Provision of Occupational Health Services for healthcare students

Scope of Engagement

The University is undertaking Preliminary Market Engagement to better understand the market's capability and capacity to deliver an agile and responsive Occupational Health Service that supports healthcare students in their academic and placement environments protecting student and patient safety.

The University requires comprehensive Occupational Health service provision to support students across a range of healthcare programmes where placement providers, professional bodies, or regulatory requirements necessitate pre-placement health screening, pre-placement clearance, , immunisation reviews, vaccination programmes, fitness to study assessments, and associated occupational health services.

The purpose of this engagement is to inform the University's future procurement strategy and service specification. The University is particularly interested in understanding how suppliers can provide timely, accessible, locally delivered services to students near to the University City Campus in Sunderland whilst maintaining consistent service quality, regulatory compliance, and positive student experience.

The University welcomes responses from organisations capable of delivering some or all of the following services:

•Pre-placement occupational health screening and health declaration reviews.

•Clearance certification and reporting to support placement requirements.

•Fitness to study s and fitness-for-placement assessments.

•Immunisation reviews and vaccination programmes.

•Blood testing, serology, and associated laboratory services.

•Timely and evidence-based occupational health assessments following referral from programme leaders, placement teams, student support services, or designated University representatives. Assessments should consider the impact of physical health conditions, mental health conditions, neurodiversity, disability, long-term health conditions, and other health-related factors on a student's ability to safely participate in academic learning and clinical placement activities.

•Secure handling and management of sensitive health information.

•Electronic system, which University of Sunderland staff can access to make management referrals and obtain up-to-date information on fit certificates, immunisation records, student appointment history, and relevant student management reports.

•Face-to-face, remote, and digital service delivery options.

Areas of Interest

The University wishes to understand:

•The supplier's ability to provide local access to Occupational Health services across the Northeast.

•Availability of clinic networks, partner arrangements, mobile services, and remote assessment capabilities.

•Capacity to accommodate varying student volumes throughout the academic year, including peak intake periods.

•Typical turnaround times for assessments, testing, vaccination programmes, and clearance certification.

•Approaches to managing urgent or accelerated placement clearance requirements and management referrals.

•Service management, reporting, and contract monitoring capabilities.

•Business continuity and resilience arrangements.

•Pricing and commercial delivery models.

•Electronic management systems / digital platforms for information sharing

•Opportunities for innovation and service improvement.

•Experience supporting Higher Education Institutions and placement-based academic programmes

Supplier Engagement Process

Interested organisations are invited to submit a written response outlining their capability, experience, and approach to delivering the services described within this notice.

Due to resource and time constraints, the University intends to invite a maximum of five (5) suppliers to participate in further market engagement activities. These activities may include supplier presentations, clarification meetings, demonstrations, or structured market engagement workshops.

Where more than five responses are received, the University may shortlist suppliers based on the relevance of their experience, capability to deliver locally accessible services, capacity, and overall suitability to inform the University's future procurement strategy.

The University reserves the right to invite fewer than five suppliers where, in its opinion, insufficient responses are received that demonstrate the required experience, capability, or capacity.

Participation in this Preliminary Market Engagement exercise will not confer any advantage in any future procurement exercise and will not be a prerequisite for participation in any subsequent tender opportunity.

Information Requested from Suppliers

Suppliers responding to this notice are requested to provide:

1.An overview of their organisation and relevant Occupational Health service provision.

2.Details of experience delivering Occupational Health services to Higher Education institutions, healthcare education providers, or other placement-based programmes.

3.Details of geographic coverage, including clinic locations, partner networks, and remote service capabilities.

4.Typical turnaround times for:

oHealth questionnaire reviews;

oOccupational Health clearance assessments;

oImmunisation reviews;

oBlood testing and laboratory services; and

oIssue of placement clearance certificates

oManagement referrals

5.Capacity to support large student cohorts' intakes throughout an academic year.

6.Examples of management information and reporting available to clients.

7.Information on the Electronic management system / digital platforms used for information sharing

8.Information on innovative approaches, digital platforms, or service enhancements that may improve efficiency or student experience.

9.Any market considerations, risks, or opportunities that the University should take into account when developing its future procurement strategy.

Your response should be on no more than 4 sides of A4. Saved to PDF

Responses must be submitted to [email protected] by 12:00 on the 27th of November.

The University will inform those that have been selected for the interview stage of the Pre Market Engagement by December 4th. Interview stage will take place Thursday 10th.

This engagement is intended solely to inform the University's understanding of the market and to assist in the development of a future procurement approach. No commitment is being made at this stage to commence a procurement process or award a contract.