NHS Cheshire & Merseyside ICB - Adult Autism Post-Diagnosis Support Service (AAPDSS) - Halton and Warrington Place

Description

NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (MLCSU) is acting as an agent on behalf of NHS Cheshire & Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) who were looking to undertake a Competitive Process for the provision of a Adult Autism Post Diagnosis Support Service (AAPDSS) covering Halton and Warrington Places. The service will offer psychosocial support to adults registered with a Halton or Warrington General Practice who have received an Autism Spectrum Condition diagnosis. People who are awaiting a diagnosis and have been identified as needing support whilst waiting may also be referred. The service will be accessed through referral only. Referrals will mainly be initiated by the adult autism assessment provider or via self-referral (or carer/family referring on behalf of individual as appropriate). Referrals can additionally be made by other service providers who work with adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC). Lot 1: This notice is an intention to award a contract under the competitive process for Adult Autism Post-Diagnosis Support Service (AAPDSS) - Halton and Warrington Place. The current service was due to end on Thursday 31st July 2025 with the intended start date being 1st August 2025. However, due to a delay within the ICB, the current contract will now end Friday 31st October 2025 and it is the intention of the ICB to start commissioning a new contract from Monday 3rd November 2025 for 3 years (until 2nd November 2028), with an option to extend for a further 2 years (until 2nd November 2030). Contract Start Date: 3rd November 2025 Contract End Date: 2nd November 2030 This one contract will cover both Halton and Warrington places. The approximate lifetime value of the contract is £600,000. The total financial envelope was £120,000 per annum for both places (£600,000 for 3 years with an option to extend for 2 years), excl. VAT. The cost analysis was based on the lowest total overall price submitted (for 3 years + 2 year optional extension). Any bid was not to exceed the maximum financial envelope of £60,000 per annum per place (Halton Place - £60,000 and Warrington Place - £60,000). Any bid that exceeded this criterion was to be viewed as Non-Compliant and would take no further part in the procurement exercise. The service will offer psychosocial support to adults registered with a Halton or Warrington General Practice who have received an Autism Spectrum Condition diagnosis. People who are awaiting a diagnosis and have been identified as needing support whilst waiting may also be referred. 1 bidder has been selected as the highest overall scoring bidder and has been recommended as a successful bidder. This service is an existing service. Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust will be a new provider. The contract award criteria was specified in the procurement documents. The procurement documents included the contract award criteria, including the agreed relative importance of key criteria (e.g., weighting, prioritisation) against which, bids were evaluated. This process was a competitive process, in accordance with regulation 11 of the provider selection regime 2023 for the award of a contract with a competition. This ITT was made available to all Bidders who have expressed a potential interest in delivering this service in line with the requirements which fall under Regulation 11 for the award of a contract with a competition, and Schedule 1 of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. As such, the competitive tendering of these Services was run as a bespoke, single-stage tender process as described in the documentation in this ITT, and in the Find a Tender contract notice advertisement. The ITT was live on Wednesday 19th February 2025 on the Atamis Portal. The deadline for submission was 28th March 2025 12:00pm mid day. The Atamis contract reference was C336385 - 'C&M ICB Adult Autism Post-Diagnosis Support Service - Warrington and Halton Feb 2025'. The questionnaires were located within the requirements.