Dental Officer Procurement Procedure

Summary

A requester sought details on the Dental Officer Procurement Procedure, including bidder names and selection team qualifications, which were largely withheld due to confidentiality. The authority upheld the request in full by releasing the anonymized Request for Quotation document and clarifying the procurement process.

Key Facts

• The Department of Health and Social Care procured a provider for NHS Clinical Dental Advice and Support Services.
• The selection process involved a Request for Quotation adhering to Isle of Man Government Financial Regulations.
• Specific names of bidders, individuals attending the selection process, and government officials responsible for marking were not disclosed.
• The released document contains anonymized clarification questions and responses to protect commercial sensitivity.
• The procurement officer leading the exercise was identified as Will McCann.

Data Disclosed

• 2019-10-15
• 2020-01-07
• 87,000
• 11 General Dental practices
• 1 primary orthodontic practice
• 2018
• 2015
• IM4 4RJ

Exemptions Cited

• Commercial in Confidence
• Confidentiality of the procurement process
• Freedom of Information Act 2015

Original Request

I requested information from Dept Health about the Dental Officer Procurement Procedure. A number of my questions have not been answered. I would like this to be reviewed I have a number of comments to make in respect of the information received see below: Please provide a copy of the notifications if the support service dated 8 Aug 2. Please provide a copy of the letter/email withdrawing application. Please provide name of bidder who withdrew application 3. Please provide names of individuals who were in attendance at the selection process they have failed to answer my question 5. Failed to respond with the government officials included 6. Not answered what dental experience they had. I also requested what clinical dental or relevant qualifications the selection team had. Please provide confirmation that both service providers were practicing dentists within the NHS. The year of qualification and confirmation of GDC registration 9. Who interviewed for the service providers job 13. Please provide copies of responses for the service provider position 15. They failed to name the government officials who were responsible for the marking 17. Please advise why no policy or audit exists in providing procurement exercises 19. I requested the name of the individuals not the department. Please answer the question

Data Tables (25)

Full Response Text

Appendix 1 – Request for quotation document

Commercial in Confidence

Request for Quotation

Provision of NHS Clinical Dental Advice and Support Service

COMMERCIAL IN CONFIDENCE

©2018 Department of Health and Social Care

The copyright to these documents belongs to the Isle of Man Government Department of Health and Social Care and they may not be copied, reproduced, transmitted or stored on any electronic device or medium in any form in part or whole without the written permission of the Department.

Section 1 Introduction

1.1 The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) provides a comprehensive range of vital services for the residents of the Isle of Man. The Primary Care, Family Practitioner Service (FPS) is responsible for a number of services including the management of NHS dental services.

1.2 Servicing a population of roughly 87,000, Primary Care ensures the delivery of dental services via:

• 11 General Dental practices • 1 primary orthodontic practice
• A Community Dental Service (CDS) which provides a mix of both Special Care Services and GDS emergency services for patients who are not yet assigned to a dental practice. This is a Department- run practice • A Hospital consultant led orthodontic service

1.3 The Department’s FPS is seeking a Provider to provide expert advice and support in respect of a number of operational and strategic requirements further outlined in this request for quotation documentation.

Process

1.4 Further to the Prior Information Notice for which your organisation expressed interest in this opportunity, a number of clarification questions were raised. The Department has anonymised these questions and provided a response which may be beneficial to you in clarifying certain aspects of the requirement. This information can be found in Appendix 1.

1.5 In adherence to the Isle of Man Government Financial Regulations, specifically C8 – FPM.06 General Procurement section 1.4 this Request for Quotation document supports the Department facilitate a competitive process to identify an experienced provider of NHS clinical dental advice and support service. Following your expression of interest, you are invited to participate in this Request for Quotation exercise and must submit a proposal in accordance with the timeframe identified at section 3.2 of this document.

1.5 This Request for Quotation Document comprises four sections.

Section 1 Introduction Section 2 General and Specific Instructions to bidders Section 3 Responding to the Request for Quotation Section 4 Requirement Section 5 Evaluation Criteria

Section 2 General and Specific Instructions to bidders

2.1 Contact details of the Officer leading this Request for Quotation exercise are as follows:

Will McCann Email: william.mccann@gov.im Community Care Directorate, Isle of Man Government Reayrt Noa, Noble's Hospital Estate, Strang, Isle of Man, IM4 4RJ

2.2 Confidentiality

This Request for Quotation exercise process is confidential. The information, details and documents provided by interested parties will not be published or disclosed by the Department to any other party, other than professional advisors of the Department, Treasury or the Attorney General’s Chambers. Potential participants must equally respect the confidentiality of the process.

Potential participants contacting, lobbying or otherwise discussing the procurement with any member of Isle of Man Government, its staff or users and partners of the venues may be disqualified.

2.3 Freedom of Information

Potential participants are reminded that the Government is committed to meeting legal responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act 2015 (the Act). Accordingly, all information submitted in responding to this exercise may need to be disclosed by the Government in response to a request under the Act. If you consider that any of the information included in your response is commercially sensitive, please identify it and explain (in broad terms) what harm may result from disclosure if a request is received, and the time period applicable to that sensitivity.

If we receive a request for information that you have supplied to us we will, as far as possible, seek your views about the sensitivity of the information in question. Your views will inform our decision making but they cannot bind us under the Act and even if you object we may have to release the information requested.

2.4 Price

The price(s) stated in your response to Section four of this Request for Quotation document will remain fixed for the duration of the term. No fees, charges, costs, expenses or impositions of any kind shall be charged to the Department or payable by the Department to the Respondent or to any other person for or in respect of the provision of the Services other than the Price.

The Price shall: • Be net and include all discounts. • Exclude VAT. • Not exceed two decimal places of a £. • Be fully inclusive of costs associated with travel and or expenses.

N.B No quantity is guaranteed to the successful bidder.
The Department reserves the right to use other contractors or vendors in provision of the Services or similar services and the Agreement is not exclusive.

2.5 Insurances The Provider must ensure that sufficient insurance cover is in place for the duration of the agreement. Furthermore the organisations insurances and liabilities will extend to cover any subcontractors and/or their goods and equipment and/or other third parties employed by the Provider to deliver the Services. Where applicable and appropriate the organisation will be required to hold Professional Indemnity, Employers liability insurance and Public and Products liability insurance.
The Provider shall, whenever demanded by the Department from time to time, supply the Department with adequate evidence that it is maintaining such insurance cover.

2.6
Reservations
The Department of Health and Social Care does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any response and reserves the right to accept any response in whole or in part.

2.7 Proposal Costs

Please be aware that the Department of Health and Social Care nor any other part of Government will accept any charges for expenses or losses incurred by any interested party as a result of responding to this enquiry.

2.8
Sub-contracting A Provider looking to subcontract the whole or part of its obligations under the agreement must describe them in the submission. The Department is not obliged to accept any proposal that includes a subcontractor and its decision will be final.

Section 3 Responding to this Request for Quotation

3.1 Closing Date and Time for Proposal Submission

Parties interested in submitting a response to this Request for Quotation document must do so no later than noon on 4th July 2019

Responses should be delivered in an envelope marked “RFQ – CCD/2019/002” to the person and address outlined in 2.1 above. Electronic submissions are acceptable.

Deadline for clarification questions regarding any aspect of this requirement is noon 21st
June 2019.

3.2
Quotation Period Quotations are to remain open for acceptance for a period of 60 days from the Closing Date.

3.3
Presentations If deemed necessary and or appropriate the Department may request participating organisations provide a presentation in support of their proposal following the initial evaluation.

Section 4 Requirement

4.1 Service Aim

To provide competent Dental Advice and Support to the Department of Health and Social Care and its NHS dental providers, developing a supportive and collaborative relationship that will maximise service performance and ensure quality of care.

4.2 Service Requirement

• Supporting contract management The provider will work with the Dental Contracts Manager to develop and implement a Dental Performance Management and Quality Assurance Framework, providing clinical expertise and sound knowledge of IOM and UK Dental Policies and the best practice guidance (NICE and BDA).

• Audits/practice visits The provider will be expected to carry out quality assurance / audit visits to the Isle of Man NHS Dental Practices, inspecting premises, as well as patient record checks and quality of clinical care which may also involve seeing patients.

• Clinical expertise The provider will be required to make clinical decisions in regard to approvals of new dentists applying to join the IOM Dental Performer’s List, monitoring and advising on any voluntary undertakings required and working with the department and other outside agencies such as Health Education England (HEE) and the NHS Business Services Authority.

It is essential that the provider will be a qualified General Dental Practitioner and has current experience in the role of Dental Advisor, where the provider can demonstrate a leadership role outside a single practice environment. The provider will be registered with the GDC, without restriction or adverse FTP history and will have current knowledge of the GDP contract and of working within a GDP NHS practice.

• Strategy / Clinical advice and support
The Provider will be required to provide clinical advice and support to the Department in the development and the delivery of the 5 year Dental Strategy for the Isle of Man.

• Probity and Risk
The Provider will supply an expert opinion and utilise the data provided by Business Service Authority (BSA), in relation to any potential areas of concern, for example abnormal patterns of claiming and an assessment of the clinical data set information for the Island’s NHS providers’ and provide advice and support in terms of appropriate action. The provider will have an understanding of GDPR and the importance of preventing data security incidents whilst maintaining confidentiality and; will have the ability to understand the legal and regulatory framework within which the Department operates.

4.3 Frequency Information • Audits - minimum of one announced and one unannounced audit (in each practice) in a 3 year term • On average there are 5-10 applications to join IOM Dental Performer’s list per annum
• The BSA provides Vital Signs Report for every General Dental Practice on an annual basis; additional
reports might be requested where areas of concerns are identified.

It is expected that support will be required to the equivalent of between 1-2 days per week for the first 12 months with an expectation for this to reduce to 1 day per month thereafter.

Location

Facilities and place of work

Much of what is required with this service can be delivered remotely and therefore the facilities and place of work can be determined by the provider. There will be expectation for the contract holder to be on Island, by agreement, at least once per month. A base within the Department will be provided as well as access to the necessary computer systems and information as required.

Regulations and Guidelines

The provider of the service will have an expert knowledge of the provision of NHS dental services both with regard to NHS England regulations and provision working with the DHSC’s General Dental Regulations as they are currently and what they will become with the new NHS schemes. Therefore giving consideration to: -

• National Health Service (General Dental Services) Regulations 2005 • NHS (Dental Charges) Regulations 2015 and all its amendments,
• Dental Act 1985 and legislation in respect of:

 The General Dental Council  NICE guidelines.  Standard Operating Procedure for Performers Lists  HTM 01-05 Decontamination in Primary Care Dental Practices / NPSA (2010). The national specifications for cleanliness in the NHS: Guidance on setting and measuring performance outcomes in primary care medical and dental premises.

The provider must ensure employees providing support and advice service to the Isle of Man maintain appropriate levels of knowledge in respect of NHS dental services.

4.4 Term: 3 years. The DHSC may at its discretion propose to the provider that the contract should be extended for a period of up to 2 years.

4.5 Contract: The Provider will be issued with IOM Government Standard Terms and Conditions of Services. A blank template has been attached for perusal – see (Enclosure 1– IOMG T&C’s template). Any comments must be submitted in this response document.

Section 5 Evaluation Criteria

This Response will be evaluated by an approach that takes into account both price and quality. The weighting split will be: Price 50% / Quality 50%

Price

The bidder must submit a Day rate in the table below for the purpose of providing a like for like comparison for the purpose of assessing responses. Bidders are encouraged to stipulated ‘session’ rates in respect of half day or off-site working. All and any additional costs associated with the bid (i.e. travel and subsistence) should be outlined further in the table provided below.

Requirement Charge per day

£

The bidder should include a breakdown of their price. Any additional pricing information must be set out in the table below:

Please state any specific payments terms in the box below or separately in your response.

Quality The quality element of this Request for Quotation will be evaluated in accordance with the bidder’s response to the following Criteria. It is a Mandatory requirement to provide a response to all requirements outlined below.

Minimum Score/Pass Fail A number of requirements have been identified that are fundamental to the delivery of the Service, these requirements are annotated "Minimum score applies". Only Responses that score a minimum of five-six (5-6) will be considered for contract award.

A number of requirements have been identified as Pass/Fail and are deemed to be a core requirement. Bidders responding 'No' to any of these questions will not be considered for contract award.

In order to ensure the evaluation of quality is applied consistently, requirements are marked using a scoring system of zero (0) to ten (10).

Assessment Criteria for awarding score Score Excellent Exceeds the requirement. Exceptional demonstration by the provider of relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource and quality measures required to provide the services. Response identifies factors that will offer added value, with supporting evidence. 9--10 Good Satisfies the requirement with minor additional benefits. Above average demonstration by the provider of the relevant ability, understanding, experience, skills, resource & quality measures required to provide the services. Response

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