School Aged Immunisations Programme in Devon for NHS England South West

NHS England South West are re-commissioning the School Aged Immunisations Programme in Devon. <br/>School Aged Immunisation (SAI) programmes provide vaccinations to all children and young people of school age, whether they attend state school, independent school, complex needs schools or alternative settings. Children and young people that are educated at home can attend community clinics. Vaccinations are provided, on behalf of the NHS, in line with the Routine childhood Immunisation programme which aims to prevent school aged children from developing vaccine preventable childhood diseases that are associated with significant mortality and morbidity.<br/><br/>The school aged immunisation programme includes<br/>• Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations <br/>• Diphtheria, Tetanus and Poliomyelitis (Td/IPV) booster<br/>• Meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) conjugate vaccine<br/>• School-aged children’s Seasonal influenza (flu) vaccinations <br/>• Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) catch up vaccinations<br/><br/>The overarching aim of the re-commissioning exercise is to secure a provider for the Devon School Aged Immunisations Programme for a one year period to provide continuity of service pending a full re-procurement in 2024.<br/>The current contract with the incumbent provider ends on the 31st July 2023 and we wish to secure a provider to host the service between 1st August 2023 to 31st July 2024.<br/>Following this the contract will be re-commissioned for a duration of approximately 5 years from 1st August 2024 as part of the wider South West Programme. <br/><br/>The Devon service is already established and has an existing workforce, processes in place and relationships with schools and stakeholders. For this one year contract award the focus is on safe continuity of service for that duration.<br/>Any prospective provider will need to bring senior level support to the service. <br/>If there are opportunities for service development and improvement the commissioner and provider will follow this up. <br/>The provider will be expected to provide an effective mobilisation plan and onboarding of workforce from the current incumbent provider and a safe transition to the new provider at the end of the term of the contract.<br/>The current eligible population is 158,498 and the majority attend one of the 414 Primary Schools or 134 Secondary Schools.<br/>We are looking for a provider/s that can provide continuity of service to the School Aged Population of Devon. The provider will seek to <br/>• maintain uptake in all areas <br/>• maintain coverage of service <br/>• maintain progress to work towards a consistent service across the region <br/>• continue to provide targeted interventions to improve uptake in vulnerable groups <br/>• maintain excellent relationships with schools in the Devon area <br/>• maintain excellent engagement with stakeholders including service users to ensure the best service model is available. <br/>• align with the national immunisation strategy <br/><br/>In addition to above the provider will work with NHSE to identify opportunities within the short term of the contract to-<br/>• identify priority areas for targeted investment to improve uptake amongst vulnerable groups <br/>• identify opportunities to invest in service development for the benefit of service users, should the re-procurement offer cost savings. For example, supporting investment in technology to increase connectivity with GP’s and Child Health Systems<br/>• reducing health inequalities by improving services<br/><br/>This procurement is taking the form of a two-stage process. The closing date 17th October is the submission date for Stage 1 Applications and thus the close date for expressing an interest in these services.<br/>This procurement is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners. Additional information: 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).