Frequently asked questions Why is NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (GCCG) procuring the Primary Care out of hours Service? The Primary Care Out of Hours service in Gloucestershire has not previously been subject to competitive market testing. is provided by two healthcare providers; South GCCG’s existing contract Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) and Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust (GCS). Each organisation provides approximately 50% of the service requirement. Although the combined OOH service benchmarks well in terms of service quality, the overall service cost is high compared with other comparable Clinical Commissioning Group OOH services. Although Out of Hours services have traditionally been provided by NHS healthcare providers, these services are not exempt from market testing and are frequently opened to competition along with other core Ambulance services such as non-emergency patient transport services. NHS Gloucestershire PCT, GCCG predecessor, was aware that there was a mature OOH service market and therefore a number of NHS, 3rd sector and private organisations existed capable of providing OOH services to its patients in Gloucestershire. Is Gloucestershire CCG legally required to put the out of hours service out to tender? The original decision to tender OOH services was at the PCT’s discretion. In 2012 NHS Gloucestershire PCT committed to market test OOH services for the reasons indicated above and a procurement process commenced in the autumn of 2012. current contract with SWASFT was due to expire on 31 March 2013 GCCG’s but was extended until 31 October 2013 to allow a formal procurement process to be undertaken. Notice on the existing GCS contract was given so that that contract would also terminate on 31 October 2013, in-line with the SWASFT contract termination. GCCG, established April 2013, decided to abandon the PCT’s 2012 procurement process over concerns about the activity data contained in its service specification as well as other factors which included the anticipated hard launch of its NHS111 service, mobilisation of its non-emergency patient transport contract (scheduled for 1 December 2013) as well as other concerns around the potential impact upon emergency department winter pressures.
Frequently asked questions Why is NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (GCCG) procuring the Primary Care out of hours Service? The Primary Care Out of Hours service in Gloucestershire has not previously been subject to competitive market testing. GCCG’s existing contract is provided by two healthcare providers; South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWASFT) and Gloucestershire Care Services NHS Trust (GCS). Each organisation provides approximately 50% of the service requirement. Although the combined OOH service benchmarks well in terms of service quality, the overall service cost is high compared with other comparable Clinical Commissioning Group OOH services. Although Out of Hours services have traditionally been provided by NHS healthcare providers, these services are not exempt from market testing and are frequently opened to competition along with other core Ambulance services such as non-emergency patient transport services. NHS Gloucestershire PCT, GCCG predecessor, was aware that there was a mature OOH service market and therefore a number of NHS, 3rd sector and private organisations existed capable of providing OOH services to its patients in Gloucestershire. Is Gloucestershire CCG legally required to put the out of hours service out to tender? The original decision to tender OOH services was at the PCT’s discretion. In 2012 NHS Gloucestershire PCT committed to market test OOH services for the reasons indicated above and a procurement process commenced in the autumn of 2012. GCCG’s current contract with SWASFT was due to expire on 31 March 2013 but was extended until 31 October 2013 to allow a formal procurement process to be undertaken. Notice on the existing GCS contract was given so that that contract would also terminate on 31 October 2013, in-line with the SWASFT contract termination. GCCG, established April 2013, decided to abandon the PCT’s 2012 procurement process over concerns about the activity data contained in its service specification as well as other factors which included the anticipated hard launch of its NHS111 service, mobilisation of its non-emergency patient transport contract (scheduled for 1 December 2013) as well as other concerns around the potential impact upon emergency department winter pressures.
QA-for-website-final-17-07-14.docx