NHS North Central London ICB

Procurement Support

Introduction

All General Practices are required to have an online consultation and video consultation (OCVC) solution to give patients digital access to primary care.

NHS North Central London Integrated Care Board had a number of contracts in place for the provision of OCVC services which were due to end by 31 March, 2023. To ensure their practices were still able to meet their contractual obligations to have a solution in place for patients, the ICB decided to procure three suppliers from the national Digital First OCVC Framework to offer to their practices. They commissioned the support of Redmoor Health to help them during the procurement.

Aims & Objectives

Redmoor Health’s Procurement Support Solutions is aimed at supporting NHS organisations every step to the way, from initial scoping through to evaluation and implementation of chosen suppliers and systems. The team used their skills to support the ICB throughout all of the different stages of the procurement cycle in terms of providing capacity and rigour.

Challenges

Poor implementation of any procurement exercise can harm digital transformation projects, leading to rising costs, inefficiencies, insufficient due diligence, engagement, communication and training with and for front line staff. This can also result in low acceptance and adoption levels.

With so many practices involved, it made the procurement quite complex, and it was a challenge to keep all the practices involved and up to speed.

The Redmoor Solution

Redmoor Health’s Procurement Support Solutions aims to take away these issues by supporting NHS organisations every step to the way, from initial scoping through to evaluation and implementation of chosen suppliers and systems.  The team have expertise and a proven track record of supporting with a range of technologies including:

  • Advanced Telephony
  • Online Consultation Video Consultation
  • Remote Monitoring
  • Patient Communications Systems
  • Wellbeing Tech
  • Analytics

Redmoor Health offers three levels of support, and the different packages are designed to assist NHS organisations at all levels including Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), PCN’s and GP Federations, whatever stage they are at in their technology procurement process.

The Pre-Procurement Support is aimed at helping organisations lay the groundwork for a successful procurement process at the early stages of the buying cycle. This includes facilitating early engagement with end-users and providers; liaising with procurement hubs to ensure commercial best value for the NHS; using interviews and targeted questionnaires to ensure the procurement strategy aligns with the actual needs of the organisation; assisting in the evaluation of supplier capabilities listed on national buying catalogues and a financial footprint analysis.

For those organisations who have already identified potential suppliers and are at the shortlisting stage, but need extra support and assistance in refining their selection, Redmoor can support with conducting in-depth evaluations of shortlisted suppliers; co-ordination of demonstration events for various system providers; providing advice to help organisations refine their shortlist based on evaluations and feedback and ensuring the completion of clinical risk and governance checks for supplier systems.

Once a supplier has been chosen, the procurement cycle doesn’t end there. Often organisations need support at this stage to implement and rollout the new supplier or solution. Redmoor Health can help to ensure that this is a smooth process by offering direct assistance to practices during the implementation phase; conducting educational sessions to ensure all stakeholders are informed about the new solution; monitoring supplier performance to ensure compliance with contractual and sharing best practice, across the region to promote widespread adoption and utilisation.

Inputs

Redmoor Health supported the ICB during the initial scoping phase by surveying practices regarding their OCVC experience and to share the features or functions they found most useful. The team developed a complex tracker which enabled practices to input their preferences for a new supplier, information on their current provider and their individual business need.

The NHSE National Procurement hub was engaged to facilitate the procurement exercise using the national OCVC Buying Catalogue which is the recognised and quality assured framework to purchase OCVC suppliers. The working group developed a procurement specification that contained a selection of core and desirable features, functions and sections on:

  • Clinical Safety
  • Change management
  • Patient engagement
  • Usability/User experience
  • Interoperability
  • Value for money

The ICB decided on three suppliers and felt that balanced practice choice and reducing variation.

Redmoor organised a two week showcase event for suppliers to promote and demo their products and services.  There were live and recorded webinars and demonstrations for practice staff to drop-into if they were unable to attend in person.

The sessions were held at different times of the day and repeated throughout the two weeks so they were as accessible as possible. The recordings were available at all times.

Following the procurement, the Redmoor team gave practices the change management and training support they needed to transition to the new supplier which included all pre-transition training and ‘on boarding’ support.

Impact

Redmoor Health supported the ICB during the initial scoping phase by surveying practices regarding their OCVC experience and to share the features or functions they found most useful. The team developed a complex tracker which enabled practices to input their preferences for a new supplier, information on their current provider and their individual business need.

The NHSE National Procurement hub was engaged to facilitate the procurement exercise using the national OCVC Buying Catalogue which is the recognised and quality assured framework to purchase OCVC suppliers. The working group developed a procurement specification that contained a selection of core and desirable features, functions and sections on:

  • Clinical Safety
  • Change management
  • Patient engagement
  • Usability/User experience
  • Interoperability
  • Value for money

The ICB decided on three suppliers and felt that balanced practice choice and reducing variation.

Redmoor organised a two week showcase event for suppliers to promote and demo their products and services.  There were live and recorded webinars and demonstrations for practice staff to drop-into if they were unable to attend in person.

The sessions were held at different times of the day and repeated throughout the two weeks so they were as accessible as possible. The recordings were available at all times.

Following the procurement, the Redmoor team gave practices the change management and training support they needed to transition to the new supplier which included all pre-transition training and ‘on boarding’ support.

Key Learning

There were a number of key learning opportunities during the NCL ICB procurement. Some of the practices misunderstood the purpose of the supplier choice forms and either filled them in several times or kept updating the information after changing their minds. It meant that there were often duplicated forms which needed to be assessed. Some practices didn’t engage with the forms at all and had to be engaged with more directly face to face.