Provision of Fertility Preservation Service for service users who are at high risk of infertility and cannot store mature eggs or sperm.

This market engagement exercise is to inform commissioners about the market for Fertility Preservation Services for service users who are at high risk of infertility and cannot store mature eggs or sperm.<br/>NHS England is developing draft service specifications for ovarian and testicular Fertility Preservation Services for service users who are at high risk of reproductive and endocrine failure and cannot store mature eggs or sperm. The draft service specifications cover the collection, processing, testing and storage of ovarian and testicular tissue and endocrine restoration using cryopreserved ovarian tissue.<br/>NHS England would like to identify providers who are interested in delivering the ovarian and testicular Fertility Preservation Service, or part of it.<br/>The Fertility Preservation Service will be delivered as a Hub and Spoke Model. The Hub Service will need to have Onco-fertility Expertise and be able to offer comprehensive advice on fertility preservation options for service users and coordinate the provision of fertility preservation treatment through a Hub and Spoke network. Where reproductive tissue storage is the optimal treatment option, the Hub will coordinate with the service user’s local hospital (Spoke sites) the surgery required for tissue collection and for storage of the tissue at a designated Tissue Establishment licenced by the Human Tissue Authority.<br/>Parties can register an interest to provide one or all of the following:<br/>• Hub site service - providing a comprehensive fertility preservation service for service users at high risk of infertility. This will include the ability to coordinate a Hub and Spoke network for delivery of reproductive tissue collection and as appropriate a service for the use of stored tissue for the restoration of fertility<br/>• Spoke Site service - providing surgery for tissue collection, transport and storage working within a Hub and Spoke arrangement.<br/>• Spoke Site services – providing endocrine restoration using cryopreserved ovarian tissue.<br/>• Tissue Establishment (TE) - providing cryopreservation services, working within a Hub and Spoke arrangement and licensed by the Human Tissue Authority (HTA) and operate to the Human Tissue Quality and Safety Regulations, the HTA Human Application Sector Licencing Requirements, the Human Tissue Act and the HTA Code of Practice. The HTA licence must cover procurement, processing, testing, storage, distribution, and disposal of ovarian and testicular tissue.<br/>The TE must be able to be able to process tissue samples within 24 hours of procurement in theatre. <br/>The TE will need to extend their HTA licence through third party agreements to the sites for the procurement of tissue, tissue transport and ovarian tissue autotransplantation.<br/>It is estimated that there will be about 1500 fertility consultations a year which would result in reproductive tissue storage for approximately 750 service users in England each year. Interested parties should indicate whether they are interested in providing all or part of the Fertility Preservation Service.<br/>The anticipated contract period is 3 years.<br/><br/>This notice is to advise prospective providers in the market of the commissioner’s intention to commission this service and to provide an opportunity to engage with and participate in a market engagement questionnaire. The outcome of this market engagement will help inform commissioners of the current and future capacity and capability of the market and will be considered with other evidence to inform the commissioning approach.<br/>The questionnaire is available through the Atamis portal: https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome<br/><br/>The reference is C139903 and the closing date for submission of the completed questionnaire will be: 12pm, midday on Tuesday 7th March 2023.