Termination of Pregnancy Services (TOPS) for patients presenting with medical complexity and/or significant co-morbidities

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AGCSU), on behalf of NHS England (referred to as the Commissioner), is undertaking a market engagement exercise to understand the current and future capacity and capability of the providers and potential providers within this specialised area. Interested parties are encouraged to register their interest and participate in the market questionnaire which will provide feedback to commissioners. This is an expert-led service that can manage medically and/or surgically complex terminations and prevent, prepare for and/or manage complications with support from a multidisciplinary team (MDT). NHS England will commission services to manage complex terminations for all gestations up to 23 weeks and 6 days. A soft market test exercise was undertaken in 2019 and as a result, the project was split into 2 phases. Phase 1 is nearing completion, covering late terminations from 15 weeks to 23 weeks and 6 days. Phase 2 covers terminations up to 15 weeks initially but with a view to working collaboratively between NHSEI and providers to increase this gestational age to 23 weeks and 6 days over the next 3-4 years, where possible. Since the previous market test, the service specification has changed and been approved and as such, the commissioner wishes to carry out the soft market testing again to seek accurate and up to date information from potential providers. Please note that this is not a call for competition although the commissioner would encourage all potential providers to respond to this market engagement exercise. It is possible that, as a result of this exercise, a formal tender process may not be required but instead a simpler provider selection process may be considered. All providers will be notified of next steps following the conclusion of this market engagement exercise. This notice is to advise prospective providers in the market of the commissioner’s intention to commission a new 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. NHS England (National) Specialised Commissioning is the contracting and commissioning authority for this service and wishes to commission centres across England to be delivered as part of a network arrangement. The questionnaire is available through the EU Supply portal: https://uk.eu-supply.com/login.asp?B=agcsu The reference is 43667 and the closing date for submission of the completed questionnaire will be: 12:00 Friday 14th May 2021.