Single Point of Access Market Engagement

The development of an automated digital musculoskeletal (MSK) Single Point of Access (SPA) tool for BHFT's community physiotherapy (MSK Physio), specialist physiotherapy (Community Specialist Service – CSS), integrated pain and spinal service (IPASS) and MSK podiatry. See II.2.14.1 for detail of the market engagement.

The purpose of this soft market testing exercise is to understand the provider landscape and potential providers who are capable of delivering this solution. The outcome of the soft market engagement will assist BHFT to develop and obtain a sufficiently detailed knowledge of the provider landscape and to refine its requirements and approach to market in order to invite businesses to quote.

The timescales for the market assessment detailed in II.2.7.3 and II.2.7.4 of this notice are estimated. There is no competition associated with the pre-market engagement.

BHFT will liaise with any supplier with suitable experience and service offering, to inform its views of how to structure a potential downstream procurement project. Please ignore II.2.5 Award Criteria.

Once the pre-market engagement concludes, BHFT may take forward a project to develop the required solution under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. Whilst IV.1.1.1 states that restricted procurement procedure will be followed, any downstream procurement project will be sourced via the Competitive Process route under the Provider Selection Regime.

Any downstream procurement project will involve multiple award criteria across technical, quality, social value and price criteria. Participation or non-participation in this soft market engagement shall not prevent any supplier participating in any potential future procurement, nor is it intended that any information supplied as part of this process shall place any supplier at an advantage in any potential procurement process.

Additional information: See 'MSK Triage Single Point of Access (SPA) market engagement fact sheet' in the referenced PME document pack. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BHFT) are seeking to understand the potential to deliver a solution from suppliers that currently deliver digital clinical triage solutions that independently assess and manage patients without human intervention.

It is likely that the developed tool sought by BHFT will require registration as a medical device. The developed SPA must be able to receive referrals from primary care, community services and secondary care via eRS in addition to patient self-referral via an online portal that BHFT is developing.

BHFT seeks providers of digital clinical triage services that can assess MSK conditions throughout the body and direct the patient into discrete and specialist MSK services without human intervention. The level of automated clinical expertise to differentiate between general MSK physiotherapy, specialist MSK services, chronic pain and spinal services during assessment will be significant. If possible, the tool should be made available in the most common languages relevant to the population of Berkshire – English, Polish, Punjabi, Nepalese and Urdu.