The procurement process is covered by the Public Procurement Act, 16 July 1999 no. 69 (LOA) and the public procurement regulations (FOA) dated 7 April 2006 (FOA).
Parts I and III of the regulations apply for this procurement.
This procurement follows the procedure for an open tender contest. This is a procurement procedure that does not allow negotiations.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health is a specialist director and an administrative body under the Ministry of Health and Care Services (HOD). The Directorate is managed by HOD and the assignments are described in the national budget, award letter and in individual assignments. The Norwegian Directorate of Health is divided into divisions and departments.
This procurement is anchored in the Education and Personnel Planning Department.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health's vision is Good health and a good life. For further information see www.helsedir.no
Name — responsible person for the procurement: Tone Aursland
Telephone number + 47 97120569
Email address: anskaffelser@helsedir.no
All communication between the tenderer and the contracting authority shall be directed to the contracting authority's contact person via the Question and Answer function in our electronic tender system.
All questions and answers will be made accessible in anonymous form for all of the tenderers.
Enquiries received later than five working days before the tender deadline will not be answered.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health would like to enter into a contract with a service provider of professional tests for doctors. The aim is to test the qualifications of persons who have already undertaken and passed equivalent education/training (including final exams/tests) in countries outside the EEA and Switzerland. The background are changes in the rules for authorising health personnel, which involve additional requirements for authorisation in Norway. See the consultation paper from the Ministry of Health and Care Services (HOD) in chapter 1.1.
The overall aim of the new approval scheme is to ensure that health personnel who were trained in countries outside the EEA and Switzerland have the qualifications required to see to patient safety and quality of the services. The profesional test is one of several additional requirements. The others (language test and a course in national professions and handling medicines) will be taken care of in separate contracts that the Norwegian Directorate of Health has signed.
The professional test for doctors shall last for up to 1 day. The tests shall be held every 6 months (twice a year). See chapter 2 for further details.
The service provider shall develop, implement and administer the professional test.
There are an estimated 150 candidates per annum who will take the professional test. The estimate is uncertain, see chapter 2.6 for further details.
The competition is announced in the DOFFIN database — see www.doffin.no and in the TED database.
Evaluation: Weeks 17 -18
The procurement shall be regulated by the contract terms with the accompanying annexes.
Subject to grants from the Norwegian parliament for each year of the contract period.
Tax certificate.
Qualification requirement: Service providers must have fulfilled their tax and payroll tax obligations in accordance with the relevant legislation.
Documentation: Tax certificate. The certificate shall not be older than six months calculated from the tender deadline. Any arrears or other irregularities must be justified. If a service provider is planning to use sub-suppliers, tax certificates must be provided for them as well.
HSE self-declaration
Qualification requirement: Service providers must vouch for the fact that the company works systematically to comply with health, environment and safety legislation and satisfies the Internal Control Regulations. The tenderer must also confirm that the company is legally organised in relation to applicable tax and working environment regulations for employees' professional and social rights, and shall accept that the contracting authority has the right to review and verify the company's system for safeguarding of health, environment and safety.
Documentation: A dated HSE self-declaration signed by the manager and a representative for the employees. The form is attached to the tender documentation.
Company Registration Certificate.
Requirement: The tenderer shall be a legally established company.
Documentation requirement: For Norwegian tenderers: Company registration certificate from the Brønnøysund Registre Centre. Foreign companies: Proof that the company is registered in a trade or business register as prescribed by the law of the country where the tenderer is established.
Annual accounts.
Requirement: The tenderer shall have sufficient economic and financial capacity to carry out the assignment/contract.
Documentation requirement:
Credit evaluation/rating, not older than 12 months, based on the last known accounting figures. The rating shall be carried out by an officially certified credit rating institution. Minimum requirement — the tenderer shall be creditworthy.
Implementation ability and capacity.
Requirement: The tenderer shall have sufficient implementation ability and capacity.
If a service provider plans to leave parts of the contract to sub suppliers, a short description shall be provided of the sub suppliers and which part/parts of the assignment the sub suppliers shall carry out. The contracting authority have same requirements to sub suppliers as to the main service provider. The contracting authority reserves the right to disallow the choice of sub suppliers. Any financial requirements from sub suppliers or costs connected to this shall be borne by the supplier.
As the tender system does not support signing tenders with an electronic certificate, it is a prerequisite that the service provider prints out a tender confirmation to confirm their tender.
Service providers must declare that all the terms stated in the tender documentation are accepted.
Print out the tender confirmation letter, signed by an authorised person and enclose it as a pdf-document in the tender.
The tender shall be submitted through the electronic tender system. The tender makes up the service provider's reply to the questions and requirements for the tender that are stated in the tender documentation with any attached documents in addition to those required in the tender documents.
Service providers shall not fill in the annexes to the standard contract terms that are attached as ‘Attached documents’ in the system. These are only attached to show the contract structure that will be used for the design of the final contract.
All deviations from the tender documentation shall be precise, unambiguous and clearly stated in the tender so that the contracting authority can assess them without contacting the service provider, cf. FOA § 20-3.
The service provider cannot submit tenders that include significant deviations from the specifications in the notice or the tender documentation,cf. FOA § 20-13 (1) letter e. If a tender includes deviations that, when seen in isolation, are not significant, the deviations can, after a concrete assessment, be seen in total as significant.
Any reservations shall be specified below. Reservations that are stated other places in the tender, but which are not specified in the tender letter, cannot be made applicable by the service provider and will not be considered when the tenders are evaluated.
The service provider cannot have significant reservations to the contract terms cf. FOA § 20-13 (1) letter d. If a service provider has reservations that, when seen in isolation, are not significant, the reservations can, after a concrete assessment, be seen in total as significant.
The tender's sub prices and total price shall be stated in the tender, see the attached price form and contract terms.
The contracting authority shall, in accordance with the FOA § 20-12 (1) reject service providers that, amongst other things: a) do not fulfil the requirements set for the service provider's participation in the competition.
b) have not presented tax certificates.
c) have not presented a HSE self-declaration
The contracting authority can reject service providers if the terms in the FOA § 20-12 (2) apply.
The contracting authority shall, in accordance with the FOA § 20-13 (1) reject the tender when, amongst other things: a) it is not submitted by the set tender deadline.
b) it includes significant deviations from the tender documentation.
c) it includes significant reservations to the contract terms.
The contracting authority can reject tenders if the terms in the FOA § 20-13 (2) apply.
The award will be on the basis of which tender is the most economically advantageous, based on the criteria described in the specifications and the weighting model described below.
Relative weighting.
The relative weighting model is built on one comparing the tenders with each award criteria.
The economically most advantageous tender/tenders will be chosen by the contracting authority stating the price criteria and quality criteria and weighting these against each other. The lowest price will get maximum points, whilst the other prices will be awarded points in relation to the lowest tender price. The system gives the lowest price 100 points. The best tender in each quality criterium will be awarded maximum points equivalently. Further details on the award criteria:
— TK 1: Assignment comprehension and quality — weighted 30 %
In this award criteria the degree that the tender is in accordance with the set requirements for the professional test's subject content will be weighted. The subject set-up and the subject resources that will be available in the form of professional, the set-up for developing the assignments, equipment and premises will be assessed her. Furthermore, emphasis will be put on appropriate and efficient administration of the scheme.— TK 2: Security of supplies and progress plan — weighted 15 %
The service provider's set-up and progress for the development of the professional test and ordinary implementation in accordance with the specifications will be weighted in this award criterium.— TK 3: Capacity and degree of flexibility — weighted 25 %
This award criterium will weight the service provider's maximum capacity per professional test and per annum: How many candidates can the service provider accept? Is is possible — and what has to be done — for the service provider to facilitate either more professional test days in order to accept more candidates each time, or greater frequency (more professional tests per annum), if there is a need for this?
Furthermore, the service provider's flexibility and adaptability if there is a need to carry out professional tests with fewer candidates that estimated will be weighted, in other words: What is the minimum number of registered candidates required for the service provider not to cancel the professional test?
— TK 4: Price — weighted 30 %
This award criterium will assess both the development costs, fixed costs per professional test and variable costs per test.
The contracting authority reserves the right to cancel the competition if there is a justifiable reason, cf. FOA §21-1 (1).
A justifiable reason can typically be a lack of competition, unexpected changes in grants etc.
The contracting authority can reject all the tenders if the result of the competition gives a justifiable reason, cf. FOA § 21-1 (2)
In addition to the notification given upon the award of contract, the contracting authority shall give written notification with a short justification if:
— the tender is rejected or the contracting authority decides to reject all the tenders or cancel the competition.
Service providers can request in writing further justification for:
— why the tender was rejected, or
— why the tender was not chosen.
The contracting authority is obligated to reply to this enquiry at the latest 15 days after the enquiry has been received.
As regards the general public's insight into the tender and the procurement protocol, the legislation dated 19.5.2006 no. 16 on the right to insight in documents in public entities applies. Tenders and protocols are screened in accordance with the public law § 23 3rd section up until the choice of service provider. After a service provider has been selected, the confidential information is exempted in accordance with the Administration Act § 13 cf. the regulations
LOA § 3-6.
Service providers must themselves assess and mark text and information in the tender that is deemed to be operational and business conditions that it is of competitive importance to keep secret. The contracting authority has, however, the right and a duty to assess whether the information can be kept secret as regards the public law in accordance with the Administration Act § 13, cf. the regulations LOA § 3-6.
1.1 Introduction and background. The Norwegian Directorate of Health would like to enter into a contract with a service provider of professional tests for doctors. The aim is to test the qualifications of persons who have already undertaken and passed equivalent education/training (including final exams/tests) in countries outside the EEA and Switzerland. The background are changes in the rules for authorising health personnel, which involve additional requirements for authorisation in Norway. See the consultation paper from the Ministry of Health and Care Services (HOD) in chapter 1.1.
The overall aim of the new approval scheme is to ensure that health personnel who were trained in countries outside the EEA and Switzerland have the qualifications required to see to patient safety and quality of the services. The professional test is 1 of several additional requirements. The others (language test and a course in national professions and handling medicines) will be taken care of in separate contracts that the Norwegian Directorate of Health has signed.
The professional test for doctors shall last for up to 1 day. The tests shall be held every 6 months (twice a year). See chapter 2 for further details.
The service provider shall develop, implement and administer the professional test.
There are an estimated 150 candidates per annum who will take the professional test. The estimate is uncertain, see chapter 2.6 for further details.
See chapter 3 for information on the contract's financial limit and length. 1.2 Central background documents. The service provider is expected to have knowledge on the health and care services, including the training responsibility resulting from the legislation. Furthermore the service provider must have in-depth knowledge of:
— The consultation paper from the Norwegian Directorate of Health (HOD), in which the scheme and the intention is described: https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/491fad90827f461dab1fb6fd86b649c6/horingsnotat_ny_autorisasjonsordning_.pdf
— Prop. 99 L (2014-2015) on changes in the Health Personnel Act etc., LOV-1999-07-02-64 (the Health Personnel Act) § 48 https://www.regjeringen.no/no/dokumenter/prop.-99-l-2014-2015/id2406676/
— Notification Parliamentary paper no. 10 (2012-2013) Good quality — safe services. Quality and patient safety i the health and care sector.
— The professional test for nurses is currently being developed by Buskerud nad Vestfold University College (HBV). The contact person is the faculty director vibeke.narverud.nyborg@hbv.no.
2 The delivery.
2.1 The contracting authority's needs.
The new approval scheme involves a need for a service provider of professional tests for doctors with training from countries outside the EEA and Switzerland. Only one service provider is preferable. There can be a need for more due to capacity considerations. The estimated number of candidates with a need for a professional test is approx. 150 per annum. The estimate is uncertain, see chapter 2.6 for further details.
‘Professional test’ means here a practical, oral and written test specific for a profession that measures whether the applicant has the equivalent theoretical and practical knowledge required for the Norwegian exam in the profession.
The aim of the professional test is to check whether the candidates have the same/equivalent theoretical and practical knowledge and capabilities that candidates who have completed Norwegian training (including final exams) are expected to have. It shall contribute to uncovering actual shortcomings in the candidate's competence, function as quality assurance of equivalence assessments of education documents and contribute to uncovering whether a decision on equivalence was made on the basis of false/forged documents.
The service provider must have the competence and a system for continually updating the set-up and content of the professional test in accordance with the current theoretical and practical requirements resulting from Norwegian basic education in medicine.
The professional test must preferably be ready for the first implementation during autumn 2016. If this is not possible, the service provider is to state the first possible date for implementation. The professional test must be held every six months (twice a year).
The professional test shall be held in Norwegian.
2.2 Implementation, organisation and capacity.
Professional environments that submit a tender shall present proposals as to how the professional test ought to be carried out based on the description in chapter 2. The service provider shall ensure sufficient professional personnel, including examiners with the necessary competence. Tenders must include the necessary intention contracts (premises, equipment, personnel etc.).
Below is a non exhaustive list of models that the service provider is expected to assess as regards possible transferable value:
— The test that the University of Oslo has arranged for several years for doctors who trained in countries outside the EEA: http://www.med.uio.no/om/aktuelt/arrangementer/medisinsk-fagprove/fagprove-utenlandsmedisinere-2013.html.
— The professional test for nurses that Buskerud and Vestfold University College is developing for the Norwegian Directorate of Health, and which they have used in recent years on student nurses. The contact person is the faculty director vibeke.narverud.nyborg@hbv.no
— Similar professional tests/tests for doctors in other Nordic countries, including, amongst others:
i) Sweden: http://www.socialstyrelsen.se/ansokaomlegitimationochintyg/legitimation/utbildadiannatland/lakare
ii) Denmark: http://sundhedsstyrelsen.dk/da/uddannelse-autorisation/autorisation/soeg-autorisation-udenlandsk-uddannet/laege
2.3 Requirement for the content of the professional test.
The starting point for the service provider shall be the purpose of the new approval scheme and the professional test, cf. chapter 2.1.
It is to be assumed that the candidates have already completed and passed exams/tests by completing equivalent training in countries outside the EEA and Switzerland. The professional test shall not test all elements in the training, but it shall be designed so that it efficiently tests the knowledge and capabilities that are assessed to be critical in the light of potential injuries and patient safety.
The professional test shall be a practical, oral and written test for a specific profession that measures whether the applicant has equivalent theoretical and practical knowledge that is required for a Norwegian exam in the profession. The intention of the professional test is to check that doctors have the knowledge and capabilities that are equivalent or the same as basic Norwegian training in medicine and to assess whether the candidate can function as a doctor in a clinical working day. The professional test shall be equivalent to the professional level required by a doctor trained in Norway.
The professional test shall, amongst other things, test knowledge and capabilities, including:
— Basic factual knowledge.
— Practical capabilities, including clinical examinations and procedures.
— Practical use of knowledge to acquire information, reasoning and decision making in the role of a doctor.
— Communicative and inter-human capabilities, both in collaboration with colleagues, patients and relatives.
— Attitudes.
The doctors shall be particularly tested in general medicine as well as Norwegian referral practice.
Tenders must state how many topics/themes/situations the professional test shall include and how long it will take to complete it. The service provide shall develop several assignment sets and a system for how the assignment is chosen for each test.
The service provider shall ensure that the system stops and follows up cheating/attempts to cheat in accordance with the University and University College's provisions.
2.4 Assessment — examiners.
The assessment shall be given as a result of either ‘Passed’ or ‘Failed’. It shall apply to the professional test as a whole and cover the candidate's execution of planning, implementation, documentation and assessment of their own work. The service provider shall ensure that there are a sufficient number of examiners with the correct competence and that there is an appropriate assessment system.
The tender must state what the necessary competence is for the examiners, possibly how the service provider plans to take care of training and guidance for examiners.
2.5 Assessment of the professional test's length.
The professional test for doctors shall have a total length of up to one day. The tender must include the service provider's professional reasons for the length of the professional test.
When assessing the length, the service provider shall assume that the candidates have already undertaken and passed exams/tests by completing equivalent training in countries outside the EEA and Switzerland. The professional test shall not test all elements in the training, but it shall be designed so that it efficiently tests the knowledge and capabilities that are assessed to be critical in the light of potential injuries and patient safety. The professional test shall be able to uncover whether the health personnel have qualifications that are equivalent to what we expect from the same health personnel in Norway, as well as uncover potential document forging of education papers.
2.6 Implementation and frequency
It is to be assumed that the professional test shall be held every six months (twice a year). The reason is that every candidate shall be able to pass the professional test within three years, with a total of three attempts. It is therefore of great importance for the Norwegian Directorate of Health that the professional test is carried out even if there are only a few registered candidates.
The service provider must state in the tender what it deemed to be a minimum number for holding each professional test in order to prevent financial loss for the service provider. In such cases the Norwegian Directorate of Health will cover a given number of candidates to ensure that the test is held. See chapter 2.8 on the price of the service.
Based on a calculation of the average number of applicants for authorisation as a doctor after training in countries outside the EEA and Switzerland in the last 4 years, there are expected to be approx. 150 persons who can need to take the professional test each year. However the estimate is uncertain as several additional requirements and increased costs for each applicant can lead to fewer applicants, whilst increased immigration to Norway can lead to more applicants. It is therefore important that the extent and frequency of the professional tests is flexible and can be changed based on variations in the number of candidates.
The professional test must preferably be ready for the first implementation during autumn 2016. If this is not possible, the service provider is to state the first possible date for implementation. The professional test must be held every six months (twice a year).
The professional test shall be held in Norwegian.
2.7 The service provider's administrative assignments.
In addition to be responsible for the professional development and implementation of the professional test, the service provider shall be responsible for all the administration of the scheme.
2.7.1 Information.
The service provider is expected to provide information on the professional tests, the dates they are to be held, the registration deadilne and information on price etc. on its website in reasonable time before the tests are held. It shall also state what will be seen as a justifiable reason for cancellation/dropping out.
In order to ensure predictability, the information shall be continually kept up-to-date and coordinated with the information on the Norwegian Directorate of Health's website.
2.7.2 Registration and fees.
The service provider shall handle all work connected with registrations, including setting a registration deadline and collecting fees. The candidate shall pay the fee to the service provider upon registration. The registration is not to be seen as valid before the fee has been received and confirmed.
The following two terms must be fulfilled by the candidate before they can register for the professional test:
1. The candidate must present documentation from SAK/the Norwegian Directorate of Health confirming that the person in question is qualified to undertake the additional requirement.
2. The candidate must present documentation of a passed language test, both oral and written, which is equivalent to the Europe Council's level scale for language (CEFR) B2. In Norway this is equivalent to a ‘passed’ test in Norwegian at a higher level, also called the Bergen Test. The passed language test requirement does not apply if the applicant presents documentation of equivalent knowledge and capabilities in Norwegian, Swedish or Danish.
The service provider is responsible for checking that the registration terms are fulfilled.
2.7.3 Documentation of the result of a professional test.
The service provider is responsible for issuing documentation for a ‘Passed’ and ‘Failed’ professional test to the candidate. If the result is ‘Failed’, the documentation shall state how many attempts the candidate has left within the total limit of three years and information on the right to appeal, see point 2.7.4.
2.7.4 Right to take a new test.
The service provider shall ensure that candidates who get the result ‘Failed’ receive information that the person in question can have a total of three attempts within a total of three years. If a candidate chooses to submit a new application for authorisation to the Norwegian Directorate of Health/SAK, previous attempts shall be included in the total number of attempts. The service provider must keep an overview of the number of attempts for each candidate.
2.7.5 Right to appeal.
The service provider is responsible for the appeals scheme and for processing appeals.
2.7.6 Overview and reports.
The service provider shall continually submit overviews/reports to SAK/the Norwegian Directorate of Health on the number of registered as well as an account and number of any drop outs, the candidates' results and remaining attempts to pass the test.
The service provider shall submit half yearly reports to the Norwegian Directorate of Health with a brief evaluation after completed professional tests.
2.8 Price of the service.
There can be a need for annual professional tests for approx. 150 candidates, but the estimate is uncertain. The signed contract shall ensure that the professional test is held every 6 months (twice a year), regardless of whether there are fewer registered candidates than the estimate.
It shall be apparent how many candidates make up the service provider's minimum number for holding the professional test in the most cost efficient way. In addition it shall be apparent what the service provider's maximum implementation capacity is per professional test.
The Norwegian Directorate of Health requests that service providers state the total costs in their tender that are connected to the assignment, including:
— Development costs.
It is assumed that there will be costs in 2016 connected to the development of the professional test, but that further out in the implementation period there will be relatively predictable costs. Service providers are asked to state the total development costs.
— Fixed costs per professional test.
This means the service provider's fixed costs for being on hand to hold the test, independent of whether there are any registered applicants for the test. It must be clear what is included in these costs. This can, for example, cover wage costs connected to assignment production, administrative resources for handling information, equipment, registration, contact with the contracting authority, examiners, etc.
— Variable costs per held professional test.
This means the service provider's costs connected to the actual implementation. It must be clear what is included in these costs. This can, for example, cover examiners, actors, equipment, invigilators, printing costs etc.
It is assumed that the candidates shall pay a share of the total costs, which will be decided by the contracting authority when the professional test has been procured. If there are not any registered candidates, the contracting authority is responsible for covering the fixed costs per professional test. If there are fewer registered candidates than the minimum number stated by the service provider, the contracting authority will cover the difference.
See the attached costs list that the service provider is required to fill in. In addition a detailed budget shall be enclosed.
3 The contract's limits
3.1 Financial limits
The procurement's financial limit is from NOK 500 000 to NOK 9 000 000.
In recent years a grant has been put aside of approx. NOK 9 000 000 for qualification measures for health personnel who were trained in countries outside the EEA and Switzerland. It is assumed that the grant will be the same in 2016. These resources shall cover, amongst other things, courses in national professions and handling medicines, as well as professional tests for health care workers, nurses, dentists and doctors. Precisely how the resources will be distributed between the different measures will be decided when the contracting authority has received the tenders from the actual service providers.
See chapter 2.8 on conditions for fixing the price.
3.2 Length.
The contract will be signed for 2 years, with an option for an extension for 2+2 years. Subject to grants for the measure from the annual national budgets.
The professional test must be fully developed by autumn 2016. There must be a dialogue with the contracting authority underway, and the scheme must be approved.
It is assumed that the professional test will be ready for implementation during autumn 2016. If this is not possible, the service provider is to state the first possible date for implementation. Information to candidates must be available in reasonable time before the test is held.
The tender shall include a progress plan that shows activities in the development phase and activities that the service provider will have connected to the annual tests, administration of the scheme and fixed reports to the contracting authority.
Award criteria 1: Assignment comprehension and quality — weighted 30 %
TK 1: Assignment comprehension and quality — weighted 30 %
In this award criteria the degree that the tender is in accordance with the set requirements for the professional test's subject content will be weighted. The subject set-up and the subject resources that will be available in the form of professional, the set-up for developing the assignments, equipment and premises will be assessed her. Furthermore, emphasis will be put on appropriate and efficient administration of the scheme.
Fill in the information below, print it out and sign the document. The document is to be scanned and enclosed with the tender.
Fill in the information below, print it out and sign the document. The documents to be scanned and enclosed with the tender.
This confirmation applies to:
As regards the general public's insight into the tender and the procurement protocol, the legislation dated 19 May 2006 no. 16 on the right to insight in documents in public entities applies. Tenders and protocols are screened in accordance with the public law § 23 3rd section up to the award of contract. After the award of contract confidential information will be exempted in accordance with the Public Administration Act § 13, cf. the regulations in the Public Procurements Act § 3-6.
Service providers must themselves assess and mark text and information in the tender that is deemed to be operational and business conditions that it is of competitive importance to keep secret. The contracting authority has, however, the right and duty to assess whether the information can be kept secret.
This is to confirm that we understand the law on public access and the right to access documents in public entities. We have assessed the information that is in the tender and have marked the text that is deemed to be operational and business conditions that it is of competitive importance to keep secret.
This is to confirm that we understand that the contracting authority has the right and duty to assess whether the information can be kept secret in accordance with the Public Administration Act § 13, cf. regulations in the Public Procurements Act §3-6.
The undersigned has marked the text in the tender that we believe shall be exempted from public access:
Manager (sign) _____________________________________ Date: ___________.