Pharmacy Services to Kent and Medway Prisons for NHS England South East

NHS England (NHSE) South East sought to commission a provider with the capability and capacity to deliver pharmacy services to the following establishments in Kent and Medway.

• HMP Elmley
• HMP Standford Hill
• HMP Swaleside
• HMP/YOI Rochester
• HMP Maidstone
• HMP/YOI East Sutton Park
• HMP/YOI Cookham Wood

The pharmacy service will dispense and deliver medication daily from the pharmacy hub at HMP/YOI Rochester to those establishments listed above, aside from HMP Elmley which will have its own dispensing pharmacy as a satellite to HMP/YOI Rochester and will form part of this contract. This recognises its role as the reception prison for Kent and Medway and the unique pharmacy requirements associated with this cohort.

The pharmacy service will:

• Provide high-quality and effective primary pharmacy services, including medicines management to the Prisons and Young Offenders Institutions (YOI) in scope, in a timely and appropriate manner.
• Provide an equivalent standard of service and controls within the prisons to that in the community
• Integrate with the healthcare provider to ensure a high-quality patient centred service (as defined by NHS Modernisation Agency 2001), including the appropriate essential standards outlined by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) document "Essential Standards of Quality & Safety"
• Work effectively with the healthcare provider, HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and other relevant stakeholders.
• Be needs-led, patient focused and change according to the needs of the population of the Kent and Medway prisons and HMPPS.

The provider shall:

• Ensure that the delivery of medicines management services within the prison meets the needs of the individual and diverse prison population, with specific reference to the six strands of equality and diversity.
• Deliver the services using the most appropriate clinical staff to address the needs of prisoners and the wider healthcare service.
• Implement relevant guidance as applicable and, in each case, as amended from time to time, to ensure prisoners with disabilities and/or communication difficulties can access the services.
• Supply to all non-English speaking prisoners a professional translation service during all consultations and, for the most common languages spoken, translations of explanatory materials including patient information leaflets.
• Ensure that prisoners are treated with dignity and respect

The contract has been awarded to Oxleas NHS Foundation Trust and is due to commence on 1st April 2023, for a duration of 6 years. The total contract value is £13,800,000. This value is based on current operational capacity figures. Any change to prison population(s) will be managed through a contract variation process.

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

The project reference number for this opportunity is C95386, (previously WA11482).

Additional information: 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).