Market Briefing Event : Mandatory Dental Services for NHS England South East (Kent Surrey & Sussex)

This notice is placed in order to facilitate early engagement with potential providers, and relates only to a pre-procurement market engagement event. NHS England South East (Kent, Surrey & Sussex) are seeking to commission Mandatory Dental services in the Kent, Surrey and Sussex area, and will be holding a procurement process to award new contracts to provide these services from February 2020.

Prospective bidders are warmly invited to pre-procurement market briefing events being hosted by NHS England on the following dates:- Tuesday 7th May 2019 in Crawley* 18:30 - 20:30 Wednesday 8th May 2019 in Maidstone/Medway* 18:30 - 20:30 *We are in the process of finalising venues for events, and will advise you of these when you have registered. Events have been arranged to take place in the evening to avoid any clash with clinical sessions.

The aims for Mandatory Dental service provision are to: • provide access to NHS dental services to ensure equity and consistency of provision • deliver appropriate, efficient and cost effective services within the service provision framework of the NHS (General Dental Services/Personal Dental Services) Regulations 2005 and any subsequent revisions • provide high quality dental services that meet the needs of people wishing to attend an NHS Dental practice in Kent, Surrey & Sussex which may include flexible appointment times and accessible services • provide access to patients identified as having an urgent dental need via NHS 111 • refer patients to other NHS services as appropriate in line with the relevant local protocols and guidance • establish a positive working relationship between the Commissioner and Provider to facilitate and maximise high quality service delivery • develop services in line with the evolving strategic approach to primary care dental provision • address the needs of vulnerable groups by incorporating elements of the Starting Well Programme to reduce oral health inequalities and improve oral health of children under 5 years old, residents of care homes and other vulnerable groups. The route to market for the various service elements and geographies is still being determined but, as a guide, the procurement(s) are anticipated to commence from Summer 2019, inviting tenders to deliver services for specific lotted areas, with phased contract commencement anticipated in the period from February 2020 to June 2021.

NHS England anticipates contracting for services under a PDS agreement. This procurement is being carried out by NHS South, Central & West (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners.

At the events we will share the commissioner's objectives, the proposed specification for the service and pricing strategy. We will also provide details of the e-Procurement system (being used to procure these services) and how the procurement and selection process will operate.

Additional information: The events are open to all providers who may want to deliver NHS mandatory dental services in the future. In order to establish fair representation, availability for this event is limited to a maximum of two individuals per organisation.

This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit NHS England or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest. Commissioners are looking to establish what interest there might be in providing such a service from suitably qualified, capable and competent organisations.

NHS England will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise. Interested parties should note that a response to this notice does not guarantee an automatic invitation to any subsequent formal procurement, which the commissioners will consider in due course.