Health and Disability Assessment Services (HDAS) Reference number: UI_DWP_101014

Concepts

• health and social work
• sheffield
• relevant health professional expertise
• health professional bodies
• disability organisations
• health conditions
• assessment reports
• health care professionals
• health
• hdas

Location

Sheffield

Description

The Department of Work and Pensions shall enter into a Contract Variation of the Health and Disability Assessment Services (HDAS) Contract with the incumbent supplier following a period of 10 days from the date of publication of this notice. The Contract Variation provides for an extension of six (6) months from 02 March 2024 – 06 September 2024 of the services delivered by the HDAS contract. This is necessary due to delays in the completion of the Functional Assessment Services (FAS) contracts.

Total Quantity or Scope

The objective and independent assessment of the impact of health conditions and disabilities on claimants is central to the process of determining entitlement to Employment Support Allowance (ESA). The provider will carry out this assessment and provide information and advice to support the Authority’s decision-making processes. — The key elements of the service will include: — The consideration of a claimant’s health conditions or disabilities and the impact on their daily life and mobility, — Assessing individuals against criteria prescribed by the Authority, — The delivery of Consultations to support the above, — The gathering and consideration of evidence to support the above including, where necessary, paying appropriate fees for evidence, — The completion of reports, including advice, to the Authority, — The referral of assessment reports and any associated evidence to the Authority, — Interpretation and advice to the authority on technical evidence, — Follow up liaison with the Authority in relation to assessments, including the provision of relevant health professional expertise as required, — The administration and management of the service, including scheduling of Consultations, ensuring that they are completed within timescales set down by the Authority, — The recruitment, training, and ongoing support of Health Care Professionals, including liaison with relevant professional bodies, — The development of guidance and training in conjunction with the Authority, — The provision of an enquiry service for individuals being assessed, — The provision of a quality control regime, including a complaints function, — The provision of management information as defined by the Authority, — Initiatives and liaison with relevant organisations to support the provision of evidence, — Liaison and collaborative working with local and national partners, including disability organisations, health professional bodies and the devolved administrations, — Support for Test and Learn Activity.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 85000000 - Health and social work services

Indicators

Legal Justification

On 7 February 2023, DWP published Modification Notice 2023/S 000-003704 extending the HDAS contract term by an additional 7 months until 1 March 2024 due to an ongoing Functional Assessment Services (FAS) procurement process. DWP informed bidders of the outcome of the FAS procurement on 15 March 2023 and planned to sign contracts shortly thereafter to provide an 11-month implementation period before the commencement of operational services in March 2024. During the standstill period, DWP was served with a legal claim, which meant that the FAS contracts could not be signed as planned. The claim has since been resolved and the FAS contracts have been signed. The delay incurred owing to the legal claim reduced the time available for the FAS implementation period, which is crucial to enable a safe transition to the new service and delivery of the new IT that will support it. DWP considers that a further extension to the HDAS contract of 6 months to 6 September 2024 is necessary to account for this delay, in order to preserve the 11-month implementation period ensuring an efficient and smooth handover between the HDAS provider and the new FAS providers. Without a further extension to the HDAS contract, there would be a service provision gap, adversely impacting Employment and Support Allowance (“ESA") and Universal Credit (“UC”) customers, as well as other minor benefits, resulting in a failure of DWP to meet its statutory obligations. This could result in a delay to the provision of assessments for the critical statutory welfare benefit which HDAS services encompass . As the recipients of the welfare benefits the HDAS services encompass constitute a vulnerable section of society, DWP is of the view such an extension is necessary to ensure they are not disadvantaged

Other Information

Suppliers Instructions: How to Express Interest in this Tender: 1. Register on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once): https://dwp.bravosolution.co.uk & click the link to register - Accept the terms & conditions & click 'continue' - Enter your correct business & user details - Note your chosen username & click 'Save'. You will receive an email with your password (keep this secure) 2. Express an Interest in the tender - Login to the portal with the username/password - Click the 'PQQs / ITTs Open To All Suppliers' link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires or Invitations to Tender open to any registered supplier) - Click on the relevant exercise to access the content. - Click the 'Express Interest' button at the top of the page. - This will move the PQQ /ITT into your 'My PQQs/ My ITTs' page. (A secure area reserved for your projects only) -You can now access any attachments by clicking 'Buyer Attachments' in the 'PQQ/ ITT Details' box 3. Responding to the tender - Click 'My Response' under 'PQQ/ ITT Details', you can choose to 'Create Response' or to 'Decline to Respond' (please give a reason if declining) - You can now use the 'Messages' function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification - Note the deadline for completion. Follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ/ ITT - There may be a mixture of online & offline actions to complete (detailed online help available). To submit your reply use the 'Submit Response' button (top of the page). For further assistance please consult the online help, or the eTendering help desk. DWP expressly reserves the rights(i)to use a reverse auction; (ii)to cancel this procurement at any stage; (iii)to not award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice; (iv)and in no circumstances will DWP be liable for any costs incurred by potential suppliers.