NHS England East Wide Out-of-Hours Urgent Dental Service for Essex and East Anglia

Arden & Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AG CSU) on behalf of NHS England Midlands & East (East), referred to as the Commissioner, welcomes interest from suitably qualified and experienced providers with the necessary capacity and capability (or a demonstrable ability) within the requisite timescale to provide the Out-of-Hours Urgent Dental Service in a safe and effective manner. The normal working hours for the majority of NHS dental practices fall within 8.00am to 6.30pm on weekdays.

Out-of-hours dental services are those which have been specifically commissioned to provide treatment for urgent dental problems which occur on Saturdays, Sundays and all Bank Holidays (including Christmas Day and Boxing Day). Urgent dental care services are particularly important in managing severe dental and facial pain and preventing dental conditions from becoming life threatening.

Users of urgent dental care services tend to be those with a high level of oral health needs. This service will integrate with local dental pathways, including 111.

The location of service provision will enable patients across Essex and East Anglia to access multiple Service locations. The proposed location for each Service will be a matter for each Bidder.

NHS England expects bidders to have innovative solutions including consortia, strategic alliances and sub-contracts which will deliver value for money and improved services to patients. The Contract will be for a minimum period of five years.

The contract for this service will be a Personal Dental Services (PDS) Agreement, with a Service commencement date of 1 April 2017. The Invitation to Tender (ITT) documentation will be available from 24 August 2016 via: https://ardengemcsu.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html.

The ITT reference for this tender is itt_534 All correspondence relating to this procurement throughout all the stages of the process must be managed through the Arden & GEM CSU eTendering Procurement Portal messaging facility only. The opportunity notices will be located on the following websites: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search http://ted.europa.eu/TED/main/HomePage.do Additional information: The services will be procured as per the Light Touch Regime detailed in Section 7 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“The Regulations”), using the Open Procedure.

It is worth noting here that NHS Arden and GEM CSU will only be bound by those parts of the Regulations that applies to contracts for Social and Other Specific Services. The Health & Social Care Act 2012; in particular the regulations made under Section 75 will also be taken into consideration.

The Commissioners are encouraging Bidders to bid as: • A single organisation • A Partnership • A Consortium NOTE: If you are intending to participate as any of the above, the Bidder will need to ensure that the appropriate agreements between the proposed organisations are firmly in place, and roles and responsibilities are clearly defined in advance of submitting the ITT questionnaire. The Contracting Authority intends to use an e-Procurement Portal ‘Arden and Greater East Midlands CSU Procurement Portal’ in this procurement exercise.

To access (please see web link below).: https://ardengemcsu.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html To register on the portal: • From the portal (Arden and GEM Bravo) Home Page, click the ‘Click Here to Register’ link • Accept the terms and conditions for using the portal • Complete your organisation and personal details • Choose a memorable user name and submit • You will shortly be sent an email with your unique password, please treat this securely (if you lose it there is a ‘Forgot my Password’ link on the portal homepage). To Express Interest in the ITT: • Login with your unique user name and password • From the suppliers reserved area click ‘ITTs Open to All Suppliers’ • This is a repository of all ITTs open to any registered supplier. Select itt_534 — NHS England East Wide Dental Out-of-Hours Service for Essex and East Anglia.