NHS England South West - Provision of Mandatory Dental Services in and around the Ashley, Easton and Lawrence Hill Area of Bristol

AWARD NOTICE: Due to the termination of an NHS contract, NHS England South West (the Commissioner) sought to recommission dental services for the delivery of 5,000 Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) per annum in and around the Ashley, Easton and Lawrence Hill Area of Bristol. The procurement was carried out by NHS South, Central & West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners.

The purpose of undertaking the procurement was due to the Commissioner receiving notice from the previous provider of the service. A tender was published late last year to secure the delivery of these UDAs, however, no bids were received.

In the interim period, the Commissioner conducted market research and testing and as a result took the decision to secure the delivery of these UDAs against a revised geographical boundary. In order to ensure accessibility to NHS Dental Services for those patients displaced by the termination, the new Service will be required to be delivered from within a 2.4km radius of the Lawrence Hill roundabout in Bristol.

The 5,000 UDAs are expected to provide dental services for approximately 2,200 patients (based on the previous provider's average of 2.3 UDAs per patient). The UDAs will be offered at a fixed price of £25.42 per UDA.

This tariff value is based on the 2018/2019 prices with subsequent years subject to the annual DDRB uplift. The Commissioner will be contracting for the Services using the standard Personal Dental Services (PDS) Agreement and an appended service specification.

The Agreement is offered for a 4 year period with services anticipated to commence on the 1st July 2019*. It is expected that the successful provider will be able to immediately open their lists to all categories of patients from contract commencement and be prepared to accept the displaced patients of the NHS contract that has terminated.

The successful bidder will also be required to work closely with the NHS England Commissioning Team in order to co-ordinate and promote patient access to achieve the expected level of dental performance. The service specification works in relation to and not instead of the NHS (General Dental Services /Personal Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005. *The Commissioner anticipates that services will commence no later than 1st July 2019.

Additional information: 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 contract value of this procurement is under the Light Touch Regime threshold.