Orthodontic Services in London RTL088P (PIN and Market Event)

This Prior Information Notice (PIN) provides an update on the intention of NHS England - London Region to recommission PDS orthodontic contracts in London and invites bidders to register for engagement events planned on 14th and 15th March 2018.

In compliance with Public Contracts Regulation 2015 and in the interests of transparency, consistency and fairness NHS England (London Region) is required to undertake a formal procurement process at the contract expiry of the existing contracts. The existing PDS orthodontic contracts in London have been extended to and expire in 2019.

NHS England (London Region) has started the preliminary process of re-procuring the PDS orthodontic contracts with the expectation that new contracts will go live in April 2019. A London Orthodontic Procurement Board has been set up with five work streams; engagement, clinical, contracting, finance and procurement. Terms of Reference and work plans have been agreed for all work streams and each work stream produces a monthly report to the board.

The contracting work stream is working on the service specification and lotting strategy. The procurement will be managed on a regional basis but contracts will be split into geographical Lots which will be informed by the recently completed London orthodontic needs assessments. This may mean some changes to the delivery of services locally to ensure equity of service provision.

The procurement work stream has been set up with the purpose of ensuring that the procurement is run in a transparent manner that affords equal treatment to all bidders. It is expected that the details such as timeline of this project, type of procedure to be used and award process will be shared at the market event.

Engagement with relevant stakeholders is an essential component of any procurement. To this end the engagement work stream has started the process of consulting widely with dental professionals, patients and other stakeholders such as the BDA, BOS, LDCs. Questionnaires have been sent out to patients and GDPs and interviews are being conducted with primary care specialists and orthodontic consultants. We would like to urge all those who are contacted to participate in this process so as to capture the views of all stakeholders. Their views are important in informing commissioning decisions.

Additional information: THE EVENTS: Two stakeholder / market engagement events are planned on 14th & 15th March 2018 at the Crowne Plaza London - Kings Cross, 1 Kings Cross Road, London WC1X 9HX. At these events more information will be provided on the project and the procurement process. The events will also provide an opportunity to ask questions about the project. An optional training session on the use of the procurement portal will also be available for the bidders at the events.Both the events have the same agenda. Bidders only required to attend one of the two events. An organisation can register up to a maximum of three delegates for the events. The events may be recorded, please let us know in advance if you do not wish to be filmed. HOW TO REGISTER: To register for these events please follow the link to the procurement portal provided in this notice. You will be required to open a free account on the procurement portal if you haven't got one already. It usually takes up to one working day for your account to get verified. Once your account is up and running, you are required to complete a short online form to register for the events. Further communication including draft agenda for the events will be shared through the portal. Bidder are advised that once registered on the portal, all communication should be directed through the procurement portal messaging facility.

Following the market events, when the new contract opportunities are published all bidders wishing to bid will be required to express interest and participate in a competitive tendering process. THREE KEY STEPS TO SECURE YOUR SPACE AT THE MARKET EVENT(S): 1- Sign up on the portal as a supplier (if you haven't got an account already) and remember your chosen login details 2- Login to the portal once your account is active. Normally, it takes one working day for activation after signup. 3- Complete the Market Event registration forms and once done, submit your response.