Suffolk and North East Essex Special Allocation Scheme (SAS)

The Primary Care team have assessed the option to have one Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) contract across the Suffolk and North East Essex (SNEE) Integrated Care Board (ICB) from 1 April 2023 (rather than 2 separate contracts, as is currently the case). Historically, North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) have had a contract with EPUT, and separate to this West Suffolk CCG and Ipswich & East Suffolk CCG have also had a contract with EPUT. Both these contracts have now novated over to the SNEE ICB as part of the transitioning arrangements from CCGs to ICBs.

The scope of the services for both contracts is for a Special Allocation Scheme (SAS). Special Allocation Schemes were created to ensure that patients who have been removed from a practice patient list can continue to access primary care services via alternative primary care provision. ICBs have a responsibility to ensure that all patients can access good quality GP services and that patients are not refused healthcare following incidents that are reported to the police. Patients are registered on the scheme by the submission of a Violence Reporting Form to NHS England, or ICB with Delegated Authority by a GP practice.

Therefore, the current West Suffolk & Ipswich and East Suffolk contract with EPUT will need to be varied to incorporate the requirements (scope of services and spend) of North East Essex, from 1 April 2023 until 31 March 2025.

The new aggregated contract value will therefore be £264,000 (West Suffolk and Ipswich & East Suffolk) + £120,000 (North East Essex) = £384,000.

The contract variation pertaining to the North East Essex element will be £120,000.

When the original contract was awarded there was no reference to creation of ICSs, as such the ICB can rely on Reg 72 (1) (c) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015, where all of the following conditions are fulfilled:

(i) the need for modification has been brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority could not have foreseen;

(ii) the modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract;

(iii) any increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract.