period at commissioner discretion. The approximate contract envelope at this stage is £3m per annum, making an estimated contract value for the proposed 7-year period of £21m. The contract is due to commence no later than April 2023, though this may change.

As a next step, NHSEI now seek to identify any potential providers including NHS Organisations, primary care sector providers such as General Practitioners (GP), Gender Identity Clinics (GIC) and any Voluntary Community and Social Enterprises (VCSE) in the Southwest of England and understand the nature of their services and interest. To help us understand this, we request that all parties registering interest complete the attached Market Engagement Questionnaire. This information will then be used to inform the early development of the NHSEI commissioning strategy and procurement process. Details on how to register an EOI are provided below.

This PIN as a call for competition is initially published as a notice for expressions of interest. The Commissioner may then choose to proceed directly to a procurement process with parties who have responded to the notice and in this circumstance, there shall be no further notice published.

Should NHSE/I proceed to a procurement process it is anticipated to consist of two stages:

Stage 1 is a shortlisting stage; the aim of this shortlisting stage is predominantly to test the capability and capacity of potential Providers and to identify whether there is more than one capable provider.

Stage 2 will either be:

(a) a competitive process (if more than one capable provider is identified at Stage 1) which may involve dialogue and will involve assessment of bids against published evaluation criteria and weightings; or

(b) a collaborative "Assurance Process" with a single provider (if only one capable provider is identified at Stage 1).

Additional information: Both approaches will involve evidence being considered by subject matter experts and assessed against critical success factors and expected minimum standards.

Providers who wish to register their interest and return a completed questionnaire will need to register on the e-procurement system, In-Tend, available on the following link: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home

On registration, please include at least two contacts to allow for access to the system in times of absence.

The opportunity can be accessed via the 'current tenders' list on In-Tend, under the reference 'WA11939/EOI', providers will then need to select 'express an interest' and 'opt in'. Please upload your completed market questionnaire onto In-Tend by 12 noon 08/03/2022.

The contract will be awarded on a block basis at this point, however, should national changes in funding approach be introduced the provider must be prepared to work with the commissioner to assess any impact and work collaboratively to safely implement any such alterations during the life of the contract.

This exercise is being carried out by SCW on behalf of NHSE/I.

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 are instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77).

The process will be conducted in accordance with the requirements and flexibilities provided by Articles 74 to 76 of the Directive, and Regulations 74 to 76 of the Regulations. The Authority will run a transparent process, treating all Bidders equally. For the avoidance of doubt, the Authority will not be bound by the Regulations or the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or any other regulations or legislation except for the specific parts or circumstances that apply to the procurement of these Services.

Neither any inclusion of a Bidder selection stage, nor the use of any language or terms found in the Directive or Regulations, nor a description of the procedure voluntarily adopted by the Authority ("Open", "Restricted", "Competitive Procedure with Negotiation", "Competitive Dialogue" or any other description), nor any other indication, shall be taken to mean that the Authority intends to hold itself bound by the Directive or Regulations, save by the provisions applicable to services coming within the scope of Annex XIV of the Directive / Schedule 3 of the Regulations.

In the case of a procurement process, the Contracting Authority will observe award decision notice provisions and (in the case of a competitive tender) may observe a 10-day standstill period, as described in Regulation 86 of the Regulations. Unsuccessful Bidders will receive scores and reasons for the decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning bid and the reasons why the Bidder/application was unsuccessful.