The Provision of Any Qualified Provider (AQP) for MRI, NOUS and Adult Hearing Services on behalf of the Greater Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups

The 12 NHS Greater Manchester Clinical Commissioning Groups (GM CCGs) consisting of Bolton, Bury, HMR, South Manchester, Central Manchester, North Manchester, Oldham, Salford, Stockport, Tameside & Glossop, Wigan Borough and Trafford, are seeking to procure the following Services via an Any Qualified Provider (AQP) approach:

Lot 1 - Direct Access Diagnostics - Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Lot 2 - Direct Access Diagnostics - Non-obstetric ultrasound (NOUS) Lot 3 - Direct Access Adult Hearing Service Please see the Applicant documents for further details of which GM CCGs require each of the 3 Services.

The GM CCGs require local, responsive diagnostic services that will provide routine clinically appropriate assessment and diagnostic investigations with reports that support General practitioners (GPs) to manage a range of common conditions in primary care for patients over the age of 18 years. In securing these services from AQPs, the GM CCGs require assurance of competence, quality and safety standards. Any Provider will be eligible to apply subject to demonstrating compliance and competency against the specified criteria outlined in the service specifications.

The overarching aims of the services are: To provide a patient centred seamless service initiated by one referral into the service. To improve access to assessment, diagnostic, treatment and management in order to aid early diagnostics and avoid the need for unnecessary referral to secondary care. To ensure that patients receive the right test at the right time and in the most clinically appropriate setting. To enable patients and referring clinicians to access a choice of provision according to patient choice, clinical need and relevant pathway. To ensure the diagnostic testing is integrated across pathways of care that the report and/or images follow the patient and there is no unnecessary duplication of assessment or investigation. To work collaboratively with all Providers to ensure transfer of care protocols are continually developed and followed which ensure there are seamless pathways according to the latest guidance.

With this AQP approach all Providers who complete the accreditation process to (a) demonstrate capability and capacity to deliver the service and (b) accept the standard NHS contract terms and conditions and any subsequent revisions thereof and (c) accept the GM CCG's standard tariff price will become qualified providers. All qualified providers will be offered the standard NHS contract with the same terms, conditions, and price. The contracts will have no guaranteed minimum level of activity and no restricted maximum level of activity. Providers will be paid according to the actual activity level delivered. Providers should note that the indicative contract value is an estimated total cost of the service rather than an individual contract value, as it will be spread across multiple Providers.

Additional information: All procurement documents are available to be downloaded FREE of charge in electronic format from the EU-Supply Electronic Procurement portal, available at https://nhssbs.eu-supply.com ref 27069. Please see attachment which provides user guide and registration instructions for the EU-Supply portal, including help with technical queries. THE DEADLINE FOR RESPONSES is 12 noon, 2nd May 2017.