ASE was selected as strategic procurement and commercial advisor to NHS Connecting for Health (NHS CFH), including in relation to the NHS National Programme for IT (NPfIT).
Background
One of the client’s work programmes had two goals.
The first was to quickly replace an exiting supplier whilst ensuring continuity of the existing service provision critical to NHS clinical delivery, maintaining value for money and ensuring that the transaction was undertaken in accordance with both the client’s governance functions and the public sector procurement regulations.
The second goal was to establish a suitable procurement vehicle to enable the rapid procurement of alternative and contingent services. To deliver to these objectives, ASE established a small team of consultants, flexing a range of their established services and adapting them to the specific challenges and needs of NHS CFH ICT.
Approach
Commercial Triage, Procurement Strategy and Commercial Transition Services
ASE assessed the incumbent commercial, financial and delivery position, the options for the way forward, including considerations relating to procurement regulations, the business case, a financial assessment (including the earned vs paid value, the financial model and the charging mechanism), and proposed a successful way forward by novating the contracts to an existing NPfIT supplier.
ASE successfully brokered the solution with both suppliers, senior internal stakeholders, HMT and the Attorney General’s office. The deal was ground breaking and critically:
- demonstrated value for money
- resolved all significant contract issues
- ensured continuity of service to critical NHS services,
- enabled deployment of services to continue
- and saved considerable re-procurement costs and a lengthy delay.
Outcome
Establish new rapid low cost NHS ICT procurement vehicle
ASE contributed to the procurement strategy for the creation of an NHS procurement framework (ASCC). Following agreement of the procurement strategy, ASE focused on the construction of the supplier competitive dialogue process involving over 120 suppliers, the evaluation model, the requirements for one of the lots, the key commercial terms, the financial terms and the financial evaluation.
The project successfully resulted in establishing a > 50 service category procurement framework incorporating all NHS specialities within 12 months and with no procurement challenges.