Provision of Special Allocation Scheme (SAS) Services in Essex

NHS Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AGCSU) on behalf of NHS England Midlands & East (East) is carrying out a market engagement exercise for the provision of the Special Allocation Scheme (SAS) Service (also known as the Violent Patient Scheme (VPS)) Services in Essex. The Service 1) provides primary medical services to patients who have been removed from general practice due to exhibiting violent or aggressive behaviour (as per the national criteria); 2) is to be delivered in a safe and secure way that meets the needs of and protects the patient, staff and others within the premises; 3) incorporates an element of rehabilitation to address the underlying causes of the patient's behaviour and support them to return to general practice; and 4) is being commissioned as five separate contracts in the following geographical areas of Lot 1 - Mid Essex; Lot2 - North East Essex; Lot3 - West Essex; Lot4 - Southend and Castle Point and Rochford and Lot5 - Thurrock and Basildon and Brentwood.

The Commissioner would like to hear from any potential provider who would be willing to complete a questionnaire to provide feedback on the draft Service Specification and who would like to request a place at the Market engagement event.

The Market Engagement event will cover the following: i) an overview of the services to be provided; ii) details of the contract type, length and particular conditions; iii) feedback on the Market Engagement questionnaire; and iv) an outline of the procurement process and the anticipated timeline.

Additional information: This opportunity will be open to the entire market, including the current providers. It is intended that the tender will be published Early April 2017. The services must be fully operational by the service commencement date of the 1st October 2017.

An expression of interest in this market event will not automatically entitle involvement in any future procurement exercise. The responses received during the market analysis exercise will not be taken into account in any future evaluation process as part of the formal procurement process.

The subsequent procurement will be advertised separately, (it is anticipated that the tender will be published early April 2017) and all organisations wanting to participate will need to respond to the procurement advertisement when published.

Please: i) Register on the portal https://ardengemcsu.bravosolution.co.uk

ii) Express interest by: a) logging-in to the Arden&GEMCSU e-Tendering portal; b) selecting response to advert and PQQ (ref: pqq_361 on the Bravo Portal refers); c) select Open Access PQQ; d) search for and access listing related to this contract and view details; e) click on Express Interest link.

iii) Once you have expressed interest, access the My PQQs page where you can complete the questionnaire. Please state in your response to question ME01 if you would like to request a place at the market engagement event that is scheduled for 6pm on Thursday 23rd March 2017 at NHS England, Swift House, Hedgerows Business Park, Colchester Road, Springfield, Chelmsford, Essex, CM2 5PF. You must then submit your reply using the 'Submit Response' button at the top of the page By 12 noon on Friday 17th March. If you require any further assistance consult the on-line help/contact the helpdesk; Phone:0800 368 4850 E-mail [email protected]

Please note that THIS IS NOT A PQQ, we are using this functionality within the Bravo portal to communicate with interested parties.