Expressions of Interest for the Provision of Diabetic Eye Screening Programme in Arden, Herefordshire and Worcestershire

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement Midlands (the Commissioner) would like to notify the market of an opportunity to provide a Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP) in the Arden (Coventry & Warwickshire), Herefordshire and Worcestershire area and to invite all interested providers to participate in an early market assessment questionnaire. The contract will be for a duration of 5 years with the option to extend for up to a further 2 years with an estimated contract value (including the 2 year extension) of £14,462,700. The service commencement date will be in 2023 (precise date to be confirmed).

If your organisation wishes to express an interest, please register against Quote/tender 51548 - AG21021 - Expressions of Interest for the Provision of Diabetic Eye Screening Programme in Arden, Herefordshire and Worcestershire in EU Supply and return the short questionnaire no later than 12:00 Noon on 28th June 2022.

The aim of the DESP programme is to reduce the risk of sight loss amongst people with diabetes by the prompt identification and effective treatment, if necessary, of sight threatening diabetic retinopathy, at the appropriate stage during the disease process.

The Service being commissioned should align to the National Diabetic Eye Screening Service Specification which aims to ensure a consistent and equitable approach across England, and to govern the provision and monitoring of the DESP. The current eligible cohort size is approximately 113,000.

The Service will need to undertake and perform the following objectives in order to meet the commissioning and Service Specification requirements:

• Identify the eligible population and ensure effective delivery with maximum coverage.
• Deliver safe, effective, high quality, externally and independently monitored, and quality assured Diabetic Eye Screening Programme.
• Lead to earlier detection, appropriate referral, effective treatment and improved outcomes.
• Deliver and support through suitably trained, competent, and qualified, clinical and non-clinical staff who, where relevant, participate in recognised ongoing continuing medical education (CME), continuous Professional Development (CPD), and Quality Assurance (QA) schemes; as well as have regular audits embedded within the service.

The provision of DESP is delivered in line with the following aims of the NHS long term plan

• Improve public health outcomes and reduce health inequalities.
• Contribute to a more sustainable public health, health and care system.

The DESP programme also contributes to the public health outcomes framework which aims to improve and protect the nation’s health and wellbeing and to improve the health of the poorest, fastest.

This is purely an early engagement exercise; any subsequent procurement will be advertised separately and all organisations wanting to participate will need to respond to the procurement advertisement as and when published.

Please note that this expression of interest has been designed to allow the market visibility of the proposed opportunity and support early engagement.

The aim of the expression of interest exercise is to;

1. Support the Commissioners informed decision making on the potential options for the future commissioning of these services;

2. To help refine the commissioning and procurement approach and

3. To gauge the level of interest from the market of capable providers with capacity to deliver the services illustrated above. Additional information: This is a market testing exercise and does not commit the Commissioners to carry out a procurement process. Current services will remain in place during this period in line with existing contracts and service level agreements.