Luton Community Services

Luton CCG, with Associate Commissioners Luton Borough Council and Bedfordshire CCG, commission Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust to provide adult and paediatric community services. Enhanced services are provided by general practice for gynaecology, phlebotomy, marginalised groups (homeless) and minor surgery. The Contracting Authorities intend to extend these services to 31st March 2023, with an estimated contract value of £24.9m per annum and have published a VEAT Notice (ref:2021/S 062-158695) in accordance with Regulation 72. The contract extension allows the CCG to continue transformational work with its incumbent providers, which aims to provide increased high quality and joined up services to the patients of Luton, without risking destabilisation of the transformational projects currently in place which enable successful delivery of a long term community services strategy. There is also a need to maintain a consistent level of service provision as the NHS enters recovery phase post COVID-19. The transformation undertaken is consistent with the vision in the NHS Long Term Plan for community services and primary care to work as integrated teams to extend independence and support the population to 'Age Well'. However, although the transformational work has been significant further work is still required before a future community services model and/or approach can be determined in order to run an outcomes based commissioning process. To procure the service at this point will likely destabilise the progress that has been made and will delay implementation of the integrated care programme. This delay could have an adverse impact on the patient population. There is also a need to maintain a level of consistent service provision as the NHS enters recovery phase post Covid-19. As such there is a need for additional works, services or supplies and the grounds identified in Regulation 72 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 apply. Namely: 1. The current uncertainty around Covid-19 is placing additional burden on NHS Luton CCGs, and a procurement of community services at this time would be almost impossible to run given the demands being placed on the CCG/ICS from elsewhere; 2. Mobilisation of new providers would not be possible in the current NHS climate without significant risk being held by both commissioners, CCS and ICS partners; 3. Luton place-based systems are not yet able to specify to the required level of detail the model of care and outcomes they are trying to achieve and further transformational work is required. 4. The risk of distracting commissioning and provider resources by initiating a procurement process is too great at the current stage in the BLMK ICS development. There is a risk that system transformation will be significantly delayed until the procurement process is concluded.