Health and Disability Assessment Service (HDAS) - Contract Extension

Concepts

• health and social work
• hdas
• sheffield
• disability assessment service
• provision of relevant health
• independent assessment of the impact of health conditions
• contract variation of the health
• ongoing support of health care professionals
• contract extension
• provision of an enquiry service

Location

United Kingdom:

Description

DWP 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 seven (7) months from 01.08.2023 - 01.03.2024.

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

Legal Justification

On 5 March 2020, DWP published a Prior Information Notice 2020/S 046-109668 as notification of its intent to re-procure the Health and Disability Assessment Services (HDAS) contract for assessment services in accordance with Section 7, PCR as part of a larger procurement for other types of assessment services (FAS procurement). Due to the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic the new procurement was delayed and the HDAS Contract was extended for the reasons set out in Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice 2020/S 135-333758. The FAS procurement was launched on 12 November 2021 and, although a light touch regime procurement, was based on a competitive dialogue procedure, the commencement of which included the submission of indicative bids. During dialogue it became apparent that the contract value envelope for the FAS procurement needed to be revised in order to provide these key public services effectively. The procurement was therefore halted temporarily with a view to re-engaging with stakeholders . It had also become clear that the ratio of face to face assessments versus remote assessments needed to be reviewed given the continuation of the Pandemic and further time was spent ensuring the contractual arrangements had built-in flexibility to deal with changing circumstances and impact the above changes. DWP also considered that a further round of commercial dialogue (not originally planned) was necessary to ensure the quality of BAFO submissions in the face of the revised contractual framework. Due to these various activity streams, it was therefore impossible for DWP to avoid a negative impact on its original timetable. The procurement is now well underway. DWP do not envisage there will be cause for further delay. However, due to the additional activities and subsequent delay (see above) in order to ensure an efficient and smooth handover between HDAS and the new FAS providers during an appropriate implementation period, DWP considers an extension of 7 months to the HDAS contract term is necessary. Without an extension there could be a delay to provision of assessments for the critical statutory welfare benefit which HDAS services encompass. DWP considers Regulation 72(1)(b) PCR is applicable. For the reasons set out above, the provision of additional services until 1 March 2024 has become necessary and a change of contractor: (i) cannot be made for economic or technical reasons such as requirements of interchangeability or interoperability with existing services procured under the initial procurement; and (ii) would cause significant inconvenience or substantial duplication of costs for the contracting. In addition, the increase in price under the modification does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract. DWP will publish a modification notice pursuant to Regulation 72(3) of PCR.

Other Information

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