The Provision of a Pathology Specimen Referral Service for Overseas Bases - RFI

This RFI is hereby being issued in relation to a potential upcoming requirement. The aim is to seek information about where the market stands in order to better refine our requirement.

Contract Value: Approx. £145,500 (ex. VAT) Contract Duration: Three (3) Years with a potential for option years (1+1+1) Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015

1. OPPORTUNITY DETAIL

1.1. The requirement will be issued by Defence Medical Services (DMS), Ministry of Defence 1.2. This is for the provision of a coherent specimen referral and assay service to support all permanent Authority overseas locations and deployed units. 1.3. Overseas locations have reduced laboratory support and as such there is a need to refer some samples to UK facilities to support the medical needs of the Population at Risk (PAR).

2. REQUIREMENT OVERVIEW

2.1. The Contractor will be responsible for producing an electronic user handbook (herein referred to as the to list all tests available in-house, with sample requirements, pre-analytical requirements, and estimated turnaround time (TAT) coherent with the RCPath guidelines.

2.2. The Authority will have overarching ownership of all samples and the Contractor shall process specimens and report results within the agreed turnaround times.

2.3. Sample testing include, but are not limited to, Bio, Micro, Histo, Haem and Cyto.

2.4. The average number of tests over a 12-month period is 3000, however due to the unpredictability of the referral service, usage may decline or increase during the lifetime of the contract.

2.5. A fast and secure method that conforms to the General Data Protection Regulations must be executed for delivering results to the Authority and agreed failsafe measures shall be implemented to ensure DMS patient safety and compliance with national service standards.

2.6. The Contractor will be expected to provide a 24 hour, 365/year sample collection/processing service and email or telephone contact for monitoring transportation of samples.

2.9. A 24-hour telephone service from a pathologist/clinical scientist/biomedical scientist will also be necessary for providing the Authority with technical advice on haematology, clinical chemistry, microbiology, and cellular pathology results/issues.

3. AUTHORITY QUESTIONS TO SUPPLIERS

1) What would be your preferred payment structure for this type of contract?

2) What types of testing do you complete on-site and what (if any) do you outsource?

3) Do you have on-site capability for processing/unpacking of samples known or thought to contain pathogens from Hazard Group 3 ("High Risk" samples)?

4) Do you have a remote result/report access system/capability? Please note, this is separate from the electronic transfer of results into the patient healthcare record and refers to either cloud based or web portal-based access to a result reporting system.

5) Do you have an established pathology sample courier contract for transport of specimens to referral laboratories?

Additional information: The Authority reserves the right not to proceed with this procurement. Nothing shall constitute a commitment to instigating a formal procurement process.

No down-selection of Potential Providers will take place as a consequence of any responses or interactions relating to this RFI.

No information provided by a Potential Provider in response to this RFI will be carried forward, used or acknowledged in any way for the purpose of evaluating the Potential Provider, in any subsequent formal procurement process that may take place.

QUALITY STANDARDS/CONFIDENTIALITY

- ISO 15189:2012 standards and ensure any secondary referral establishments sub-contracted by the Contractor comply with these standards

- Provide a valid certificate of UKAS accreditation on the Authority's request.

- Risk Management - The Contractor is to have a policy in place which encompasses the principles contained within ISO 31000:2009/DIS31000.

- Health and Safety - The Contractor must be compliant with Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and Health Technical Memorandum 07-01 Safe management of healthcare waste.

- Accepting and processing samples arriving by post following Laboratory Handbook standards and packed in accordance with UN3373 regulations.

- Quality standards contained within ISO15189:2012 (Registered with United Kingdom Accreditation Services or suitable equivalent).

- National Newborn Blood Spot Failsafe Solution (NBSFS) mandated in service specification No. 19, NHS Newborn Blood Spot Screening in sections 2.2, 2.3, 3.6, 3.25, 4.2 and 5.6 of document.

- Information contained within the Medical Record should be handled in accordance with Access to Medical Records Act 1988, Health Record Act 1990, Data Protection Act 2018, General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Caldicott Principles.

- Records and samples must be retained in accordance with the RC Path and IBMS guidance provided in "The Retention and Storage of Pathological Records and Specimens".

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION

5.1. This Contract is classified at Official Sensitive (OS) 5.2. The MoD has determined the level of risk as HIGH (Reference: RAR-QAK5PPXX) as defined in DEF STAN 05-138. 5.3. To do business with the MOD you must have the Cyber Security controls required as defined in DEF STAN 05-138.

ESTIMATED TIME FRAMES

RFI Issued: 1st March 2022 RFI Responses back: 22nd March 2022 Invitation to Tender (ITT) release via DSP: 12th April 2022 Tender Return: 10th May 2022 Tender Evaluation: 24th May 2022 Contract Award: 31st May 2022 Standstill Period: 9th June 2022 Contract Implementation: 1st July 2022