In our last two blogs, we have written about our ‘Four Phase approach’ to the tender writing process and the benefits of working through these phases to ensure a successful bid outcome.
In this blog, we look at the third phase in our approach – Tender Writing and Management.
Our team of experts don’t just go away and write a tender bid for our clients to submit. We create a clear timeline of the project which drives the entire tender writing process.
Not only does this ensure we create a winning submission, it means we work collaboratively with our clients, every step of the way. We work together to gather the information needed and the process is closely monitored at all stages to ensure that each question presents the correct information and is compellingly written to score the highest points possible and that no critical detail is missed.
Unlike other consultancies and bid writing companies, we are transparent and honest about tender opportunities to ensure we only invest time and money bidding for contracts we can win. We evaluate the compliance and eligibility, commercial feasibility and conduct a competitor analysis. This process considerably increases the win rate, optimises internal resources and evaluates if your contract growth is aligned to the strategic objective of your company.
Effective planning
Having an effective planning stage is the most important component of the tender writing and management process. When we work with clients, we assign them with a Bid Manager who will collaboratively design a full Project Plan specific to the needs of their organisation. From there, we conduct thorough research, helping our clients to understand the issues of the contract and making sure there is a coherent delivery model in place. Then we design a specific contract strategy that will ultimately win more contracts.
Writing a tender bid
It sounds simple, but to be successful, a submission needs to fit the specific requirements of the bid. This means fully understanding and addressing the points raised and adhering to conditions such as word limits and submission deadlines. We support our clients through the submission process by discussing the process and its requirements. One stage that often gets overlooked or rushed is the checking and approval process, so make you sure you have the bid written in plenty of time to allow for the relevant parties to not only have sight of the bid draft, but to also have time to implement any changes required.
Here at K Low Consulting, once we have worked with everyone in the team to write the tender bid, we ensure the sign-off process is bespoke to their company or organisation to fit any internal quality assurance and governance protocols so there are no unforeseen hold ups. To ensure the very best quality, each tender response undergoes internal peer review too, which is something we would recommend. Uniquely where appropriate, we even utilise specialist expert advisers to perform an additional panel review, for example our team of clinical advisers.
Feedback
Once the bid has gone through the approval process, be sure to listen to and address any feedback or recommendations from your team. We work hand-in-hand with our clients to finalise and ensure a fully compliant upload and submission. Wherever possible, we highly recommend our support is always taken advantage of on the day of submission.
What happens next?
Post submission can be a stressful and challenging time. Whilst you wait for a response or decision, you need to have someone on hand to provide quick responsive support for any subsequent clarifications or questions that may be requested by the Commissioner. When only 24 or 48 hours is given to respond, this can be critical to avoid losing a bid due to a delay.
Once you have – hopefully – won the contract, let us help you to deliver against your Mobilisation or Implementation Plan to get the contract up and running, delivering KPIs and ensuring ‘business as usual’ is met and the client experience is a smooth one.
For more information or to discuss how we can work with your organisation to help you win tender bids that are right for you, contact us today on 0330 1331 041 or info@klowconsulting.com.
In our last blog, we wrote about our ‘Four Phase approach’ to working with clients on their tender bids.
Phase 1 was all about developing a contract strategy. This can be a part of your wider growth or business plans and help provide focus and clarity when it comes to knowing which contracts to go for and where your skills and resources are particularly suited.
Once you have got a business strategy and you know what it is you’re hoping to achieve, it is time for Phase 2 – Opportunity Analysis.
What is Opportunity Analysis?
Working with the Contract Strategy developed as part of Phase 1, performing an Opportunity Analysis will help you to identify and analyse the right opportunities for you and ensure that any contracts you bid for will meet your overall business goals.
There will be countless opportunities out there that could give the chance for your company to grow, but will they benefit the business long term? That is the question you must consider when you’re checking out the opportunities available.
Each tender will take time, effort and internal resources, so it is vital that you are sure that it is worth it and that you are not distracted by any ‘big money’ tenders that could take your business off into a completely different direction or even take it backwards into delivering a service you have moved away from for a good reason.
How do you analyse opportunities effectively? Investigate your contract opportunities for the next one to three years working in line with your projected strategic goals and ambitions. In our in-depth discussions with clients we help them with this process using our years of business strategy and tender bid experience.
As well as the direction you want the business to go into, you also need to consider other factors such as staff, equipment and costs to get a clear idea of the true contract value for your organisation. What might seem a lucrative deal could end up costing you money in the long run if you need to hire more staff or buy more machinery and equipment.
We also analyse your likelihood of winning contracts. You don’t want to spend a lot of time and resource on developing a tender bid if you only have a slim chance of winning the bid. Performing in-depth competitor analysis can also help determine your likelihood of winning a tender.
What next? Once you have developed your business and contracts strategies and used these to effectively analyse and live or upcoming contract opportunities, you are ready for Phase 3 – Tender Writing & Management.
Opportunity Analysis is the most cost-effective, time efficient and helpful process to ensure you successfully win the right contract for you.
At K Low Consulting, we work in close collaboration with our clients so that we can use our knowledge of your business and your goals and vision to be able to do just that.
For more information or to discuss how we can work with your organisation to help you win tender bids that are right for you, contact us today on 0330 1331 041 or info@klowconsulting.com.
Every industry is experiencing major changes as we continue to adapt to a new way of life thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic. Unsurprisingly, this has had an impact on the amount of tender opportunities that are currently available.
For example, lots of tender opportunities that were expected to come out in March and April have been delayed until mid-May.
But all is not lost, and there is still a lot you could be doing to get ‘tender ready’ for when the opportunities are eventually published.
Bidding for a tender takes a considerable amount of time. From undertaking research and collecting evidence, the tender process can be long, complex and require a lot of attention. So, the most important thing organisations can do now is to make sure they use this time to prepare for future tenders as much as they can.
Remember, if you are not spending this time doing preparation work, your competition might be!
How to get ‘tender ready’ What you can do now will depend on your industry. To begin with, consider the information and resources that you will need for any upcoming contracts and your probable tender submissions. You can then work through activities and start to collate information that you are very likely to need. These may include:
Designing your delivery model and mobilisation plans
Meeting any compliance requirements and ensuring related policies are in place
Completing research
Addressing weaknesses and collating supporting evidence
For example, we are supporting a number of clients that have all successfully passed the selection questionnaire for HealthTrust Europe’s (HTE’s) Total Workforce Solutions 2 Framework. The second stage ITT, has been delayed until mid-late May. By taking the opportunity to perform preparation tasks and the draft ITT questionnaire, we are effectively extending the tender submission window which will lead to better higher quality scoring bids.
Review your previous tenders Take this time to review your previous bids and refine them. Ask yourself: ‘Where could we have scored better marks?’ Identify any weaknesses in your business or your tender bid and tackle them.
Gather evidence Collect examples of associated works that you have done, or are doing, that demonstrate best practice. Use this time to consult and engage with those you work with. Ask service users or clients for testimonials and any feedback or other information that may be useful. Think about the evidence you may need to give as they can form the questions you could ask your service users. The answers could also help you to make any improvements to your services, communications or processes. Also look at how you can prove your delivery model with statistics.
Get expert help We might be biased here, but it can really be the difference between a ‘yes’ and a ‘no’ if you employ the services of a professional consultant. Consultants – like us – can help providers with a variety of different processes. For example, we can identify potential holes in the delivery of a contract and can review policies and look for any gaps. Our expert team can anticipate what is needed from a contract and what you need to do to get ‘tender ready’. We identify gaps and weaknesses and can produce a clear plan on what you need to do. We charge on a consultancy basis but can also offer a free advice service.
K Low Consulting is unique in that we don’t just write tenders – we offer a four-stage process to help our clients:
Winning the bid is only one part of the tender outcome. We work with you to help break down and manage complex contract mobilisation and implementations, delivered against manageable work streams.
If you need help with tendering, get in touch today to see how we can assist you. Contact info@klowconsulting.com or give us a call on 0330 133 1041.
We’ve had a great year at K Low Consulting and are excited about the new year ahead! In this article, our team reflects on 2019 and looks ahead to the future of K Low Consulting.
In 2019, we have experienced significant and rapid growth. We have expanded our associate team, which includes bid professionals with significant writing and management experience, senior clinicians and specialist advisors, such as quality management and accreditation. Our team has been in high spirits throughout the year, keeping up with client demand and workload.
An intern from Nottingham Trent University’s graduate scheme, Mia Penny, was employed as a ‘Marketing and Tender Executive’. With the help of another associate writer from the team, Victoria, they have experienced some fantastic marketing wins in 2019.
“From September 2019 I joined K Low Consulting as a ‘Marketing and Tender’ intern after studying a master’s degree in Media and Public Relations at the University of Leicester. Since joining, I have been involved in different aspects of the business and have benefitted from hands-on experience from the outset. Krisja has helped me in developing my skill set and has guided me when learning new skills. Shadowing Krisja and being heavily involved in daily business activities has been challenging but exciting! I have particularly enjoyed being involved in Marketing the company and launching the website, which has resulted in some fantastic marketing wins at this early stage! I’m looking forward to the year ahead and seeing where my role at K Low Consulting takes me.” -Mia Penny, Marketing and Tender Executive.
Wins of 2019
Within our first year, we have had some fantastic results. Our STATS have been evidence of our work this year, we have had circa. 88% of client wins, 90% client retention and delivered 615% social return on investment for an £800k contract.
We strive to strengthen current partnerships with our clients in 2020, helping them to win more high-value contracts and develop their organisations even further. Looking ahead to 2020, we’re seeking to create more partnerships and build our client base.
Progressing on to a digital landscape, 2019 saw the launch of our website and social media accounts. Since the launch, we have had some remarkable results, including being on the first page of Google within 5 weeks of the website launch.
Some Testimonials from 2019
“Krisja and his team are knowledgeable about the Education industry and approached the tender in a systematic and organised manner. Although there was a tight deadline, they went above and beyond to involve themselves with our organisation and gather as much information as possible to produce an excellent tender response. They provided a fresh input into any potential issues and identified these in the early stages. For our most recent project with Krisja, we have been invited to the next stage and we are confident that we will win the tender. I would recommend Krisja and his team to anyone, and plan to work with him in many more projects in the future. Thanks again for the hard work.”
-Business and Resources Executive, Educational Establishment.
“… Thank you so much for the effort you and your team put in. You kept us on track throughout the submission process and although we only had a short amount of time to work on this tender, you covered every answer in-depth & we were very pleased with that we had pulled together! Pleasure to work with.”
Chief Executive Officer, Specialist Social Care Recruitment Provider.
“This is the second NHS dental tender we have worked with Krisja on. We won the first and are very confident of our chances on the second. He is always professional, diligent and flexible. His knowledge and input on healthcare bid strategy, delivery models, and commissioner perception is excellent. He always goes beyond compliance, to find creative ways of making our proposal the very best it can be!”
In 2020, K Low Consulting plans to continue assisting our clients to produce outstanding results. We carry through our ethos and values, continuing to win tenders for clients. There are also plans underway to deliver tender and funding workshops to Practice Managers after partnering up the Practice Managers Association (keep an eye out on details to follow!).
We’re also heavily involved in with the development and launch of an innovative Healthtech tool, MSK Gateway. This tool supports GPs to reduce appointment time, improve patient experience and outcomes. It enables GPs to manage their patients better by assigning them tailored exercises based on their symptoms. This year the tool will be launched into pilot practices, thus, we are looking for partner practices to use the tool to improve patient experience and outcomes. Check out the video below to see a promotional clip for MSK Gateway.
Contact Us Today
If you need help with tendering, give us a call today to see how we can assist you. Contact info@klowconsulting.com or give us a call on 0330 133 1041.
The tender process is often complex and requires close attention to the contract requirements and your organisations’ suitability to a contract.
As part of our services at K Low Consulting, we help clients to make a ‘bid or no bid’ decision in the initial stages of bidding. This often includes evaluating compliance and eligibility, commercial feasibility and competitor analysis.
After overlooking 100s of bids in different industries, it is often encountered that clients are keen to bid for a tender that may not be particularly beneficial to them. The attractiveness of a tender, therefore, is not a reason to bid. There should be careful consideration of many factors.
Providing critical feedback at the initial stages of bidding has placed us in a strong position to advise on how you can come to an informed decision regarding whether to ‘bid or not to bid’ for an upcoming tender.
Factors that may inform the ‘bid no bid’ decision
The bigger the contract, the higher the risk involved when bidding for a tender. Without carefully planning and evaluating if your organisation can deliver the contract requirements, you could be at risk of wasting time, money and resource by bidding for a contract that isn’t right for your organisation.
Here are some of the implications of bidding for a tender that isn’t right for you:
Time
Bidding for a tender takes a considerable amount of time. From undertaking research and collecting evidence, the tender process can be long, complex and require a lot of attention.
Answers will vary from tender to tender, but often, some may require a lengthy response which seeks evidence on how your organisation can deliver the contract. Thus, it is critical that you have internal teams or external bid writers to allocate the correct amount of time needed to undertake the project.
Those in senior management positions usually have to collect the right resources for the bid, which means there may be less focus on training and managerial activities. Employing an external bid team, however, could ensure that time is saved and take the strain off internal bidding teams and senior management.
Cost
There are a lot of costs associated with tendering. If you are choosing to invest in an external bid writer(s), then this will be one of the associated costs.
Evaluating that your business can afford to implement a contract is fundamental. Thus, you must be aware of the additional costs associated with a new contract. It is vital that you understand your current delivery model and what it would take to deliver a new one.
Questioning: have we got the costs to scale up? Would be a good starting point. Some of the additional costs to implement a new contract may be:
Recruitment of staff
ICT
Property
Construction
Marketing and advertising
Equipment
Wasted Resource
Resource can easily be wasted if the tender that your organisation is bidding for isn’t right for you. We understand that for most SMEs, internal resources are crucial and need to be prioritised for bidding. By ensuring that we only bid for the most appropriate opportunities, we optimise where and how our clients deploy their resource. As mentioned previously, time is one of the most crucial aspects of bidding for a tender, and too much time and resource spent on a tender could potentially be wasted if you decide to bid without evaluating the impact.
Low win rates
Losing bids result in low win rates. You must analyse and understand where you are in the marketplace. Compliance is just first base; understanding that you have a proposition that could enable you to win is fundamental to optimising win rates. At K Low Consulting, we have a fantastic win rate of 88% and ensure that our clients have the right standing to bid. Before bidding, you should question the following:
Who are our competitors?
Where are we at with the delivery model?
Do we have a coherent strategy in place?
Making the ‘bid no bid’ decision
If you have found a tender that you want to bid on, there are many factors that you should consider before going ahead. At the very basic level, your organisation needs to fulfil the statutory requirements stated within the tender and have the right financial standing. Demonstrating your organisation’s capabilities in your answers, alongside evidence that presents added value, shows that you can deliver the contract requirements.
You must meet all the requirements for the contract. If you meet ‘most’ of the set requirements and not all, you will still lose the bid.
Thoroughly evaluating your standing as an organisation will help you when making the decision. There are many questions that you can ask to come to the right decision, some are:
Do you have an internal or external team in place to help support the bid?
Do you have time and resource to implement the bid?
Can you present added value to the bid, that will make you stand out amongst competitors?
Does the contract fit with your organisation’s strategic growth plans?
Have you completed tenders in the past, and if so, what have you learnt that will be beneficial when bidding for this particular contract?
Do you have the relevant evidenced experience to support your bid?
Are there any factors which would inform the ‘no bid’ decision? If so, what are they?
Is your team equipped to deliver the contract?
Does the contract align with your growth plans?
K Low Consulting’s approach to the ‘bid no bid’ decision
At K Low Consulting, we recognise that the ‘bid no bid’ decision is critical. Our initial consultation with you will outline whether we think you should bid or not, taking the strain and pressure away. We are open and honest with our clients from the beginning of the process, and unlike other tender companies, will not simply encourage you to bid for a tender for profitability. We will thoroughly evaluate your organisations standing and the likelihood of winning a contract. We strive for strong partnerships with our clients and want them to be aware of the best opportunities that align with their organisation’s strategic growth plans.
If you would like our help to decide whether to bid or not for a contract or to find out about our services, please contact us today on info@klowconsulting.com or call 0330 133 1041.
Primary Care Networks are still in the early stages of formation and many people may be unaware or have little knowledge of them.
Primary Care Networks were introduced in the NHS Long Term Plan in 2019 and since then, there has been the beginning of many formations to collaborate healthcare services for the benefit of patients and their healthcare.
Since the introduction of the NHS’s Long Term Plan, practices have organised themselves into their Primary Care Networks as of 15th May 2019 and all except a handful of GP practices in England have come together, resulting in around 1,300 geographical networks (Kings Fund, 2019, https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/publications/primary-care-networks-explained).
Aiming to collaborate a workforce and form a more inclusive work environment to better the needs of patients, the particular challenges, risks and successes of these formed Primary Care Networks can be evaluated.
Questioning ‘are primary care networks a challenging collaboration?’, this article will provide a holistic overview of primary care networks, the potential risks and challenges and finally, the successes.
What are Primary Care Networks?
A Primary Care Network is one or more general practice’s working collaboratively together. This usually consists of networks of doctors and other healthcare providers such as dieticians, pharmacists and nurses.
As stated on the King’s Fund, networks are geographically based and cover all practice within a clinical commissioning group boundary.
It is not a requirement that primary care networks are formed, but if practices choose not to join, they will lose out on significant funding. It’s also important to note that occasionally, a single practice can function as a network if they meet the size requirements. PCN’s will receive funding to employ additional health professionals such as pharmacists and paramedics to enable a greater formation.
Why were Primary Care Networks introduced?
The NHS were facing issues with increased demand in healthcare services. Patients were living longer, with more complex and long-term health conditions. These issues were also coupled with an understaffed workforce.
As a result, the introduction of Primary Care Networks aimed to alleviate the strain on healthcare staff, allowing them to work together to deliver primary care services.
Primary Care Homes (introduced in 2015) were an approach to strengthening primary care. The model brings together a range of health and social care professionals to work together to provide enhanced personalised and preventative care for their local community.
Healthcare professionals were encouraged to work together, in networks of 30,000-50,00 patients, which built on the Primary Care Home model. Following this, in February 2018, refreshed ‘NHS Plans for 19’ was introduced. This plan set out the plans for CCG’s, encouraging every GP to be part of a PCN so that these could cover the whole country as far as possible by the end of 2018/2019.
As part of this contract, the DES announced that PCN’s must appoint a clinical director as their named leader, responsible for delivery. The network agreement states the rights and obligations of the GP practices within the network, how the network will partner with non-GP’s, and a patient data-sharing requirement.
Here are some key legislative dates as mentioned above:
2015: The National Association of Primary Care (NAPC) launched the Primary Care Home model at their annual conference April 2016: NHS England introduced GP Five Year Forward View 2nd February 2018: NHS England introduced ‘Refreshing NHS Plans for 19’ 7th January 2019: NHS Long Term Plan introduced 31st January 2019: GP Contract 2019/20 (outlines what PCN’s will be) 15th May 2019: Practices have to organise themselves into networks and submit signed network agreements to their clinical commissioning group (CCG). 1st July 2019: NHSE expects the network contract to provide 100% geographical coverage
Benefits of Primary Care Networks
As previously mentioned, PCN’s were introduced to allow GP and primary care services to scale up by grouping. As a PCN, workforces can team up to deliver as a larger entity and pull resource where needed.
PCN’s have the potential to substantially improve patient experience. One of the many benefits is that the accessibility of healthcare services increases, allowing them to have access to extended services.
In terms of other benefits, each PCN will encounter their own set of benefits individually. As provided below, success stories present two different sets of benefits for patients and staff.
Examples of these benefits as outlined in the success stories are:
Better work relationships and collaboration
A stronger focus on patient care and experience
Easier to identify key issues within the community through collaboration
As health.org.uk and Nuffield Health outlined, there are a particular set of risks and challenges associated with PCN’s:
1. Speed
One of the most prominent risks of PCN’s is the speed of implementation of these collaborations. With such a tight set of deadlines associated with PCN’s, it may be difficult for people to familiarise themselves with PCN’s and then form their practices into networks within these time restraints.
As Nuffield Health illustrated, these tight deadlines could mean that failure was inherent form the policy design. It could be said that these timescales are unrealistic and ambitious, not giving professionals enough time to adjust to the rapid changes.
2. Funding
In terms of deciding not to join a network, practices will miss out on the sources of funding. However, even if there is a formation of a PCN, there is a risk that there will be a removal of other sources of income for practices.
In addition to this, NHS England has promised to meet 70% of costs of employing most additional staff need for the PCN, meaning networks must cover the remaining 30% of the cost associated with this. This could be particularly costly for those practices that cannot afford this.
3. Workforce and workload
A particular risk associated with PCN’s is that they may decrease the amount of GP time available.
Additionally, there is no proof that the NHS is supplying 20,000 additional health professionals as stated in their plan. Increasing this workforce also means accommodating for these new staff members, which may pose a particular challenge for some GP’s where workspace is limited.
There could be a lack of operational support to realise the amount of PCN roles that need to be filled in this short time period. Additionally, some practices may not have the funding available to appoint new staff members.
4. Lack of collaboration
There is a risk that PCN’s may not be able to form effective organisations.
The knock-on effects of the lack of collaborations between practices are that there are disputes which could result in isolation and resist, creating further issues amongst networks. Thus, this could result in a lack of collaboration and the failure of an effective network model.
As stated on the King’s Fund website, the research found that collaboration in general practice was most successful when it had been generated organically over several years and if it was reinforced by trust, relationships and support. On the other hand, research has shown that a lack of clarity of purpose and engagement or over-optimistic expectations resulted in less effective collaborations. This suggests that collaboration and focus should be coupled together to form an effective PCN.
5. Lack of focus
There are a large number of objectives for PCN’s. The number of objectives that professionals must fulfil, may be unrealistic and put further pressure on them.
In 2020/21, there are five out of seven service specifications expected to be delivered. This heightened pressure on healthcare professionals may result in intolerable pressure resulting in a lack of focus.
Protecting Risks and Challenges of Primary Care Networks
Although, as Primary Care Networks are still in the early stages of development, these risks and challenges could be easily rectified at this early stage.
Nuffield Health provides a series of possible solutions to these problems, some of which are provided as examples below:
Issue: Lack of collaboration/ not able to create effective organisations
Possible Solutions:
Create a new vision for primary care: defining what an effective PCN looks like and what can be achieved.
Carve out time (using paid backfill, ideally from CCG’S/STP’s) to build a shared organisational vision
Draft vision statements as practical documents
Create clear roles for each of the different levels of the local system
Issue: Lack of focus
Possible Solutions:
‘Work with CCG’s and commissioning support units to undertake multi-level approaches to tackling population health and general operations’
‘share learning across practices and governance levels in a neighbourhood to create a sense of shared ownership’
Issue: Speed
Possible Solutions:
‘Policymakers should acknowledge that an organisational plan can take up to two years, and outcomes 5-10 years to realise’
‘STPS/ICSs and CCGs should work closely with PCNs to agree roles, responsibilities, development plans, timelines and funding arrangements until 2025’
‘PCNs leads and practice liaisons should jointly agree on the purpose of new roles and their contractual terms and conditions’
‘CCGs should examine where their management support should be best placed- this role has had little attention to date in primary care workforce planning and funding’
Issue: Workforce/ Workload
Possible Solutions:
‘create a shared physical space for the PCN and bring people together during their working day to talk about what they want to achieve’
‘help clinical directors to improve the capacity and capability of their network by focusing initially on small, achievable initiatives that help or reduce workload in individual practices and build trust’
‘Appoint leaders who have skills to make sense of the environment and set the direction, as well as managing the many different aspects of the organisation’s functions’
Successes of Primary Care Networks
Despite the foreseeable risks and challenges to PCN’s, there have been a number of success stories which illustrate the impact that they have already made.
They sought to identify the problems that their patients had and work towards rectifying these issues as a PCN. One of the issues identified was that they had a considerably high percentage of older patients and they had to be attentive when caring for those patients, especially those who were on a terminal decline. Thus, they appointed a care co-ordinator and benefitted from the PCN team across the network.
Alongside this, a Parkinson’s nurse was appointed, a partnership with the York Teaching Hospital has been formed and a rapid cancer diagnosis pathway is underway.
Dr Evans, one of the doctors in the Yorkshire Primary Care Network stated: “The care of our patients is a lot more organized and anticipatory, and [there is] less crisis. But actually, more important, it works”
There has been a substantial impact of this PCN, details of such are as followed:
‘They have been identified by an independent audit on behalf of NHS England as an exemplar of best practice’
‘They use a 0365 platform to share project information and documentation. This has provided visibility of project progress and support collaborative and agile working in the absence of shared file arrangements- dedicated programme support’
‘Dedicated programme support has enabled the work to move at pace, providing a structure for everyone to feed into and embrace’
‘CSU expertise within the programme management provided valuable support in sharing best practice across the network, using case studies to support current and future opportunities in collaborative working’
‘created a robust governance structure has enhanced working relationships and provided visibility and clarity on roles and responsibilities across the network’
Their shared vision is: “Working together to deliver high quality, innovative and sustainable healthcare for our community with commitment, compassion and integrity”.
Successes of Primary Care Networks: Self Evaluation for Staff
As exemplified by the National Association of Primary Care, Figure 2 presents the outcomes of a questionnaire for staff. It shows the self-assessment by PCN supervisors, of how networks have improved the workplace. As shown, there is a lower demand for primary health services and patients are engaging more and benefiting from healthier lifestyles.
Figure 5 (as presented on NAPC.co.uk) also presents that improved self-management, healthier lifestyles and patient engagement has increased pre vs. post PCN.
Contact Our Team Today
If you need help on a tender, contact our experienced team of writers today on 03301 1331 041. Alternatively, send an email to info@klowconsulting.com for more information and details.
As the PDPS Contract becomes more prevalent, it’s important to be aware of important information.
We recently attended NHS England’s market engagement event in Leeds; the event provided updated information about the contract. This article, therefore, will act as a commentary following on from on our first PDPS blog post.
This article is aimed at those who intend to tender for NHS APMS GP contracts in the future.
Aims of the day
Mark Smith, NHS England – Assistant Head of Primary Care Commissioning, opened and chaired the event. Making it clear aims of the day were to run a split AM/PM session for Commissioners/Providers respectively.
With the contract notice going live on the 1st December and the PDPS going live in Jan/Feb 2020, it was clear that unless there was large Provider take-up, Commissioners without a mandate would not use the framework and would still proceed with the current procurement procedure.
Why Is the PDPS Contract Needed?
The main reasoning behind the introduction to this framework is to create commissioner and provider efficiencies. In turn, this will enable APMS contracts to be commissioned swiftly so that the service disruption is minimised, and patient care can continue to be delivered appropriately.
At the moment across all areas, commissioners are finding less interest from providers across the country to bid for APMS contracts. APMS procurements take around 6 months, and there is no guarantee that they will be successful. The past two years have shown a 10% failure rate in 2017/18 and an 8% failure rate in 2018/19.
Potential Issues with the Contract
One of the main foreseeable issues with this contract is the lack of notice and awareness that GP providers have of it. The NHSE attempts to address this by centralising and standardising the contract channel. However, by locking out non-framework providers, there is a danger that this may have the opposite effect.
It has been evident from our conversations with GPs at the recent Best Practice exhibition, and from the worryingly low numbers in the room that GP providers are unaware of this critical change to the way their contracts may be commissioned.
A big question is how are GPs supposed to know about the framework? Other than the usual contract notices, the answer is given that the message was pushed through local CCGs, who may or may not be passing on the message. It appeared those in attendance had registered either by chance or following their own contract monitoring activities.
How GP’s can be aware of the PDPS Contract and Do You Need to Apply?
The portal to be used for the procurement will be EU supply: https://uk.eu-supply.com/. This will host FAQs and any further updates ahead of hosting the actual PDPS tender process.
The initially proposed 6 rounds of the framework will have around 5-month lead times from entry to award. Please see the timescales captured below:
To Re-Iterate,only those Providers on the PDPS will be invited to tender for any contracts ‘called-off’ via the framework. Therefore, it is highly likely that unless a Provider applies for the PDPS six months in advance of a call-off being made, that they will miss the opportunity to bid.
Market Response for the PDPS Contract
To mitigate the potential impact and reduction in market response, attendees suggested:
NHSE should reconsider the length of the rounds, shorten the timeframe and make them monthly.
NHSE should publish all APMS contract expiry dates. Whether they will definitely be recommissioned or not, providers could make a decision themselves whether to or not, invest the time to get onto the framework, and do any initial research and model development in advance of the ‘call-off’
NHSE supports workshops where practice representatives come in and are supported to complete the PDPS application.
At the very least, they need to find a way to make this public knowledge to all GPs. Some form of mandated communication, explaining the very limited time commitment and simplicity of the application, should make it an easy decision for GPs to fill out the application and ensure they are not locked out for the next 4 years!
Digital First- A Risk to Local Providers?
A matter raised within the meeting was that there may be a potential risk to local provision. This is due to the fact that there appears to be an opening to digital-first delivery models. Providers can be accredited to all regions across the country. Some people may point to this as the reason why the fundamental procurement shift has been so under-publicised.
Contact Us Today
To enquire more about how to apply for this contract, contact us today on 0330 133 1041 or info@klowconsulting.com.
Accessibility in healthcare has been described as a ‘global challenge’. As a prominent challenge that many healthcare providers face, developing and maintaining an accessible service for patients is an ongoing issue across the healthcare industry.
Regularly, healthcare tenders have a question centred solely or partially around accessibility. Therefore, answering this question to demonstrate how your healthcare service is providing accessible healthcare for your patients is crucial.
This article will focus on what accessibility in healthcare is and why it is important, how it can be improved in practice and most importantly, how to answer an accessibility question on a tender.
What is accessibility in healthcare?
The definition of accessibility is given in the name itself; it is all about providing accessible healthcare for all.
Having accessible healthcare services available for those who need them is critical as it allows people to get the appropriate healthcare resources in order to help maintain or improve their health.
In a human rights context, accessibility is described by the World Health Organization as: ‘health facilities, goods and services must be within safe physical reach for all sections of the population, especially vulnerable or marginalized groups, such as ethnic minorities and indigenous populations, women, children, adolescents, older persons, persons with disabilities and persons with HIV/AIDS, including rural areas’.
Healthcare accessibility is a broad scope and relates to many different aspects.
Accessibility, therefore, may mean:
Access to buildings
Communications with healthcare staff
Management of appointments
There may be a variety of reasons as to why patients cannot access healthcare services. Some of the reasons may be:
Lack of transport links. Those living in an urban area may particularly struggle with transport
Health-related conditions. Certain health conditions may mean that an individual cannot travel to the property
Financial barriers. Primarily for transport or service charges (e.g. dental or eye tests)
Organisational barriers
Why is accessibility in healthcare important?
As mentioned above, accessibility in healthcare is key because an individual who is restricted from healthcare access can suffer from further or more serious health-related issues. Consequently, it could lead to serious complications such as disease, disability and even premature death.
Healthcare Accessibility Questions on a Tender
A healthcare tender will usually involve accessibility in one form or another. Before answering this question, think holistically about the healthcare service that you are currently providing to patients.
Asking questions such as “what are we doing to make our healthcare service more accessible for patients?” and “what do we plan to do to improve accessibility in the future?” will help direct your answer.
When writing your answer, you may want to focus on these specific elements:
1) Location and Transport
The location and transport links to your service will need to be carefully considered. Are you located in a central part of the city? Do you have transport links to your practice?
Presenting that you have bus routes, car parks or express buses available for your patients, all feeds into the accessibility of your healthcare service.
If you have free parking bays nearby, or even a ‘park and ride’ option, stating this within your answer will show that your service is accessible to patients.
2) Appointments
For healthcare to be accessible for all, there needs to be appointments available for those who need them. Offering on the day appointments is ideal for those who need urgently seen to.
Appointments available out of hours, for example, 6-8 pm, or weekend appointments, will be made accessible for those who can’t make the standard appointment times. Again, having these additional services enables ease of access for those who work full time or have other commitments that mean they can’t get to the standard appointment hours.
Making these appointments easily available, via online booking systems or through telephone lines, is also imperative. If patients are unable to get through to the line, this is an indication that this healthcare service isn’t readily accessible for them.
3) Equal Access
Considering equal access to healthcare services is a crucial implementation within your answer. This will also enable you to present that your service adheres to best practice and the Equality and Diversity (2010) policy.
For this answer, implementing your Equality and Diversity policy and providing details of the training provided to staff which relates to Equality and Diversity, will be beneficial when demonstrating best practice. We have an article centred around Equality and Diversity that has further information about this.
Equal access ensures that those who are part of a minority, are vulnerable, have protected characteristics or particularly ‘hard-to-reach’ groups are being treated fairly and non- discriminatory.
Providing details of any additional work that you do within the community to help those that are disadvantaged or within a minority will add value to this answer. This could include work undertaken with the homeless or the elderly.
Asylum Seekers or individuals that are limited in their ability to communicate also form part of this group. Having a translation organisation in partnership with your healthcare service will again, improve the accessibility for those groups.
4) Domiciliary Appointments
Although domiciliary appointments may not be stated within the contract, providing these appointments to those who cannot get to the service, will demonstrate that you are considering these groups and have additional measures in place for them. Reflecting this within your answer, will again, be highly beneficial.
5) Demonstrating your patient care service
Indicating that you aim to provide an excellent patient-centred service will be rewarded when answering this question.
Showing that you have various methods of feedback in place and that you actively strive towards improving feedback points, presents that you are trying to provide the best possible patient experience; this helps patient experience and accessibility.
If patients are experiencing any problems in terms of accessibility, asking them what their problems are will help you make the right steps to improving this. Feedback can be done in a variety of ways, our last article outlines some methods of feedback and how to improve patient experience overall.
6) Accessible Information Standard
The Accessible Information Standard states that from 1st August 2016, organisations providing NHS care and/or publicly funded adult social care are legally required to follow this standard. Being aware of this standard and reflecting that your service aligns with best practice is essential.
Ask people if they have any information or communication needs and find out how to meet their needs
Record those needs clearly and in a set way
Highlight or flag the person’s file or notes so it is clear that they have information or communication needs and how to meet those needs
Share information about people’s information and communication needs with other providers of NHS and adult social care when they have consent or permission to do so
Take steps to ensure that people receive information which they can access and understand and receive communication support if they need it
Contact and be contacted by, services in accessible ways. For example, via email or text messages, receive information and correspondence in formats they can read and understand, be supported by a communication professional at appointments if this is needed to support conversation.
Contact Our Team Today
If you need help on a tender, contact our experienced team of writers today on 03301 1331 041. Alternatively, send an email to info@klowconsulting.com for more information and details.
Have you ever wondered how to get maximum marks on an Equality & Diversity question on a tender? The answer is simple.
The key to an effective Equality & Diversity answer is to improve your approaches to Equality & Diversity within your workplace, offer as many Diversity initiatives that you can and build a stronger and more inclusive workforce.
As you may be aware, an Equality & Diversity question appears on a large number of tenders. Thus, it is critical for your organisation to be aware of the requirements and provide the best possible answer. Being awarded top marks on this question will increase your chances of winning a tender.
The Equality Act (2010)
To demonstrate to the commissioner that you have an in-depth knowledge on Equality & Diversity, your policies should align with The Equality Act (2010). This shows that your organisation exercises best practice.
The Equality Act (2010) protects individuals, acting as a standing point for a more diverse and equal society. Types of discrimination can be against the following:
Age
Gender Re-assignment
Being married or in a civil partnership
Being pregnant or on maternity leave
Disability
Race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
Religion or belief
Sex
Sexual Orientation
The Act covers:
The Equal Pay Act 1970
The Sex Discrimination Act 1975
The Race Relations Act 1976
The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
The Employment Equality (religion or belief) regulations 2003
The Employment Equality (sexual orientation) regulations 2003
The Equality Act 2006, part 2
The Equality Act (sexual orientation) regulations 2007
In order to stand as a diverse and equal organisation, buyers must reflect and implement the policies and codes of conduct that the Equality Act (2010) represents, making their policies readily available for customers, clients and any other significant stakeholders.
The Impact of Equality & Diversity Within an Organisation
Equality & Diversity within an organisation can improve the quality of the work delivered, create a diverse and integrated workforce, build stronger communities and identify under-representation within society. The more that this is evidenced within your answer, the more effective the answer will become.
To build a stronger and more inclusive workforce, there are some recommendations for what can be done. Reflecting some of these incentives will enable you to build a more constructive answer:
Conduct research to evaluate those who are under-represented within local communities
Monitor diversity during the recruitment process
Advertise traditionally and present vacancies utilising diverse job-boards
Build relationships with diversity partners to network more candidates
Work towards obtaining accreditations for diversity such as the ‘Two Ticks Scheme’ and ‘Clear Assured’
Having these initiatives and incentives in place within your organisation will help you substantially when answering this question.
What to Expect from An Equality & Diversity Question
You may be required to submit an eligibility questionnaire as part of the process; part of this questionnaire may be based on your organisations Equality & Diversity policies. Your answers to these questions will be measured against statutory regulations.
If equality is a core principle within the tender, you may be asked to provide further information and evidence to support the submission. For an Equality & Diversity question, commissioners need to ensure the quality in the terms and conditions; employers must offer equal pay, terms & conditions promotion, transfer opportunities, training, dismissal and redundancy procedures to all employees regardless of any personal characteristics.
It is important to know what will be asked of you for an Equality & Diversity question. You may be asked to provide:
Your organisation’s Equality & Diversity policies
Details of any unlawful discrimination breaches
Any formal investigations carried out on your organisation in the last 3 years
Copies of recruitment training or promotion instructions
An example of Equality & Diversity questions:
Provide the processes your organisation has in place to ensure that candidates are managed in a fair and non-discriminatory manner
Provide the processes your organisation has in place to ensure that you attract a diverse and inclusive candidate base
Do you provide Equality and Diversity training for staff?
Has your organisation been the subject of any formal investigation by the commission for Racial Equality, The Equality Opportunities Communities or the Disability Rights Commission on grounds of alleged unlawful discrimination?
Preparing your Equality & Diversity Answer
You will need to take into consideration your organisation’s practices when it comes to Equality & Diversity. When providing details of your organisations Equality & Diversity policy, your answer will have added quality if you are able to understand, monitor and evaluate the local demographics that are contextually stated within the tender. Identifying and demonstrating your knowledge of under-represented communities and then proposing practical ways to engage with them with help you to prepare this answer.
You will also have to take into consideration when preparing your answer:
How to attract a more diverse workforce
How you ensure equal opportunities within your organisation
How to measure and evaluate the success of attracting and retaining a diverse workforce
How you ensure that staff are well equipped to meet the equitable approaches expected of your policy and procedures
How you advise clients on Equality & Diversity issues and impacted procedures
What it is, how you bid for it and why you should consider it.
As you may have seen, NHS England have recently published a prior information notice which may change the way that GP’s contracts are commissioned. It may be vital for you to apply for this contract so that you can bid for local services in the future.
What is the Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System (PDPS) contract?
NHS England have recently announced an upcoming contract opportunity.
NHS England and NHS Improvement have launched a new online procurement tool (Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing System, otherwise known as PDPS), which will include a list of pre-approved GP providers that can be invited by local commissioners to deliver local GP services. The PDPS system is planned to be live from January 2020. The estimated date of the contract notice is 01/12/2019.
There are three main marketing engagement events for this contract, which we strongly urge you to attend. These events will be centred around the new PDPS tool. The events are in Leeds (23/10/2019- pm), Birmingham (28/10/2019- pm) and London (30/10/2019- pm).
There are two main “lots” which are planned in the scope of the APMS service:
Lot 1. Routine GP Services
Supporting local commissioners, this lot will enable the delivery of procurement plans for replacing existing or securing additional GP services. It covers the list-based services expected from all GP practices in England. APMS contracts will fit the tailored needs of each local commissioner.
Lot 2. Caretaker Services
Lot 2 consists of urgent cover arrangements which are approved by primary care and commissioning committees on a case by case basis to ensure a safe and sustainable GP service continues for patients when a GP contract terminates suddenly and unexpectedly.
A new purchasing system for GP’s
The PDPS is being set up under the Light Touch Regime for Health Care contracts within the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The system is being implemented by NELCSU (North and East London Commissioning Support Unit) on behalf of NHS England and NHS Improvement.
THE PDPS 4-year procurement exercise will oversee:
GP providers appointed to an electronically managed list of approved providers- GP providers can apply and be added to this list at any time during the 4-year period.
Approved GP providers invited via the e-platform to respond to request for APMS services from local commissioners. The “call-off” will be matched to the adapted needs of local commissioners.
So, should you apply for the PDPS contract?
NHS England and NHS Improvement, and Clinical Commissioning Groups will be encouraging all GP providers with an interest in providing routing and/or caretaker APMS services to apply to be on the PDPS.
Any GP can apply for this contract and interest can be from a local GP contract holder within a Primary Care Network or a larger GP contract holder and other healthcare providers such as caretakers.
Application to the approved provider list does not commit you to provide APMS services but does mean you will be able to bid when local needs arise. As such, it is worth considering this contract carefully as the decision not to bid may deny your chances of bidding for local services in the future.
The contract will allow you to apply at any time. Although, if a call-off happens you mustalready be on the framework to respond. Therefore, it is critical that you consider applying as soon as possible for this contract.
What you need to demonstrate to qualify as an approved provider
There is a set of criteria that providers need to meet to be accepted onto the PDPS contract. Minimum threshold on suitability and capability will need to be met and key pass/fail questions will be asked of providers in the following areas:
Financial and economic standing
Technical and professional ability
Mandatory and discretionary exclusion questions
Other subject matter questions
How to Apply For The NHS England PDPS Framework for GP APMS Contracts
K Low Consulting can help assist you in registering interest and applying for this contract.
You only need to apply once for this contract. Once we have secured your place on the framework it is assured that you are able to bid for any APMS contracts that NHS England ‘calls-off’ via the framework for the next 4 years.
To get more information about the contract or to raise your interest, contact K Low Consulting today at info@klowconsulting.com or call our office on 0330 133 1041.
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