NHS England and NHS Improvement South West Provision of Primary Care Dental Services within Dental Education facilities in Truro, Exeter & Plymouth

NHS England and NHS Improvement South West (NHSE/I SW) seeks Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from providers who have the capability and capacity (to be assessed as part of initial procurement process) to deliver Primary Care Dental Services from existing dental education facilities in Truro, Exeter and Plymouth utilising supervised dental students on placement from the University of Plymouth with the potential of 16,000 sessions across these sites per annum. The service will contribute to the training of the dental team through the delivery of NHS dental services to appropriate patients. The service is responsible for the recruitment of suitable patients, based on acceptance criteria which meets the needs of the students and the course (as defined by the General Dental Council and Health Education England). The contract term will be 7 years with an option to extend for a further 2 years (at commissioner discretion) and the total contract value is £9,654,471 (over the 9-year period, should the extension be granted and based on 2021/22 values. The contract is due to commence October 2021 Interested parties must be eligible to hold a PDS (Personal Dental Services) contract and appropriate CQC registration. The objectives of the dental service are: • To support clinical training of dental professionals to provide primary care dental services. • To improve the oral health of patients treated. • To provide dental services to eligible patients who do not have a regular NHS dental care provider, in order to address their oral health needs through a single course of treatment. The service includes providing urgent care during a course of treatment and a guaranteed period afterwards. • To provide an agreed level of access to patients who meet the criteria within the area. • To promote inclusive healthcare and support early intervention with timely treatment, through oral health advice, treatment and signposting where appropriate, as defined in national guidance.

This procurement is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners.

EOIs received will be used to help NHSE/I finalise their commissioning and contracting approach for these services.

This exercise is being carried out by NHS South, Central & West Commissioning Support Unit on behalf of NHSE/I. 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 there shall be no further notice published. Interested providers will be able to view this opportunity via the 'current tenders' list on the e-procurement system, In-Tend, available on the following link: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home

Additional information: Please refer to additional information document attached to this notice for further details regarding this procurement process.