SEL ICB (Bexley) Primary Care Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Hub

Tender description

NHS South East London Integrated Care Board intends to commission a time-limited Primary Care Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Hub for the London Borough of Bexley for winter 2026/27. The service will provide additional same-day urgent face-to-face appointment capacity for children and adults presenting with ARI-type symptoms, supporting general practice and the wider urgent and emergency care system during the period of increased winter demand. The planned service period is 1 December 2026 to 28 February 2027, with an optional extension of up to one month. The service is expected to operate from a centrally located Bexley primary care location during core general practice hours, Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:30, and to be staffed by a GP and an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, supported by appropriate administrative capacity. The service will accept referrals from Bexley GP practices and NHS 111, with approximately 10-15% of appointment capacity ringfenced for NHS 111. The ICB proposes to use the Most Suitable Provider process under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. This notice communicates the intended approach. The ICB will assess relevant providers against the statutory key criteria and will retain an evidence-based audit trail of its market assessment, evaluation, value-for-money review and award decision. Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) hubs are a recognised NHS England model used across England to support the assessment and treatment of respiratory illness and to reduce pressure on emergency departments, urgent treatment centres and general practice. The proposed Bexley model reflects an established primary care-led approach that has operated within the borough over successive winter periods and is consistent with nationally recognised ARI hub delivery models. Key service objectives and outcomes • Provide additional same-day urgent primary care capacity for Bexley residents with ARI-type presentations during winter pressure. • Provide a clinically safe alternative pathway for people who can appropriately be managed in primary care, while maintaining clear escalation routes for patients requiring urgent or emergency treatment. • Support timely access for adults and children referred by Bexley general practice and NHS 111. • Support resilience across Bexley general practice and the wider urgent and emergency care system. • Deliver equitable access, with operational monitoring to identify and respond to variation in referral, utilisation and outcomes across patient groups and localities. • Maintain effective integration with general practice, NHS 111, urgent treatment and secondary care pathways. The provider is expected to demonstrate a proven track record in delivering an acute respiratory infection service or a similar service for a minimum of three years in South East London, with prior experience in meeting the key objectives and service requirements as outlined. Lot 1: Core service model • Face-to-face, same-day urgent appointments for adults and children with ARI-type symptoms who meet the agreed referral and clinical inclusion criteria. • Operation Monday to Friday, 08:00 to 18:30, from 1 December 2026 to 28 February 2027, subject to final contracting confirmation. • Clinical staffing comprising of a GP and an Advanced Nurse Practitioner, with administrative support sufficient to manage bookings, referrals, communication and reporting. • Referrals from Bexley GP practices and NHS 111, with approximately 10-15% of appointment capacity ringfenced for NHS 111. • Clinical assessment, treatment, prescribing where appropriate, safety-netting, onward referral and communication back to the registered practice in accordance with agreed pathways. • Directory of Services registration and maintenance of accurate service information to support NHS 111 referral, subject to commissioner confirmation for 2026/27. • Compliance with applicable information governance, infection prevention and control, safeguarding, medicines management, workforce, premises, business continuity, incident reporting and clinical governance requirements. Commissioner requirements and controls Access and referral • The provider must operate a clear, documented referral and triage pathway, including acceptance, rejection, redirection and escalation arrangements. • The provider must make referral criteria, operating hours, contact arrangements and any capacity constraints available to all referring services before mobilisation. • The provider must operate a booking arrangement that enables authorised staff in Bexley GP practices to view and directly book patients into available same-day ARI Hub appointments, in accordance with the agreed clinical inclusion and exclusion criteria. The booking process must be straightforward, reliable and supported by clear referral guidance and escalation arrangements. • The provider must work with Bexley GP practices, NHS 111 and the Commissioner to manage appointment capacity fairly and efficiently. Capacity should be made available across general practice with regard to registered list size and anticipated demand, while maintaining the agreed allocation for NHS 111. Where up-take by a practice or referral route is lower than expected, unused capacity must be released or reallocated promptly through an agreed process so that appointment slots remain available to other Bexley practices and avoidable unused capacity is minimised. • The provider must have arrangements for interpreting, accessible communication and reasonable adjustments. Clinical quality and safety • The provider must maintain a named clinical lead and clear clinical accountability for the service. • All clinicians must be appropriately registered, qualified, trained, competent and indemnified for the work undertaken. GPs must meet applicable performers list requirements. • The provider must have agreed pathways for deteriorating or clinically unstable patients, emergency transfer, safeguarding, paediatric escalation and onward referral. • The provider must maintain appropriate prescribing, medicines reconciliation and antimicrobial stewardship arrangements. • The provider must record each consultation contemporaneously and ensure relevant information is communicated promptly to the patient's registered practice. • The provider must report patient safety incidents, serious incidents, safeguarding concerns, complaints and service disruption in accordance with the contract and ICB requirements. Workforce, premises and mobilisation • The provider must demonstrate a deliverable workforce plan, including rota resilience, sickness cover, clinical supervision and arrangements for periods of peak demand. • The provider must be able to mobilise the service within the required timescale from a centrally located Bexley primary care site that is reasonably accessible to patients referred by all Bexley practices. The provider must demonstrate that the proposed location supports equitable borough-wide access, including by public transport, and is clinically suitable, compliant with infection prevention and control requirements and appropriately equipped for urgent face-to-face care for adults and children. • The provider must have digital and telephony arrangements capable of receiving referrals, booking appointments, accessing or recording relevant clinical information and sharing information securely. • The provider must complete mobilisation activity before 1 December 2026, including workforce checks, pathway sign-off, NHS 111 / DoS arrangements, communications, premises assurance, clinical governance and business continuity testing. Performance management and reporting The provider will be required to submit timely, complete and accurate activity, quality, workforce, finance and patient experience information in a format and frequency agreed by the ICB. As a minimum, commissioner reporting should cover: • appointments offered, booked, attended, cancelled, unused and not attended • referral source, including Bexley general practice and NHS 111 • patient age group and other agreed demographic and geographic fields required to assess access and inequalities • presenting condition / ARI category and consultation outcome • prescribing, onward referral, conveyance or transfer to urgent / emergency or secondary care, where captured • capacity utilisation, staffing fill, service disruption and business continuity events • complaints, patient feedback, incidents, safeguarding concerns and learning actions The provider must monitor service activity, access, utilisation, quality and outcomes throughout the contract period and submit agreed performance information to the ICB within the required timescales. The provider must also provide regular, proportionate performance updates to Bexley practices, including information on available capacity, utilisation, referral patterns and any operational issues requiring action by referring practices. Performance reporting must identify material variation in access or utilisation between practices, PCNs, referral routes or patient groups. The provider must work with the Commissioner and relevant partners to agree and implement corrective action where unwarranted variation, persistent underutilisation or access concerns are identified. Digital, clinical systems and information governance The provider will be required to: • Utilise a clinically approved electronic patient record system that enables contemporaneous recording of consultations, prescribing activity, referrals and clinical outcomes. • Ensure that each consultation is documented contemporaneously and, wherever technically possible, directly within the patient's registered GP clinical record. Where direct access is not available, the provider must use an agreed interoperable record-sharing method that ensures the complete consultation record, including assessment, treatment, prescribing, safety-netting and onward referral, is transferred securely to the registered practice without delay. • Operate a secure clinical record-sharing process compliant with NHS information governance, cyber security and data protection requirements. • Maintain access to NHS Smartcards, NHSmail and other nationally mandated digital services required for service delivery. • Utilise an NHS-compliant prescribing solution and ensure prescribing activity is undertaken in accordance with local formularies, medicines management policies and antimicrobial stewardship requirements. • Maintain Directory of Services (DoS) registration and ensure service information remains accurate and up to date to support NHS 111 referrals. • Ensure clinicians have access to appropriate clinical decision support tools, referral pathways and escalation arrangements. • Provide all equipment, consumables and technology required for safe service delivery unless explicitly identified as commissioner supplied. • Comply with all applicable information governance, data quality, records management and business continuity requirements. We are not required to actively invite anyone to express interest but rather seek to notify the market of the intention. For enquiries or to register interest, please contact bilan.sharif1@nhs.net using the following reference: PRJ-2292 Registered interest should be submitted no later than 23:59pm on Wednesday 14 October 2026. Details of the Award Decision-Makers: NHS South East London Integrated Care Board. Additional information: The Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) Hub forms part of the Bexley winter resilience programme and is intended to provide additional same-day urgent primary care capacity for adults and children presenting with respiratory symptoms during periods of increased seasonal demand. The service supports the wider urgent and emergency care pathway by providing a clinically appropriate alternative to Emergency Department attendance for patients whose needs can be safely managed within primary care. The service is intended to strengthen the interface between general practice, NHS 111, community services and acute providers, ensuring patients receive the right care, at the right time, in the right place. The proposed contract is for a short-term winter period of three months only and requires mobilisation from 1 December 2026. Due to the limited duration of the contract, the need for rapid mobilisation and the requirement to maintain continuity of service through the winter period, the ICB intends to follow a Most Suitable Provider Process under the Provider Selection Regime 2023. This approach is considered proportionate to the scale, duration and purpose of the service. The Commissioner is seeking a provider that can demonstrate: • rapid mobilisation from a centrally located and accessible Bexley primary care site; • relevant experience of delivering urgent primary care, winter resilience or comparable community-based services; • robust clinical governance and an appropriately qualified and resilient workforce; • effective integration with Bexley practices, NHS 111 and wider urgent and emergency care pathways; • direct same-day booking access for authorised Bexley practice staff; • interoperable digital systems that support contemporaneous recording and prompt sharing of complete consultation information with the patient's registered practice; • safe, equitable and accessible service delivery, including reasonable adjustments; • fair and flexible management of appointment capacity, taking account of registered list size, referral demand and utilisation; • prompt reallocation of unused appointments to maximise capacity; and • robust operational management, information governance and performance reporting to the ICB and Bexley practices. The ICB will assess providers against the five key Provider Selection Regime criteria: quality and innovation; value; integration, collaboration and service sustainability; improving access, reducing health inequalities and facilitating choice; and social value. In applying these criteria, particular emphasis will be placed on the provider's ability to mobilise within the required timescales, demonstrate established referral pathways and operational arrangements, maintain service continuity throughout the winter period, and deliver a safe and effective service that supports system resilience across Bexley. This is particularly important given the short duration of the proposed award and the requirement for immediate readiness at service commencement. If providers do not meet the criteria set out in this notice, then they will not be taken forward to the formal assessment phase and will be discounted from the process. For the avoidance of doubt, this is a Provider Selection Regime intended approach notice. NHS South East London Integrated Care Board intends to undertake a Most Suitable Provider Process. The provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to this healthcare service procurement.