Online Consultations: The Technology Procurement Hub Robert Amil Kia Oval, London 19th April 2017

The Technology Procurement Hub: Who are we?

The Technology Procurement Hub: Where did we come from? The procurement hub services are commissioned by NHS England from NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support (SCW) Initially commissioned to provide procurement support to projects being delivered under the Estates and Technology Transformation Fund (ETTF) Has worked extensively with GP Access Fund pilots prior to the ETTF programme

The Technology Procurement Hub: What do we do? Offer targeted and practical commercial and procurement support to NHS England, CCGs, legally incorporated practice affiliations and GP practices. Provide a point of contact, and signposting service, for emerging digital suppliers seeking to engage with general practice. Scan the supplier market for new and emerging digital technologies. Work with NHS Digital (and wider stakeholder) national programmes to represent the procurement needs of general practice transformation projects working with the Hub. Seek out and encourage the exploitation of procurement opportunities. With effect from 1st April 2017 the Hubs remit is also to provide a service to CCGs, general practices and legally incorporated practice affiliations to support the procurement of online consultation systems.

An example of a procurement opportunity: Aggregation Look for aggregation opportunities based around common requirements and ‘natural communities’ LDRs STPs Practice affiliations Procurement delivery partners 2016/17 ETTF aggregation opportunity identified in Midlands & East for:- Telephony WIFI

A Midlands & East aggregation experience Aggregated telephony/WIFI procurement The Hub worked with DCO Head of DT to marshal CCGs to :- Agree Lead CCG Identify a relevant Framework Agreement Agree a Lead procurement delivery partner Agree specification of requirements and procurement plan Resulted in a £1.7m contract award, saving £1.2m CCG Budget cost £ NHS Birmingham CrossCity CCG 677,900 NHS Birmingham South Central CCG 564,950 NHS Solihull CCG 292,650 NHS Sandwell CCG 506,000 NHS South Warwickshire CCG 365,042 NHS Shropshire CCG 330,500 NHS Telford and Wrekin CCG 164,000 2,901,042 Learning Early engagement with CCGs Early identification of appropriate framework agreement CSU capability/capacity Time required to prime framework suppliers Need for realistic procurement milestones

Online consultation systems As part of the General Practice Forward View, a £45 million fund has been created to contribute towards the costs for practices to purchase online consultation systems The fund will be available from 2017/18, with £15 million in 2017/18, £20 million in 2018/19 and £10 million in 2019/20 CCGs and practices/federations can now draw on support from the Hub in the form of:- general procurement advice/support; and template documentation (e.g. adverts, SQ, RFQ, ITT). The GPFV included a commitment to the establishment of a national framework for the cost-effective purchase of telephone and e-consultation tools - from December 2017 A plan has been developed for the establishment of the national framework, in the form of a Dynamic Purchasing System to support the initiative.

Procurement: Procurement & Supply Cycle Understand the need – develop a high level specification Market/commodity options – analysis of the market Develop a procurement strategy Market testing and engagement Develop a detailed specification and supplier selection standards Supplier selection Issue request for proposal / tender Evaluate proposals Contract award and implementation Logistics and delivery Supplier / Contract performance monitoring and review Supplier relationship / supply chain management Asset management / end of contract review Source: https://www.cips.org/en-gb/knowledge/procurement-cycle/#

Procurement Compliance CCGs Each CCG is required to comply with it’s standing financial instructions, or equivalent (SFIs) SFIs set out in detail the CCGs financial responsibilities, policies and procedures (including schemes of delegation) Deviation and unauthorised breaches are reportable to NHS England As statutory bodies governed by public law, CCGs are required to comply with public procurement law and statutory guidance issued by central government CCGs must ensure that technology procurements comply with all relevant NHS and Government Digital Service standards

Procurement Regulations (Public Sector) For procurements that will (or are likely to) exceed the threshold(s) in the EU Directives, an EU compliant procurement process should be undertaken For CCGs the threshold for procuring supplies or services that aren't clinical services is £164,176 (ex VAT). This is the aggregated value (i.e. the total contract value, not just an annual value) There are circumstances whereby direct awards may be justifiable Existing contracts can be varied but only in line with the Regulations (known as permitted changes) Remedies for breach include a fine, the contract being declared ineffective or shortened. In addition, a bidder may claim damages for its losses resulting from the breach.

Direct awards and contract variations Direct award in limited circumstances Where no tenders or no suitable tenders were received relating to a prior (competitive) procurement process Where the goods or services can only be provided by one provider due to the creation of a unique work of art, lack of competition for technical reasons, to protect exclusive rights Where there is genuine unforeseeable extreme urgency Permitted changes Where there are clear and unequivocal clauses in the contract to allow for the change Major change: additional requirements are necessary, a change of supplier would be impractical and does not exceed 50% of the original contract value New contractor: due to corporate restructuring and does not alter the overall nature of the deliverables Minor change: does not affect the nature of the contract and <10% of contract value

Waivers and frameworks For a below EU threshold procurement SFIs will require a competitive process but SFIs normally include a waiver provision to allow for (justified) awards without the need to undertake a competitive process There may be an existing framework agreement available which can allow for a simplified and legally compliant procurement process(or even a direct award to a single supplier) for contracts above the EU procurement threshold The Hub has a list of existing framework agreements For major procurement projects CCGs should ensure that they seek professional support from a procurement delivery partner

GP Practices and practice affiliations A set of Procurement Principles have been developed for where the procuring organisation is a GP practice or number of GP practices working together as legally constituted practice affiliations (“practice affiliations”) GP Practices and practice affiliations are private contractors, not public authorities Generally, they do not fulfil the legal test for a body governed by public law and are not subject to the requirements of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. NHS England expect that in disbursing public funds GP practices and practice affiliations adopt robust procedures and processes in relation to procurement practice.

Procurement principles NHS England expect GP Practices and practice affiliations to adhere to the following guiding principles. Accountability Competitive Supply Transparency Efficiency Equity Integrity Informed decision-making Legality

QUESTIONS