Primary Care (GP) IT Service Management (ITSM)

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex (SNEE) Integrated Care Board (ICB) has awarded a contract to NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit, for the provision of Primary Care (GP) IT Service Management and Primary Care Enabling Services for Primary Care, Pharmacists, Optometrists and Dentists (PODs) across North East Essex.

The contract commences on 1st July 2023, expiring on 30th June 2024, with the option to extend by a further 12 months (up until 30th June 2025).

The contract value of the 12 month period is £819,950.

A voluntary ex ante transparency notice relating to this matter was published on 29th December 2022 (Notice reference: 2022/S 000-036648), the standstill for which expired midnight on 9th January 2023.

The national guidance confirms that Commissioning support units (CSUs) operate within the NHS family across England, providing services that have been independently evaluated for quality and value for money. The expectation is that CSUs will continue to develop as trusted delivery partners to ICSs, providing economies of scale.

Nationally, it is believed that NHS England have put in place a moratorium to protect core CSU services whilst clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are dissolved and transitioned to ICB. No definitive date has been given for when the protected status will end.

The ICB have concluded that there is an unacceptable risk associated with change of service provision whilst the system is in a significant state of transition and valuable resources must be duly focused on ensuring Business as Usual (BAU) services and steady state across the new SNEE ICB. The ICB deem that the incumbent provider is the only technically capable provider to deliver the services within the timescale and budget available. Additionally, there is insufficient time to complete a robust contract mobilisation, involving critical mobilisation and transition risks including workforce and transfer of data and systems, which is estimated to require 12 months to implement in a robust and safe manner, based on previous experience. In the face of current ICB transition environment and in the absence a longer mobilisation period, no reasonable alternative or substitute exists.

SNEE have decided that the best solution to ensure that Primary Care users across North East Essex benefit from Primary Care (GP) IT Service Management is to ensure continuity of service provision with the existing supplier, who is uniquely placed to successfully deliver GP IT Service Management in the available timescales.

The contracting authority will award the contract utilising the NHS supply of goods and provision of service, with similar contract mechanisms utilised within the Health Systems Services Framework (HSSF).

In accordance with Regulation 72 (1) (a) of the PCRs 2015, the services covered by the arrangement may change and expand as the Service develops in accordance with national guidelines and mandates in relation to operating principles for the funding applications for Primary Care (GP) IT Service Management.