The supply of Adult Mental Health Inpatient Service to Devon Partnership NHS Trust

This market engagement stage is being undertaken to seek market views which will help inform the procurement process that will shortly be launched to secure an additional 16 adult acute psychiatric inpatient beds in Exeter. Any Provider wishing to participate should complete and return the questionnaire.

There is a national target as part of the Five Year Forward View (FYFV) to eliminate inappropriate Out of Area placements by 2020/21. The procurement of additional inpatient capacity in Exeter is a fundamental part of the plan to achieve the FYFV target.

The aim is to provide high quality holistic care in a safe and therapeutic setting for service users in the most acute and vulnerable state of their illness and who cannot be managed at home with the involvement of the Home Treatment Team. This will be provided in collaboration with service user, carers, statutory and non-statutory organisations in order to ensure that admissions and inpatient episodes are timely and appropriate.

This market engagement stage and procurement is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of Devon Partnership NHS Trust.

The contract will be for a term of 1 year (the target commencement date is 1.9.2020). At the end of the 1 year term Devon Partnership NHS trust have the option to extend the initial period up to a maximum of a further 12 months.

The cost envelope is expected to be between £2.6m and £3.2m per annum. Any values and timescales stated within this PIN notice are for guideline purposes only and should not be taken as a guarantee.

Interested providers will be able to view this notice 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

In order to submit a response to the market engagement questionnaire, you will need to be registered on the e-procurement system and 'express an interest', and then complete a response as specified within the procurement documents.

On registration, please include at least two contacts to allow for access to the system in times of absence.

Additional information: This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit the commissioner(s) to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest. Devon Partnership NHS Trust will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise.

The services are healthcare services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations, but is instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77).

The tendering process will be conducted in accordance with the requirements and flexibilities provided by Articles 74 to 76 of the Directive, and Regulations 74 to 76 of the Regulations. The Authority will run a transparent tender process, treating all Bidders equally. For the avoidance of doubt, the Authority will not be bound by the Regulations or the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or any other regulations or legislation except for the specific parts or circumstances that apply to the procurement of these Services.

Neither the inclusion of a Bidder selection stage, nor the use of any language or terms found in the Directive or Regulations, nor the description of the procedure voluntarily adopted by the Authority ("Open", "Restricted", "Competitive Procedure with Negotiation", "Competitive Dialogue" or any other description), nor any other indication, shall be taken to mean that the Authority intends to hold itself bound by the Directive or Regulations, save by the provisions applicable to services coming within the scope of Annex XIV of the Directive / Schedule 3 of the Regulations.

The Contracting Authority intends to voluntarily observe the award decision notices provisions and 10 day standstill period described in Regulation 86 of the Regulations. Unsuccessful Bidders will receive scores and reasons for the decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning bid and the reasons why the Bidder/application was unsuccessful. Deadline for lodging of appeals should be in accordance with Regulation 87 and Regulation 91 of the Regulations.