Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council (the Councils) have undertaken a competitive process for the contract award for the provision of ‘Integrated Sexual Health Services’ in accordance with ‘The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime (PSR)) Regulations 2023.
The Councils have a requirement for an Integrated Sexual Health Service as part of their wider public health responsibilities.
The service will be required to provide a confidential, open-access, cost-effective, high quality and comprehensive Sexual and Reproductive Health service.
Overarching service aims are to improve sexual health outcomes by:
- promoting good sexual health through primary prevention activities
- providing rapid and easy open access to STI and Blood Borne Virus (BBV) testing, treatment and management
- providing rapid and easy open access to reproductive health services
- reducing late diagnosis of HIV and undiagnosed HIV and improving the sexual health of those living with HIV
- providing a quality service with appropriately trained staff, clinical governance and service user safety arrangements
- being responsive to local need
- operating as a key partner in the local sexual health economy providing clinical leadership, involvement in local networks and development of clear referral pathways between providers
This contract is for an initial period of 4 years and shall take effect from 01 April 2025 – 31 March 2029. The Councils may extend this contract beyond the initial term by a further period or periods of up to 24 months (extension periods) to a maximum of 6 years.
The proposed service is based on current and known funding allocations. These could alter through the life of the contract in light of changes in future local and central government funding.
This service will be awarded as a contract to a single provider and subcontract arrangements are permitted.
The Councils) have undertaken a competitive process for the contract award for the provision of 'Integrated Sexual Health Services’ in accordance with ‘The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime (PSR)) Regulations 2023.
The PSR is the new legislation for the procurement of Healthcare Services. There are 5 different processes Relevant Authorities can use to award contracts. For the provision of this Integrated Sexual Health Service, the Councils have decided to use the Competitive Process. This is because the Councils believe that there is a competitive market for this service and following significant changes to the service delivery model.
The opportunity was an open (one stage) procedure under PSR Regulation 11 -
Competitive Process, and the Councils welcomed bids from consortium and/or sub-contracting
arrangements for this procurement opportunity.