NHS England and NHS Improvement South West Provision of Primary Care Dental Services within Dental Education facilities in Truro, Exeter & Plymouth

NHS England and NHS Improvement South West (NHSE/I SW) seeks Expressions of Interest (EOIs) from providers who have the capability and capacity (to be assessed as part of initial procurement process) to deliver Primary Care Dental Services from existing dental education facilities in Truro, Exeter and Plymouth utilising supervised dental students on placement from the University of Plymouth with the potential of 16,000 sessions across these sites per annum. The service will contribute to the training of the dental team through the delivery of NHS dental services to appropriate patients. The service is responsible for the recruitment of suitable patients, based on acceptance criteria which meets the needs of the students and the course (as defined by the General Dental Council and Health Education England). The contract term will be 7 years with an option to extend for a further 2 years (at commissioner discretion) and the total contract value is £9,654,471 (over the 9-year period, should the extension be granted and based on 2021/22 values. The contract is due to commence October 2021 Interested parties must be eligible to hold a PDS (Personal Dental Services) contract and appropriate CQC registration. The objectives of the dental service are: • To support clinical training of dental professionals to provide primary care dental services. • To improve the oral health of patients treated. • To provide dental services to eligible patients who do not have a regular NHS dental care provider, in order to address their oral health needs through a single course of treatment. The service includes providing urgent care during a course of treatment and a guaranteed period afterwards. • To provide an agreed level of access to patients who meet the criteria within the area. • To promote inclusive healthcare and support early intervention with timely treatment, through oral health advice, treatment and signposting where appropriate, as defined in national guidance. This procurement is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners. EOIs received will be used to help NHSE/I finalise their commissioning and contracting approach for these services. This exercise is being carried out by NHS South, Central & West Commissioning Support Unit on behalf of NHSE/I. This PIN as a call for competition is initially published as a notice for expressions of interest. The Commissioner may then choose to proceed directly to a procurement process with parties who have responded to the notice and there shall be no further notice published. Interested providers will be able to view this opportunity via the 'current tenders' list on the e-procurement system, In-Tend, available on the following link: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home If you are not already registered on the system you will need to do so before you can fully access the opportunity. On registration, please include at least two contacts to allow for access to the system in times of absence. Should NHSE/I proceed to a procurement process it is anticipated to consist of two stages: (1) Stage 1 The aim of this shortlisting stage is predominantly to test the capability and capacity of potential Providers and to identify whether there is more than one capable provider; (2) Stage 2 will either be: (a) a competitive process (if more than one capable provider is identified at Stage 1), which may involve dialogue and will involve assessment of bids against published evaluation criteria and weightings; or (b) a collaborative "Assurance Process" with a single provider, if only one capable provider is identified at Stage 1. Both approaches will involve evidence being considered by subject matter experts and assessed against critical success factors and expected minimum standards. 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 are instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77). The 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 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 will observe a voluntary award decision notices provisions and may observe a 10-day standstill period described in Regulation 86 of the Regulations. Bidders who are unsuccessful will receive scores and reasons for the decision, including the reasons why the Bidder/application was unsuccessful (Stage 1) and the characteristics and relative advantages of the winning bid (if there is a competitive tender at Stage 2. 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.