Expressions of Interest for the Provision of Diabetic Eye Screening Programme in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country (West Midlands)

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement Midlands (the Commissioner) would like to notify the market of an opportunity to provide a Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP) in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country (West Midlands) and to invite all interested providers to participate in an early market assessment questionnaire.

The estimated contract value is £7,224,525 with a service commencement date of 1st July 2021. The contract will be for a duration of 1 Year 9 Months (no extension) so that the service end date can be aligned to the other West Midlands DESP contracts. If your organisation wishes to express an interest, please register against Quote/tender 41437 in EU Supply and return the short questionnaire no later than 12:00 Noon on Friday 13th November 2020.

The aims of the DESP is to reduce the risk of sight loss amongst people with diabetes by the prompt identification and effective treatment if necessary, of sight threatening diabetic retinopathy, at the appropriate stage during the disease process.

The Service being commissioned should align to the National Diabetic Eye Screening Service Specification which aims to ensure a consistent and equitable approach across England, and to govern the provision and monitoring of the DESP. The current eligible cohort size is 139000.

The Service will need to undertake and perform the following objectives in order to meet the commissioning and Service Specification requirements: • Identify the eligible population and ensure effective delivery with maximum coverage. • Deliver safe, effective, high quality, externally and independently monitored, and quality assured Diabetic Eye Screening Programme. • Lead to earlier detection, appropriate referral, effective treatment and improved outcomes. • Deliver and support through suitably trained, competent, and qualified, clinical and non-clinical staff who, where relevant, participate in recognised ongoing continuing medical education (CME), continuous Professional Development (CPD), and Quality Assurance (QA) schemes; as well as have regular audits embedded within the service. The provision of DESP is delivered in line with the following aims of the NHS long term plan • Improve public health outcomes and reduce health inequalities. • Contribute to a more sustainable public health, health and care system.

The DESP programme also contributes to the public health outcomes framework which aims to improve and protect the nation's health and wellbeing and to improve the health of the poorest, fastest.

It is anticipated that the Invitation to Tender for this opportunity will be published in December 2020. This is purely a early engagement exercise, any subsequent procurement will be advertised separately and all organisations wanting to participate will need to respond to the procurement advertisement as and when published.

Additional information: Please note that this expression of interest has been designed to allow the market visibility of the proposed opportunity and support early engagement.

The aim of the expression of interest exercise is to; 1. Support the Commissioners informed decision making on the potential options for the future commissioning of these services; 2. To help refine the commissioning and procurement approach and; 3. To gauge the level of interest from the market of capable providers with capacity to deliver the services illustrated above.

This is a market testing exercise and does not commit the Commissioners to carry out a procurement process. Current services will remain in place during this period in line with existing contracts and service level agreements.

If your organisation wishes to express an interest, please register against Quote/tender 41437 - AG20049 - Expressions of Interest for the Provision of Diabetic Eye Screening Programme in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country (West Midlands) in EU Supply and complete and return the short questionnaire no later than 12:00 Noon Friday 13th November 2020.