Health and Disability Assessment Services.

Descriptions

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is seeking a supplier to carry out Health and Disability Assessment Services. Suppliers will be invited to bid for a single national contract. It is anticipated that the contract will be awarded between September 2014 and the end of 2014. Following commencement of the contract there shall be an implementation period which will last up to 6 months. This will be followed by an operational service delivery period which is anticipated to run for an initial three years (36 months) from the point at which any delivery commences by the new supplier. The total initial contract duration is therefore a maximum of 42 months with the further option for the Authority to exercise an extension of two periods of up to one year each.DWP administers a range of Social Security benefits for people who, due to their disability or health condition, are unable to work. Health and disability assessments are carried out to support these benefits – for example to support decisions on entitlement to benefit and the level of benefit award. DWP is tendering for this contract to deliver assessments on behalf of the awarding Authority, its Executive Agencies and those Non-Departmental Public Bodies (NDPBs) sponsored by DWP, and on behalf of other bodies, including but not limited to the Ministry of Defence, Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Services, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and the Department of Health. The contract is for national provision excluding Northern Ireland Departments, The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.Delivery of the assessments may involve, but will not be restricted to:— the consideration of an individual's circumstances, their health and disability and the impact of these;— assessing individuals against criteria prescribed by DWP; or the gathering and consideration of evidence to support the above;— the completion of an assessment report on the individual's circumstances, including advice to DWP – for example, to support DWP staff in determining claimant entitlement to benefits;— the referral of assessment reports to DWP;— follow up liaison with DWP in relation to assessment reports;— access to relevant health professional expertise as required; and— auditing of the quality of assessments, reporting to DWP on this and assisting DWP and its contractors in follow-up activity to examine quality.The primary focus of the contract will relate to assessments delivered in relation to Employment and Support Allowance and Universal Credit as well as Industrial Injuries Benefit; Disability Living Allowance and Attendance Allowance. Assessments will need to be delivered at various locations throughout Great Britain with an expectation that claimants will not need to travel more than 90 minutes by public transport for an assessment. Some provision will need to be made for Face to Face Consultations in the Claimants home and alternative place of residence such as a hospital, or their place of work.The new supplier will at a minimum be able to use some of the DWP estate currently in use to carry out assessments, and may also have access to some of the additional estate utilised by the current supplier. The new supplier may also be required to secure additional estate during the life of the contract. More detail on the estate and the potential range of requirements on the new supplier in relation to the estate (e.g. estate management, ownership and reviews) will be provided in the Prospectus and ITN.The requirement is that assessments will be completed by Healthcare Professionals regulated by the General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council or the Health and Care Professions Council and meeting other criteria related to experience, training and competence prescribed by DWP. These criteria may be subject to change over the life of the Contract.It is DWP's view that TUPE is likely to apply.The new supplier will need to provide services compliant with all relevant legislation including the Welsh Language Act and the Equality Act (2010).DWP will provide the existing IT used and hosted by Atos healthcare during the first year of this service. This will include Assessment Services and Management Services. During the HDAS contract DWP plans to introduce a replacement WCA assessment tool. Any supplier IT services that are used to support HDAS delivery will be required to adhere to DWP IT standards including security standards and to be security accredited by DWP.These are part B services and the DWP will not be bound by the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (as amended); except as such Regulations are applicable to Part B services. This Notice and any subsequent Notices are placed voluntarily. DWP will be following the framework according to the negotiated procedure, but may modify the process prescribed under the Regulations in view of this being a Part B services contract.DWP would welcome bids from small or medium enterprises (SME) joining together with other economic operators to bid to provide the services.DWP will manage the procurement through our e-procurement solution. The Pre Qualification Questionnaire and Prospectus will be published via the e-procurement solution. It will be available to download to those who have expressed interest and registered in accordance with instructions at III.2.1 of this Notice.DWP plan to hold an information event in London on 9.4.2014 to further explain the requirement and answer questions from interested organisations. If you are interested in attending this event, you can register your interest at the same time as you register your interest in the competition. Please use the messaging facility within Bravo to e-mail details of your organisation and the names of up to three attendees for the event.