NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) Procurements of an Urgent Access Primary Care Service (Single Point of Access, Out of Hours, and Outbreak Management)

Description

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) Contract Notice. The awarding of the contract(s) is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime (PSR)) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this notice. Following market engagement activities which took place between 16th April and 30th May 2025 including a virtual Market Engagement Event on 20th May 2025, NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Procurement Unit is issuing this Contract Notice on behalf of NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB) who is seeking to procure an Urgent Access Primary Care Service (Single Point of Access, Out of Hours, and Outbreak Management) for the registered patient population of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, UK. The ICB is intending to award two contracts for the above services, divided into two lots i.e., Lot 1 - Herefordshire, and Lot 2 - Worcestershire, for a period of 3 years with the option to extend for another 2 years plus 1 year at its discretion. Bidding organisations may submit bids for either lot, or for both lots. If the winning bidding organisation is the same for both lots, the ICB reserves the right to combine the requirements into one contract. If submitting bids for both lots, bidders must ensure that each bid is independently viable, i.e., if you were the successful bidder for one lot (and therefore not for both) your organisation is capable of delivering the service in one area only as set out in your bid submission for that lot. The contract(s) will mobilise from the 8th July 2026 following a formal Competitive Process in accordance with Regulation 11 of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. The proposed service is for the provision of urgent face-to-face and/or virtual primary care assessment and treatment services delivered in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. The delivery of the service will form part of integrated urgent care including provision of 24/7 NHS General Practice, covering 'out-of-hours' general practice, provision of 24/7 infectious disease surge and outbreak management response, and daily medical input into the local Single Point of Access. This notice has been issued subject to the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) regulations 2023 for the Procurement of Healthcare Services. Lot 1: Lot 1 - Herefordshire Under Lot 1, the ICB intends to award one contract for the provision of Urgent Access Primary Care Service (Single Point of Access, Out of Hours, and Outbreak Management) to cover the patient population of the County of Herefordshire, UK. The main aims of the above service are to: (i) provide primary care advice as part of an interagency Single Point of Access (ii) to respond to infectious disease surge by providing an outbreak management response (iii) to provide primary care appointments for people living in Herefordshire with urgent clinical need when it is not appropriate to wait until the opening hours of their usual General Practice. The key objectives of the above service are: • For people to have their urgent primary care needs met in a timely and appropriate manner outside the core working hours of primary care. This will include same day appointments. • For people to be directed appropriately to emergency care settings for the management of primary care needs outside the core hours of primary care services, including the provision of advice to other health professionals. • For people to see the most appropriate clinician for their urgent need, delivered by a multi-disciplinary health team with effective joint-working with other local services. • For people to receive swift and effective local clinical support in the event of infectious diseases outbreaks, surge responses and other health protection incidents that risk harm to health. The contract commencement date is 8th July 2026. The contract duration shall be 3 years, with the option to extend for another 2 years plus 1 year at the discretion of the ICB. The total lifetime value of the contract for Lot 1 is £15,266,411 (i.e., for 3 years plus the optional extension period of an additional 2 years plus 1 year). The Commissioner reserves the right to reject Bids where the proposed value exceeds £2,544,402 per annum for Lot 1. Interested parties are invited to submit bids within Atamis project C358203 with regards to provision of the above service in Herefordshire. Details of the service are set out in the Service Specification and accompanying tender documentation which are available to view in the Atamis Documents section of the above project. Lot 2: Lot 2 - Worcestershire Under Lot 2, the ICB intends to award one contract for the provision of Urgent Access Primary Care Service (Single Point of Access, Out of Hours, and Outbreak Management) to cover the patient population of the County of Worcestershire, UK. The main aims of the above service are to: (i) provide primary care advice as part of an interagency Single Point of Access (ii) to respond to infectious disease surge by providing an outbreak management response (iii) to provide primary care appointments for people living in Herefordshire with urgent clinical need when it is not appropriate to wait until the opening hours of their usual General Practice. The key objectives of the above service are: • For people to have their urgent primary care needs met in a timely and appropriate manner outside the core working hours of primary care. This will include same day appointments. • For people to be directed appropriately to emergency care settings for the management of primary care needs outside the core hours of primary care services, including the provision of advice to other health professionals. • For people to see the most appropriate clinician for their urgent need, delivered by a multi-disciplinary health team with effective joint-working with other local services. • For people to receive swift and effective local clinical support in the event of infectious diseases outbreaks, surge responses and other health protection incidents that risk harm to health. The contract commencement date is 8th July 2026. The contract duration shall be 3 years, with the option to extend for another 2 years plus 1 year at the discretion of the ICB. The total lifetime value of the contract for Lot 2 is £45,932,114 (i.e., for 3-years plus the optional extension period of an additional 2 years plus 1 year). The Commissioner reserves the right to reject Bids where the proposed value exceeds £7,655,352 per annum for Lot 2. Interested parties are invited to submit bids within Atamis project C358203 with regards to provision of the above service in Worcestershire. Details of the service are set out in the Service Specification and accompanying tender documentation which are available to view in the Atamis Documents section of the above project.