CCG tenders scaled back contract for 'multispecialty community provider'

In April 2017 Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Group, which is not one of the national vanguard sites, published a prior information notice signalling it intended to procure a single multispecialty community provider contract, worth £1.3bn over 10 years, by April 2018.

However, earlier this month the CCG launched a tender for a contract with a significantly reduced scope and worth £80m over five to seven years. It is still described as an MCP.

A CCG spokesman told HSJ it had “reduced the scope of services that will be reconfigured”. “This allows the CCG to focus on commissioning the core of an integrated community system and gives the CCG a longer lead time for a larger scoped fully integrated community model which may be subject to further procurement in later years,” he said. “This will give time for appropriate due diligence to be conducted and existing initiatives to be concluded.”

Originally the CCG said it hoped the area’s 15 GP practices would become “partially integrated” with the MCP.

An updated description states: “This is a partially integrated MCP model which will not see primary medical care services commissioned through it. The CCG’s GP practices are committed to this new model of service delivery and have signalled (via the local medical committee chair) their commitment to entering into integration agreements.”

The updated contract includes, from April 2018, community services, community specialist nursing, supported discharge for stroke and a community response team. From April 2019 it will also cover elderly medicine outpatient services, primary care frailty services, continuing healthcare assessment and fast track care packages.

Scarborough and Ryedale CCG is subject to the national “capped expenditure process” and said that as part of the tender it “reserves the right to take such steps as necessary to address and respond to this [capped expenditure] process”.

After an engagement event, 22 suppliers signalled their interest. These included: Airedale Foundation Trust, East Coast Health Options Community Interest Company, Humber FT, Leeds Community Healthcare Trust, Nestor Primecare Services, North Yorkshire County Council, Tees, Esk and Wear Valley FT, Virgin Care Services, Vocare, and York Teaching Hospitals FT.

The CCG spokesman added: ”The proposed contract duration is now five plus two years. It has been reduced in light of the reduced scope of services and gives the CCG the necessary flexibility to commission, should it wish to do so, a larger integrated model of services sooner rather than waiting 10/15 years with only a small scope committed to integrated working.”