Mandatory Dental Services (MDS) in Portsmouth, Alton and Tadley for NHS England and NHS Improvement, South East (Wessex)

NHS England and NHS Improvement, South East (Wessex) are seeking to commission Mandatory Dental Services in the Alton, Tadley and Portsmouth area. The Commissioner will be contracting for the services using the standard clauses for a personal dental services agreement.

The contract term will be for 7 years with an option to extend for a further 3 years at the sole discretion of the Commissioner commencing on the 14th of September 2020 with a longstop date of 25th January 2021, see Invitation to Tender document for further details. The Commissioner has a maximum budget of £1,849,860 per annum for all lots, including urgent access slots.

The procurement is split into 4 lots to provide maximum flexibility to both commissioner and bidders. These lots will be; Alton (18,000 UDAs per annum), Tadley (15,000 UDAs per annum), Portsmouth North (10,000 UDAs per annum) and Portsmouth South (21,500 UDAs per annum).

Interested parties may bid for up to a maximum of two lots (Refer the ITT document for further information). The full scope of the service and all relevant documentation can be found on the eTendering system (SCW In-Tend system- https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home).

Interested parties who wish to take part in the procurement are invited to take part in an Invitation To Tender (ITT) process, based on the open procedure and designed to identify the most economically advantageous tender and therefore determine the incoming provider. All ITT responses must be returned by 12 noon on 05th of March, at the latest.

This procurement is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners. An early engagement market notice was published in relation to this procurement in November 2019, in order to facilitate early engagement with potential providers.

Please note that this previous notice was an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right. Although those who responded to that notice will be advised that this contract notice has been published, there will be no process exemptions or preferential treatment afforded to any parties who expressed an interest at that stage.

Additional information: Interested providers will be able to access this opportunity via the 'current tenders' list on the e-procurement system In-Tend, available on the following link: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home In order to access the tender documentation you will need to 'express an interest' and register on the system. On registration, please include at least two contacts to allow for access to the system in times of absence.

The services are healthcare services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations, but is instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77). The tendering process will be conducted in accordance with the requirements and flexibilities provided by Articles 74 to 76 of the Directive, and Regulations 74 to 76 of the Regulations.

The Authority will run a transparent tender process, treating all Bidders equally. For the avoidance of doubt, the Authority will not be bound by the Regulations or the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union or any other regulations or legislation except for the specific parts or circumstances that apply to the procurement of these Services.

Neither the inclusion of a Bidder selection stage, nor the use of any language or terms found in the Directive or Regulations, nor the description of the procedure voluntarily adopted by the Authority ("Open", "Restricted", "Competitive Procedure with Negotiation", "Competitive Dialogue" or any other description), nor any other indication, shall be taken to mean that the Authority intends to hold itself bound by the Directive or Regulations, save by the provisions applicable to services coming within the scope of Annex XIV of the Directive / Schedule 3 of the Regulations. The Contracting Authority intends to voluntarily observe the award decision notices provisions and 10 day standstill period described in Regulation 86 of the Regulations.

Unsuccessful Bidders will receive scores and reasons for the decision, including the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning bid and the reasons why the Bidder/application was unsuccessful. Deadline for lodging of appeals should be in accordance with Regulation 87 and Regulation 91 of the Regulations.