The procurement contact named on the official notice.

North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) is working for and on behalf of NHS Tees Valley Clinical Commissioning Group, who are conducting a Request for Information (RFI) exercise in order to gain a better understanding of the capacity and appetite of the market to deliver a Clinical Care Home Response Service, to be provided for all care home residents in Redcar & Cleveland and Middlesbrough CQC registered care homes.

The current contract covers 86 Care Homes with a combined bed capacity of approximately 3,000.

It is important to note that this PIN/RFI is not a call for competition and as such potential providers will need to express an interest in any future tender opportunity once a contract notice is published on Find and Tender Service and on Contracts Finder.

It should be noted that this PIN/RFI invites individuals and organisations to express an interest in this RFI exercise only, and it is NOT a pre-qualification questionnaire, and is NOT part of any pre-qualification or selection process.

This PIN/RFI is intended as an awareness, communication, and information gathering exercise.

An expression of interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in the RFI process nor does it infer any preferential or special status on those individuals and organisations who express an interest in the RFI exercise.

NECS is utilising an electronic tendering portal (In-Tend) to manage this RFI and as such interested individuals and organisations will need to register on the portal to access and return the RFI documentation.

It is free to register on the portal, which can be accessed at any time of day.

Should you have any queries, or are having problems registering on the portal, you should contact the eTendering provider by Email: support@in-tend.com or by phone 0844 2728810 Website: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/nhsnecsu/aspx/Home Helpdesk Support is available (Monday to Friday 8:30am to 5.00pm).

Potential providers are to note that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (as amended) may apply to a future procurement including the New Fair Deal non-statutory policy setting out how pensions issues are to be dealt with when staff are compulsorily transferred from the public sector to independent providers delivering public services.

The RFI documentation will be accessible from 18 June 2021 and completed RFI responses must be returned by 12:00 noon on 07 July 2021.

Following completion of the RFI process, the commissioner may wish to hold 1-2-1 meetings with potential providers to further support the development of the service model and specification.

Further details will be confirmed in due course via the eTendering portal should this be required.

N.B.

Due to currently proposed legislation which may mean that the current responsibilities of CCGs will transfer into Integrated Care Systems with effect from 1st March 2022, the ultimate commissioner for this contract may change.