Routine Community Age-Related Hearing Loss Services

Concepts

• ent or audiologist
• exeter
• service delivery
• services user
• translation services
• audiology services
• complex audiology services
• community age-related hearing loss services
• hearing assessment
• local communities

Location

NHS Devon will be seeking to contract with multiple providers to ensure robust coverage across the whole county of Devon. As such providers will be considered who are able to deliver across the whole county or just from specific localities. Domiciliary services are also required as part of this procurement.

Description

This notice is being published to alert providers to a planned procurement exercise for the provision of community age-related hearing loss services for patients registered with a GP in Devon. These contracts would start on 1st April 2025. Any values and timescales stated within this PIN are for guideline purposes only and should not be taken as a guarantee. NHS Devon is seeking providers to deliver hearing assessment; hearing aid fitting (if clinically indicated) and follow-up and aftercare services. The aim is for people with routine, age-related hearing problems to receive high quality, efficient services delivered close to home, with high responsiveness to the needs of local communities. Complex audiology services and audiology services for patients under 55 years old are not part of this procurement.

Total Quantity or Scope

Services are required to cover the following scope: - Adults aged over 55 years who are registered with a GP in Devon - Experiencing routine, age-related hearing loss without evidence of additional complexities falling under the exclusion criteria set out in the service specification - Services to be delivered from agreed locations within Devon or on a domiciliary basis within the county - the ICB will not pay for delivery from locations that have not be authorised for service delivery and there is no capital funding available as part of this procurement. - Providers may express an interest in delivery across the County or from specific localities - Service users referred by their GP or via self-referral, where initial screening indicates no complexities and/ or contraindications present Requirements: • Practitioners to have the professional accreditation, skills and competencies to carry out the requested assessment • Delivery in line with NICE, BAA, BHSA and other relevant guidance as set out in the service specification • IQIPS accreditation, or able to evidence engagement with UKAS to begin the accreditation process and a clear plan for achieving accreditation by no later than 31/3/2026. • Professional, public and employer's indemnity arrangements in place along with clinical negligence cover • Ability to accommodate services user who have sight loss, learning disabilities, require domiciliary care, require translation services. • To have appropriate patient experience measures and complaints procedures in place and evidence how learning from these is applied. • Able to comply with specified ICB with KPI and Quality reporting requirements and to upload data in line with required national datasets (including DM01) - Data collections and data sets - NHS England Digital Payment will be on an activity basis with no guaranteed volumes/ minimum spend. Patients will be able to choose which contracted provider they wish to attend and referrals will either be from GPs using ERS or self-referral. The NHS Standard Contract will be used for this service. At this stage it is anticipated contracts would be issued for 3 years, with optional extensions covering a further 2 years.

CPV Codes

• 85121240 - ENT or audiologist services

Indicators

Other Information

Any providers interested in this opportunity should contact d-icb.contracting@nhs.net to request further information and an engagement questionnaire. Further information, including the full service specification and local pricing will be supplied. The engagement questionnaire is being used to help establish the number of interested providers, the localities providers would be interested in covering and to inform the most appropriate procurement approach. Any interested parties are asked to confirm their interest by email to d-icb.contracting@nhs.net. Please use: 'Community Audiology Procurement QJK' as the title of the email. Further information will then be sent in reply, including an engagement questionnaire which will be used to inform future planning with regard to this procurement.