Dental Services as a Branch Surgery in Bicester, Oxfordshire

NHS England South (South East) (the Commissioner) is seeking additional primary care dental provision in Bicester, Oxfordshire on an interim basis and up to an additional 7,000 Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) to be commissioned on the basis of a branch surgery from a current General/Personal Dental Services (GDS/PDS) contract holder.

This is due to growing pressures on local services as a result of population growth following the building of a substantial number of new houses over the last few years.

Applicants will be required to identify suitable premises and if successful the identified site will be added to the provider's current GDS/PDS contract for the period up to 30th September 2020.

Services will be commissioned within contractual arrangements, the financial envelope, and activity targets currently in place with the applicant under the NHS (General/Personal Dental Services) Regulations 2005. This means that there is no additional financial resource for providers who set up in Bicester.

If providers feel that the opening of a branch surgery in Bicester is an effective way to achieve full delivery of their contracted activity, this may be of interest.

There are a number of points applicants will need to consider. • Services will be commissioned within contractual arrangements currently in place with the applicant under the NHS (General/Personal Dental Services) Regulations 2005 • The provider will be responsible for identifying, securing, financing and utilising the premises from which services will be delivered • Premises will need to comply with all relevant legislation for the provision of NHS Dental Services, which will include Care Quality Commission registration • Branch surgery arrangements should allow staff to work across sites if appropriate without requiring substantial travel distances • Applicants will need to demonstrate governance arrangements in place and how they will be applied to the service to be provided • NHSE reserves the right to review the price of the UDAs if appropriate • The level of activity commissioned will be subject to agreement with NHSE, which will include a review of impact on current provision to ensure there is no adverse impact on the area already served • Agreed activity for Bicester will form part of the provider's existing contract activity for the period up to 30th Sept 20 to which the relevant contractual clauses will apply. The activity will be delivered evenly across the year • The provider will deliver services in Bicester 5 days per week, remaining open to new patients over the life of the interim contract, ensuring information re access is maintained on NHS Choices, and support NHS 111 to provide urgent access for patients

The full scope of the service can be found in the draft service specification available at https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home. The deadline for response is 18/6/18 at 12pm.

This procurement is being carried out by SCW CSU on behalf of the Commissioner.

Additional information: Interested providers will be able to view the tender opportunity via the 'current tenders' list on the e-procurement system https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home

In order to access the tender documentation you will need to 'express an interest' and register on the system. Bidders are required to respond to Selection Questionnaire & ITT questions directly within the system and attach any requested documents separately to the placeholders provided.

The services are healthcare services and are below the value of the current threshold for services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations"). 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.

The Authority will run a transparent tender process, treating all Bidders equally. 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.

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.