Expressions of Interest - Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (West Midlands)

Description

*This is a Prior Information Notice (PIN)*<br/><br/>NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit (AGCSU) on behalf of NHS England – Midlands (West) (referred to as the Commissioner) wish to inform the market of a future procurement opportunity for a Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP). The DESP service is expected to cover the following ICB areas in the West Midlands region: - <br/><br/>1. NHS Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care Board (STW ICB) and<br/>2. NHS Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (SSOT ICB). <br/><br/>The Commissioner would like to invite all interested providers to participate in an early market assessment questionnaire which will be used as a conduit to ascertain market capability and interest in the opportunity, prior to publication of the formal procurement opportunity in January 2026. The questionnaire will help Commissioners to: <br/><br/>• Gain market views on the viability of procuring the DESP service,<br/>• Determine a structure / lotting strategy of the future procurement and<br/>• Determine length of future contracts<br/>• Gain feedback on the draft published spec (this can be found in the attachments area of Atamis).<br/><br/>The new contract/s is due to commence on 1st January 2027. <br/><br/>If your organisation is interested in this opportunity, then please respond to the early market assessment questions on Atamis and register your interest by following the instructions given below in section II.2.14.1 Additional information.<br/><br/>Please note the deadline for interested providers to complete the early market assessment is 5:00pm on Friday 18th July 2025. Lot 1: NHS England is responsible for commissioning Section 7A Public Health services which include the NHS Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP). <br/><br/>The DESP programme/service is designed to detect diabetic retinopathy and other eye conditions in people with diabetes. The programme offers eye screenings to diabetic patients aged 12 and above. Screening appointments are typically offered at local venues linked to the patient’s GP practice and HM Prison detained settings. <br/><br/>The goal is to identify any eye problems early on, allowing for timely treatment and reducing the risk of sight loss. If a positive screening result is found, patients are referred to a hospital eye service for further evaluation and management.<br/><br/>NHS England - West Midlands, has reviewed the existing DESP services delivered in Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin Integrated Care Board (STW ICB) and the Staffordshire & Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (SSOT ICB). These services cater to an eligible population of 119,737 individuals.<br/><br/>With the current contract nearing its end, the new procurement aims to achieve the following benefits:<br/>• Improve patient engagement and outcomes <br/>• Enhance stakeholder relationships to foster collaboration, innovation and continuous improvement in the delivery of the service. <br/>• Quality assurance <br/>• More cost-effective use of NHS resources. <br/><br/>It is anticipated that TUPE will apply to this service going forwards and if applicable, details will be shared as part of any selected process.<br/><br/>The Commissioners intentions are to hold a Market Engagement Event (in advance of launching the formal tender), a further PIN will be published in Autumn 2025 with details of a market engagement event for Providers to register their attendance. Additional information: 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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>The procurement will be advertised in accordance with the Provider Selection Regime(PSR) Notice. The awarding of this contract will be subject to the HealthCare Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 will not apply to this award.<br/><br/>The Contracting Authority will be using an eTendering system for this market engagement exercise. To express an interest and access the questionnaire go to the 'Live Opportunities' list on the e-tendering portal at the following<br/>link: https://health-family-contract-search.secure.force.com/?searchtype=Projects and register your interest.<br/><br/>You can search for the opportunity by entering the following contract reference: C364032 - EOI: Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (DESP) - NHS England (West Midlands).<br/><br/>Please note the deadline to complete the early market assessment questionnaire is 5:00pm on Friday 18th July.