Specialised Critical Care Transport Services – London Region

Following a market engagement exercise, NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AGCSU), on behalf of NHS England, London Region (referred to as the Commissioner), is inviting suitably qualified and experienced providers to respond to this invitation to tender (ITT) exercise to deliver a Specialised Adult Critical Care Patient Transfer service (ACCTS) for London region. The key objective of the Procurement is to commission a Specialised Adult Critical Care Patient Transfer service (ACCTS) for London region. The key objective of the procurement is to select a Lead Provider responsible for establishing, delivering and maintaining a regional ACCTS for London. The service would provide coordination, triage, decision-support and transfer of critically ill patients between hospitals for escalation to specialist care, repatriation and capacity reasons. It is primarily focused on intra region transfers but must be capable of delivering inter regional when required. By commissioning a regional ACCTS for London, the Commissioner would like to attain the following: • Standardised clinical care and safety for all patients, • Improved and consistent patient experience, • Improved equity in access for all patients across the region • Improved activation times as a result of dedicated ambulance resources, • Collaborative working arrangements between all London ICS’s and the NHS ambulance provider • Improved data reporting and monitoring systems throughout the whole patient journey that are utilised to continuously evaluate and improve service delivery • Improved governance framework and processes for the entire service It is anticipated that the Lead Provider would hold overall accountability for the regional ACCTS and contract but would work closely with their identified partners across London to align service delivery with service and population requirements; understand variation and local population needs in each of the five London ICS; and co-ordinate consistent, high-quality patient care across London. The Commissioners therefore actively encourage partnership applications that adopt a collaborative approach in working with key partners across London. NHS England (London Region) is the contracting and commissioning authority for this service and wishes to commission centres in London region as part of a collaborative pan-London network arrangement. One application should be submitted per partnership arrangement; bids can be co-authored, but the bid should be submitted by the partnerships appointed Lead Provider. This ITT Process has been advertised in accordance with the requirements of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) (the “Regulations”) to the extent that the Regulations relate to services within the scope of Schedule 3 thereto (Social and Other Specific Services). The Commissioner and AGCSU are, therefore, bound only by those parts of the Regulations applying to Schedule 3 services (also known as the “Light Touch Regime”). The questionnaire is available through the EU Supply portal: https://uk.eu-supply.com/login.asp?B=agcsu. The reference is 57931 and the closing date for completed ITT responses is 12pm, midday on Friday 25th November 2022.