Procurement for the provision of a Diabetic Eye Screening Programme for Kent & Medway

NHS England South East (Kent, Surrey, Sussex) is seeking Expressions of Interest (EOI) from providers who have the capability and capacity to undertake a contract for the provision of a Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP) in Kent and Medway, and would wish to take to part in a potential procurement exercise The procurement is envisaged to take place between October and December 2018 and the contract is anticipated to begin in October 2019. A separate advert will be published to alert interested parties when the tender documentation is available The anticipated contract duration will be 5 years with an annual value in the region of £2.3million.

The contract will serve a population of around 1.8 million, of whom c. 100,729 are eligible (being individuals over the age of 12 currently identified as diabetics in need of screening). Currently about 80% of people invited attend for screening.

National DESP Guidance estimates a potential 5% growth per annum in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes and approximately 2% of the population in Kent and Medway who may be as yet undiagnosed The service provider(s) will need to be adaptable to any new elements or changes to the national programme. Additional information: To register on In-Tend please visit: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Registration You can access the project on In-Tend directly using the following link: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/ProjectManage/765 In order to return the Provider Sounding Questionnaire, you will need to 'express an interest' and register on the In-Tend portal, and then upload the completed questionnaire to the placeholder provided.

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.

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.