The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust are interested in seeking a private sector partner (the Partner) to provide an intelligent estates strategy function that will support the Trusts' clinical strategies to enable service change, improve quality of care for patients and drive efficiency in the Trusts' operations including potentially through (but not limited to): master planning, estates rationalisation; capital programme planning; raising finance and investment; strategic service transformation planning; and also the procurement and project/contract management of a range of services in relation to New Projects. This procurement is being conducted jointly by the Trusts.

It is expected that these services will be provided to the Trusts through the establishment of joint venture bodies (the JV) and arrangements between the Trusts and the Partner. The arrangements envisage the establishment of two separate joint venture bodies (one in respect of each Trust) with the ability to collaborate where there are shared interests or requirement. The Trusts also reserve the right to merge the joint venture bodies into one entity during the partnership period.

The Partner will provide the Priority Services (more particularly described below) through the JV upon appointment as the successful Partner or shortly after. Responsibility for procuring, co-ordinating and managing the provision of services through the JV may be transferred to the Partner during the term of the joint venture.

The Partner will be expected to deliver Priority Services consisting of Strategic Estates Services. This includes the provision of consultancy support services to provide: estates strategy advice (with a focus on achieving efficiencies); updating of the existing estates strategies to support the Trusts' clinical strategy and drive efficiency in the Trusts' operations; the preparation, review and updating of a partnership business plan to cover the proposed need, phasing of estate transformation and timing of the delivery of any proposed new projects or refurbishment projects to deliver capital requirements (New Projects) across the Trusts' estates and healthcare planning in relation to the configuration of services in the estate. The Partner is also expected to provide access to, arrange and deliver private sector capital where required to finance New Projects. New Projects may involve (but are not limited to) capital works; medical equipment and managed services projects; refurbishment works; disposal and/or acquisition of land; facilities to support NHS services, related health and social care services as well as commercial developments.

Initial New Projects may include:

Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Priority Projects:

Key priorities include an affordable use of the Clatterbridge site and the development of the Arrowe Park site.

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust Priority Projects:

Key projects include the West Cheshire Acute Hub, a £13.1m extension, remodelling and refurbishment of existing A&E Department and surrounding areas (for which a strategic outline case is approved and available for the start of the procurement). Other key priorities include the consolidation of clinical services within the main building of its site, improved utilisation of land currently used for car parking, the identification of new locations for non-clinical services for the purpose of maximising income and the consideration of uses for the Women and Children's Building following a re-location of its clinical services (due to the building no longer being suitable). The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has a Neo Natal Unit which provides outstanding care to babies with specialist needs. The Neo Natal Unit requires urgent improvement. The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is in the process of raising funds to re-provide the service in a building which is fit for purpose.

To ensure value for money is achieved at the time when projects are commenced and services required, (and in observing EU procurement principles on behalf of the Trusts) it is expected that the JV, via a secondary procurement, will competitively tender the supply chain for each New Project or Secondary Service required. The Partner (through the JV) will therefore provide an integrator role in procuring and coordinating these third-party providers to deliver schemes and services for the benefit of the Trusts. This integrator role includes the provision of operational project management services in procuring, co-ordinating and managing external contractors engaged to deliver any proposed and approved New Projects to deliver capital requirements for works, fabrication or traditional estate project procurements and also any external contractors required to deliver Secondary Services approved by the Trusts. The Partner's integrator role may also include providing operational procurement consultancy services in co-ordinating, managing and conducting procurements observing EU procurement principles to appoint a supply-chain to the JV to deliver those services.

The priority is for the Partner to identify strategic estate solutions in the short, medium and longer term. If agreed by the Trust, the Partner may in the longer term be given the opportunity to identify strategic service transformation proposals to drive efficiencies (including for example, through soft FM and hard FM services, customer satisfaction services, IM&T and corporate back office services (‘Secondary Services’)). The scope of this OJEU does not include the provision by the Partner of delivering the detailed design and construction (and FM) aspects of New Projects or the provision of Secondary Services themselves.

The opportunity is to provide a strategic, commercial, development, investment, procurement, project management and contract management role in delivering capital projects, including the installation of medical capital equipment to support the Trusts' clinical strategy.

The Trusts are interested in the JV seeking other commercial and income generation opportunities in the public and private sector market over the long-term and proposing innovative proposals in support of the Trusts' clinical strategy that will maximise income or allow the Trusts to reduce costs.

The arrangements may also involve (but is not limited to) supporting the Trust in its estate needs in participating in any future Accountable Care Organisation (ACO) arrangements and other healthcare initiatives which may arise during partnership term.

The joint venture with the successful Partner will be for a period of 10 years with an option to extend the contract for a further 5 years.

Further details of the opportunity are provided in the Memorandum of Information (MOI) accompanying the pre-qualification questionnaire (see section VI.3 (Additional Information) for details of how to obtain these).

Bidders should note that the procurement documents (including the Invitation to Participate in Dialogue) are draft documents at this stage, providing indicative information of the Trusts' intended approach in the procurement process and are for general information only. The Trusts reserve the right to vary, amend and update any aspects of the procurement documents and final details and versions of the procurement documents will be confirmed to applicants successful in being selected to participate in the relevant tender stages of the procurement procedure.