NHS England South (South West) Liaison and Diversion Service for Avon and Somerset

This notice is placed as a Prior Information Notice and relates only to a pre-procurement market engagement event. NHS England South (South West) and Avon and Somerset Constabulary Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner invites suitable qualified providers to attend a Market Engagement Event which will inform the market of their intention to re-procure Liaison and Diversion Service to Avon and Somerset.

The procurement will be undertaken by South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit Procurement Team. There are high numbers of people with mental health, learning disability, substance misuse and other psychosocial vulnerabilities who enter the youth and criminal justice systems, who could be managed more appropriately in the community, or diverted from the justice pathway altogether.

The Avon & Somerset Liaison and Diversion (L&D) service, jointly commissioned by NHS England and the Avon and Somerset Constabulary Office of the Police & Crime Commissioner, aims to provide early intervention for vulnerable people as they come to the attention of the criminal justice system. Liaison & Diversion services provide a prompt response to concerns raised by the police, probation service, youth offending teams or court staff, and provide critical information to decision-makers in the justice system, in real time, when it comes to charging and sentencing these vulnerable people.

Liaison & Diversion also acts as a point of referral and assertive follow up for these services users, to ensure they can access, and are supported to attend, treatment and rehabilitation appointments. In this way, Liaison & Diversion services are expected to help reduce reoffending, reduce unnecessary use of police and court time, ensure that health matters, including substance misuse treatment, are dealt with by healthcare professionals, and reduce health inequalities for some of the most vulnerable in society.

It is envisaged that the tender documentation for the re-procurement of these services will be available Late August - early September 2017 with an anticipated service commencement date of 1st April 2018. A separate advert will be published to alert interested parties when the tender documentation is available.

There is a limit of 2 attendees per organisation. Please ensure that the title of the email contains reference of this advert.

Additional information: In the event you are unable to attend but would like to receive a copy of the presentation materials, please send an email to scwcsu.procurement@nhs.net and copies will be sent to you. 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.

NHS England will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise. Any procurement conducted as a result of this event will be advertised separately and all organisations wanting to participate will need to respond to the procurement advertisement as and when it is published.

Providers who do not attend this Market Engagement Event will still be able to apply for the Procurement in the future. Please note that this Market Engagement Event does not represent a formal stage in the procurement process and attendance will play no part in any subsequent evaluation process.

The Services are healthcare services within the meaning and scope of Annex XIV of Directive 2014/24/EU ("the Directive") and Schedule 3 to the Public Contract Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations"). 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 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