Provision of a Pan Essex Keyworker Service for Children and Young People with a diagnosed learning disability and/or autism

Concepts

• health services
• north east essex
• chelmsford
• basildon
• southend on sea
• epping
• grays
• colchester
• rayleigh
• provision of a pan essex keyworker service

Location

Essex, including: North East Essex, West Essex, Mid Essex, Basildon & Brentwood, Thurrock, Southend-on-Sea and Castle Point and Rochford

Description

The Authority invites responses from suitably qualified and experienced providers to deliver a (non-clinical) Keyworker Service for children and young people with a diagnosed learning disability and / or autism, from 1st October 2022 to 31st March 2025. Hereafter all references to the Authority incorporates: NHS Castle Point and Rochford Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) (as Coordinating Commissioner), NHS Basildon & Brentwood CCG, NHS Southend CCG, NHS Mid Essex CCG, NHS Thurrock CCG, NHS North East Essex CCG and NHS West Essex CCG. (Please note, as of the 1st July 2022, the seven aforementioned CCG's will transition into three separate Integrated Care Boards (ICB's) namely; NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB, Mid and South Essex ICB and Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, which will be named as the Contracting Authorities in any future Contract Award Notices associated with this procurement. The aggregate value of the contract over the 30 months term is £2,483,405 excluding VAT (£2,980,086 including VAT), which will act as an affordability envelope for the purposes of bidding. Any bids received in excess of such affordability envelope will be rejected as non-compliant. Further information can be found at sections II.2.4, II.2.14 and VI.3 and within the Procurement documents.

Total Quantity or Scope

The Authority invites responses from suitably qualified and experienced providers to deliver a (non-clinical) Keyworker Service from 1st October 2022 to 31st March 2025. The Keyworker Service for Southend, Essex & Thurrock is a local and direct response to the NHS Long Term Plan commitment that by 2023/24, C&YP with learning disabilities, autism, or both with the most complex needs will have a designated Keyworker. Initially, Keyworker support will be provided to C&YP who are at risk of being admitted to hospital (or whom are already inpatients), but it is envisaged that support will also be extended to those who face multiple vulnerabilities such as looked after and adopted children, and C&YP in transition between services. The service will aim to reduce the risk of unnecessary/avoidable hospital admissions or other forms of institutional care; expedite the safe and timely discharge when admissions are necessary; and enable more C&YP to safely remain within their own community. The Service will achieve this through having a Keyworker assigned to each eligible child, young person and their family who can build an established and trusted relationship in order to advocate for that individual and their needs, whilst simultaneously bringing about challenge and accountability within the system. The role of the Keyworker is fundamentally patient facing, whilst also working across the geographical footprint and alongside the services that operate within it. This is not a clinical service, and it is anticipated that organisations and employees within it are likely to span a wide variety of skill and expertise that will be applicable to the delivery of this function to ensure its success. The Authority is looking to appoint a single Preferred Bidder to manage all aspects of the Service. As such, a Lotting Strategy is deemed inappropriate as it risks creation of unnecessary fragmentation and complexity. Accordingly, the service will be offered as a single contract awarded to a single Preferred Bidder (either as a lead provider in it's own right, as a such as a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) or consortium of providers, or in association with sub-contractors). Bidders will be required to confirm their Bidding Model including the legal form it takes. The Authority reserves the right to require members of any bidding group to assume a specific legal form if awarded the contract, if considered necessary for the satisfactory performance of the contract. As per advice from NHSE, the contract to be entered into by the Authority and the Preferred Bidder for the procurement will be based on the NHS Terms and Conditions for the Provision of Services. Further information can be found at sections II.2.14 and VI.3 and in the Procurement documents.

CPV Codes

• 85100000 - Health services
• 85000000 - Health and social work services
• 85140000 - Miscellaneous health services
• 85323000 - Community health services

Indicators

• Bids should cover the whole contract.
• Renewals are not available.
• Financial restrictions apply.
• Performance considerations apply.
• Professional qualifications are sought.
• Award on basis of price and quality.

Legal Justification

This is a voluntary notice for best practice purposes to confirm that an accelerated process being adopted by the commissioner, under the Light Touch Regime (LTR). Under LTR there is no stipulation regarding minimum timescales. The Contracting Authority must design the procurement in such a way as to be compliant with the principles of equal treatment and transparency, carries out the procedure in conformity with information included in the notice and sets time limits that are reasonable and proportionate. As such, this tender will be live for 20 consecutive days in order to ensure the Authority can meet the ambitious timescales set by NHSE to deliver on the metrics within this contract. The procurement included market engagement in the pre-procurement phase, that included an opportunity for potential providers to offer feedback, and has been designed specifically in order to ensure that the tender can be responded to without jeopardising the quality of bids, within this period.

Other Information

The scored Quality Evaluation includes a Presentation to be delivered by the Bidder to a small group of children and young people (experts by experience). Indicatively the Authority is planning for presentations to occur between 22nd June and 6th July 2022, but this may be subject to change. Bidders will receive confirmation via the eProcurement Portal within 48 hours of the meeting. The Services within this procurement fall within Section 7 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (the "Regulations"). Neither the inclusion of the Bidder at Qualification Stage nor the use of the terms Process Overview, Selection Questionnaire, or Invitation to Tender nor any other indication shall be taken to mean that the Authority intends to hold themselves bound by any of the Regulations save those applicable to Public Contracts for social and other specific services listed in Schedule 3 of the Regulations (the "Light Touch" Regime). The Authority may wish to expand the Keyworker Services during the lifetime of the contract ("Contract modification(s)"). To this end, the Bidder should be aware that after the award of contract, there is a possibility that the successful Bidder may be offered a variation(s) to the contract in accordance with Regulation 72 (1) (a) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020), in the following potential circumstances and or situations where necessary; a) Appropriate alignment of the Service / Contract with the planned expansion of the DSR function for the SET TCP. b) As a result of changes to the anticipated demand in the expanded phase of the Keyworker Service, to support the successful Bidder to evolve the service slowly and sustainability to ensure success. c) As a result of changes associated with the expansion phase of the service in relation to the mechanisms around the Adult DSR, to expand that function to include autistic adults as well as those facing multiple other vulnerabilities. d) where additional funding becomes available to the Authority for delivery of service requirements that are similar and or complementary to the Keyworker Services already included in the Specification, at any given time, and do not modify the overall nature of the contract and or for delivery of the Keyworker Service over a longer duration in order to support sustainability of the Service and thorough evaluation of its effectiveness across the SET TCP. Such expansion would be by the addition of services commissioned by the Authority, where the Business Case provides objective evidence that contract variation is the most appropriate course of action, taking account of one or more of the following considerations; service safety, financial and economic impact, innovation, patient and public acceptability, impact on health inequalities, strategic alignment with National/Regional/Local strategic priorities, ability to improve multiple pathways, positive contribution to improved supply / improving service responsiveness, patient experience and health economy impact. Disclaimer: The Authority shall not be responsible for any costs or expenses incurred by respondents to this procurement in preparing and/or submitting such responses. To access the procurement documentation, please go to the Attain eProcurement Portal (Bravo powered by Jaggaer) at: https://attain.bravosolution.co.uk Click on 'Register here' and follow the on-screen instructions. You can access the ITT: 'itt_94 - Keyworker Service for Children and Young People with a diagnosed learning disability and/or autism' by clicking on the link called 'View current opportunities' on the Home Page. Please note that the tender will not be accepted by any means other than through the Attain e-Procurement Portal.