Community X-Ray Service

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intended approach notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.

For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to this award. The intention is to award a contract following the Most Suitable Provider Process.

Torbay & South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT) requires a mobile X-ray service to support alternative pathways of care that reduce demand on the emergency department (ED), reduces ambulance conveyance and subsequent admission for patients who fall (in their usual place of residence) and are at risk of fracture in line or, require X-ray to support out-of-hospital teams to keep people at home, where clinically safe to do so. The Service aims to support Torbay’s role in delivering neighbourhood health by enabling rapid community diagnostics as part of integrated neighbourhood pathways and the wider One Devon Falls and Frailty improvement approach.

The Service will provide mobile x-ray acquisition and reporting, supporting radiographer deployment to suitable patients in the community, collaborating with relevant Trust and system services. This includes working with Torbay’s neighbourhood health arrangements (including integrated neighbourhood teams and the Harbour model where applicable) so that community diagnostics are consistently “wired into” falls and frailty pathways and contribute to admission avoidance, safe discharge and recovery at home.

‘Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust (TSDFT) intend to commission a Mobile X Ray Service as an alternative diagnostic pathway for patients who fall in their usual place of residence and require imaging to support safe out of hospital care. The service will operate across Torbay and South Devon, delivering imaging in patients’ homes, including residential and care home settings.

The service will deploy a portable, mobile X ray unit (using hospital grade equipment) and reporting radiographer team directly to patients in the community, avoiding the need for patient attendance to the Emergency Department (ED), and subsequent admission, where clinically appropriate. The service is designed to provide an efficient, clinically robust pathway for older people living with frailty and other vulnerable patient groups who would benefit from timely imaging.

It will support conservative management for patients who do not require hospital admission. The service is not intended for patients with an obvious neck of femur fracture or those who can safely access diagnostic facilities independently.

The service provider will be able to provide chest X rays for acute respiratory or cardiac concerns and pelvis and extremity imaging for fractures, foreign bodies, bone or joint pathology, soft tissue injury and suspected infection. Spine X rays are limited to known osteoporosis, while abdomen and skull imaging are excluded, and only appendicular poly trauma is in scope.

The Mobile X Ray Service will work collaboratively with local healthcare providers who are responsible for care coordination. The service shall ensure that wrap around care meets the clinical needs of the patient and does not represent a lesser pathway than ED attendance where this would otherwise have been required.

It is intended for the service to run over 7 days (following initial mobilisation) aligning the Trust’s intention to move to a neighbourhood health model enabling “hospital to community”. Notice Type – Provider Selection Regime - Notice of intention to follow the Most Suitable Provider process

This Notice serves to inform that Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust is intending to follow the Most Suitable Provider Process to award a contract. It is Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust’s view, considering likely providers and all relevant information available at this time, that it is likely to be able to identify the most suitable provider for this service without running a competitive procurement.

The Service will provide mobile x-ray acquisition and reporting, supporting radiographer deployment to suitable patients in the community, collaborating with relevant Trust and system services. This includes working with Torbay’s neighbourhood health arrangements (including integrated neighbourhood teams and the Harbour model where applicable) so that community diagnostics are consistently “wired into” falls and frailty pathways and contribute to admission avoidance, safe discharge and recovery at home. 3.

This is a diagnostic imaging healthcare service delivered by an external provider, classified under the CPV code 85150000 5 – Medical imaging services Details of the Award Decision-Makers: Deputy Director (Admitted / Non Admitted) Urgent and Emergency Care.

Radiology & Imaging Directorate Manager and Head of Clinical & Radiation Physics Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust will be guided by the five key criteria outlined in the NHS Provider Selection Regime for assessment of submission(s) in this process to select a suitable provider the under MSP route.

These criteria are: 1. Quality and innovation 2.

Value 3. Integration, collaboration and service sustainability 4.

Improving access, reducing health inequalities and facilitating choice 5. Social value For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to this award.