School Aged Immunisation Services for Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW), Somerset, Cornwall, and Gloucestershire on behalf of NHS England - South West

Description

The NHS School Aged Immunisation (SAI) programmes cover 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 or their local school to receive the vaccines.

NHS England Public Health Commissioning Teams are responsible for the commissioning of local SAI services under the Section 7a mandate in line with the national programme requirements and a national service specification.

NHS England South West sought to re-commission the SAI Programme across the population of BSW, Somerset, Cornwall , and Gloucestershire.

Lot 1 - BSW

Lot 2 - Somerset

Lot 3 - Cornwall

Lot 4 - Gloucestershire

Adverts were placed on Contracts Finder and the Find a Tender Service and an Invitation to Tender (ITT) process, based on the Open procedure, was undertaken during summer / autumn 2023 to identify the Most Economically Advantageous Tender and therefore determine the incoming provider for each Lot.  

Immunisation is one of the most successful and cost- effective health protection interventions. High immunisation rates are key to preventing the spread of infectious disease, complications, and possible early death among individuals and to protecting the population's health.

Vaccinations are provided, on behalf of the NHS, in line with the National Childhood Immunisation Programme which aims to prevent school aged children from developing vaccine preventable childhood diseases that are associated with significant mortality and morbidity.

The services in scope are only those identified within SAI service specification for the eligible school-aged population in BSW, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Cornwall.

The aim and objectives can be found later in the notice.

Contracts have been awarded as follows for a term of 5 years, with an option to extend for a further 2 years at the sole discretion of the Commissioner: 
Lot 1 - HCRG Care Services Limited 
Lot 2 - Somerset NHS Foundation Trust 
Lot 3 - Kernow Health CIC 
Lot 4 - Gloucestershire Health and Care NHSFT

The 5 year estimated contract values are: 
Lot 1 = £5,130,578.85 
Lot 2 = £2,845,435.00 
Lot 3 = £2,796,725.00 
Lot 4 = £3,752,218.75

The Contracts are due to commence on 1st August 2024. 

This procurement has been carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioner(s).

Additional information: Aim and Objectives:

The aim of the service is to deliver safe and effective, evidence-based, population-wide immunisation programmes. The service offer will incorporate the following features:

• a planned and co-ordinated programme of timely delivery, with strong local leadership focussed on maximising coverage and uptake.
• identification of, and full offer to, the whole eligible population, with repeated offers until school leaving age as required, to achieve maximum coverage.
• delivery in a way which addresses local health inequalities, tailoring and targeting interventions when necessary.
• the service will be delivered in a culturally sensitive way to meet the needs of local diverse populations.
• safe and effective delivery by suitably trained, competent healthcare professionals, with effective use of skill mix to achieve efficiency and value for money.
• accurate and timely recording, collation and reporting of vaccinations both for individuals and at population level.
• a programme of promotion activities to encourage vaccine uptake. This will include collaborating with and supporting NHS England and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in any campaigns or activities they undertake.
• there is an expectation that the contract holder(s) for all lots will work with public health nursing and other children's services across the geographies to maximise collaboration and opportunities for an integrated service offer and delivery.

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).