NHS Barnsley CCG : Consultant Led Teledermatology Service- Primary Care Initiated Referrals

Concepts

• barnsley
• miscellaneous health services
• nhs barnsley
• consultant led teledermatology service
• primary care initiated
• nhs barnsley clinical commissioning group
• nhs barnsley ccg
• teledermatology service
• course of action nhs barnsley ccg
• teledermatology pilot

Location

Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham: Barnsley, South Yorkshire

Description

NHS Barnsley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) ( the ‘Authority') intends to extend a contract without competition during the period 1st January 2022 – 30 March 2023 with a contract value of £138,480 to the incumbent providers as detailed below: Clinical Partnership, The Octagon, Hesslewood Hall, Ferriby Road, Hessle, East Yorkshire, HU13 0LH The current Consultant Led Teledermatology service contract in Barnsley is used by GP Practices in Barnsley.

Total Quantity or Scope

The service aims to facilitate diagnosis and treatment plans for patients using technology, remote advice and guidance to allow patients to be treated in Primary Care where appropriate and to reassure patients regarding benign diagnosis. Referrals identified as appropriate for the suspected cancer 2 week wait pathway are directly referred to Barnsley Hospital by the current provider. This has been particularly important during the current pandemic reducing the need for a potential appointment at the hospital. All referrals to the teledermatolgy service are dealt with by Consultant Dermatology level staff. The Consultant Led Teledermatology pilot commenced in June 2019 and was for initial duration of 10 months ending 31 March 2020. The pilot was extended until 31st July 2020 to allow further time to effectively evaluate the pilot’s impact. On 22 July 2020 in the middle of the first period of the pandemic it was agreed, subject to the issue of a VEAT notice, to extend the service to the current provider for a term of a further 17 months (to 31.12.2021) rather than run a competitive tender process. In deciding on this course of action NHS Barnsley CCG was mindful that continuity of service was of paramount consideration, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic situation, during which period the service needed to continue without interruption, as not doing this could cause hidden harms for patients. The initial pilot contract value was £41,667.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 85140000 - Miscellaneous health services

Legal Justification

The rationale for the extension of the Teledermatology Service is: 1. The main impact of re-tendering this service or stopping the provision is that it will impact negatively on supporting the recovery and resilience of BHNFT hospital and Primary Care to cope with the Pandemic. It will also have the impact of taking away resources from delivering patient care. 2. This is because the current service delivery would be disrupted and a new providers system would take at least three months to be fully mobilised. This gap in service delivery and referrals would mean an increase into Barnsley Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, at a time they need to focus on managing the impact of the pandemic and system pressures. Primary Care needs to focus on a continuity of care for patients and so this is not the time to have a new referral and equipment process to train staff and patients to use. i.e. by taking away resources from delivering patient care. 3. A contract extension will also allow any procurement process to take place post-winter (i.e. we are not asking possible bidders/services to respond at the peak of winter / during additional waves of COVID19) and take away resource from delivering patient care. 4. By continuing with the current service it also helps to keep patients safer by keeping them closer to home and avoiding an appointment at the hospital, which will occur if there is a an interruption in the service due to a new provider being commissioned.

Other Information

** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. **