Expressions of Interest for the Provision of Diabetic Eye Screening Programme in Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country (West Midlands)

The aims of the DESP is to reduce the risk of sight loss amongst people with diabetes by the prompt identification and effective treatment if necessary, of sight threatening diabetic retinopathy, at the appropriate stage during the disease process.

The Service being commissioned should align to the National Diabetic Eye Screening Service Specification which aims to ensure a consistent and equitable approach across England, and to govern the provision and monitoring of the DESP. The current eligible cohort size circa 200,000.

The Service will need to undertake and perform the following objectives in order to meet the commissioning and Service Specification requirements:

• Identify the eligible population and ensure effective delivery with maximum coverage.
• Deliver safe, effective, high quality, externally and independently monitored, and quality assured Diabetic Eye Screening Programme.
• Lead to earlier detection, appropriate referral, effective treatment and improved outcomes.
• Deliver and support thorough suitably trained, competent, and qualified, clinical and non-clinical staff who, where relevant, participate in recognised ongoing continuing medical education (CME), continuous Professional Development (CPD), and Quality Assurance (QA) schemes; as well as have regular audits embedded within the service.

The provision of DESP is delivered in line with the following aims of the NHS long term plan

• Improve public health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.
• Contribute to a more sustainable public health, health and care system.

The DESP programme also contributes to the public health outcomes framework which aims to improve and protect the nation’s health and wellbeing and to improve the health of the poorest, fastest.

The Commissioner is seeking market input to support the development of its proposals prior to publication of the formal procurement opportunity. If your organisation wishes to contribute please register against Quote/tender 46323 in EU Supply (uk.eu-supply.com/login.asp ↗) and complete and return the short questionnaire, no later than 10:00am on Monday 18th October 2021, providing any rationale behind your responses. This information will be kept confidential and considered in designing the scope of the service.

Please note that this market assessment exercise has been designed to allow the market visibility of the proposed opportunity and support early engagement.

The aim of the exercise is to;

1. Support the Commissioners informed decision making on the potential options for the future commissioning of these services;
2. To help refine the commissioning and procurement approach;
3. To gauge the level of interest from the market of capable providers with capacity to deliver the services illustrated above.

This is a market testing exercise and does not commit the Commissioners to carry out a procurement process. Current services will remain in place during this period in line with existing contracts and service level agreements.

It is anticipated that the Invitation to Tender for this opportunity will be published in November 2021. This is purely an early engagement exercise; any subsequent procurement will be advertised separately and all organisations wanting to participate will need to respond to the procurement advertisement as and when published. Additional information: It is anticipated that the Invitation to Tender for this opportunity will be published in November 2021. This is purely an early engagement exercise; any subsequent procurement will be advertised separately and all organisations wanting to participate will need to respond to the procurement advertisement as and when published.