Provision of Integrated Urgent Care (IUC) in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

Aims and objectives of the service: The IUC service is required to be sustainable, based on a service model that is clinically and commercially robust, that can attract and retain suitably qualified competent practitioners, which can be integrated with other services. The service will meet both the National Integrated Urgent Care Specification and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Urgent Care Specification to deliver a flexible service that can transform to meet the local and national requirements, to a high standard.

NHS 111 call handling: this IUC service shall be provided using the components of telephony via NHS 111 24/7, 365/6 days a year. The telephony service will deliver a ‘consult and complete’ model of care via the provision of health advice, based on algorithmic clinical assessment. 24/7 Clinical Assessment Service, (CAS): the CAS will provide clinical assessment to patients who require further clinical validation and clinical assessments, this includes for 111 and 999 high acuity disposition validations from the NHS111 call handling function, Primary Care Dispositions and direct booking validations.

The CAS will direct patients to the appropriate healthcare, direct booking or referrals, be the Trusted Assessor, work closely with the ICS Unscheduled Community Care Co-ordination Hub (or equivalent) and Same Day Emergency Care Services, to support patients being cared for by the most appropriate service, only attending ED or dispatching an ambulance, when appropriate. Out of Hours Primary Care Access: During the Out of Hours periods, a Primary Care level service that provides clinical telephony assessments, operating within the CAS, and face to face consultation to treat all registered and temporarily resident patients and those visitors calling NHS 111.

For more detail, consult the service specification in the tender documentation. This notice is an intention to award a contract under the competitive process.

The contract value is £103,505,950 for the lifetime duration of the contract. This is an existing service that is being re-commissioned, and it is being awarded to a new provider.

The contract is anticipated to start on the 1st of October 2025 for 3 years with the possibility to extend at the ICB’s discretion for up to a further 2 years. (01/10/2025-30/09/2030).