Lister (East and North Herts NHS Trust) and Princess Alexandra Hospital to work in partnership to rationalise the services from both aging units that require significant capital to continue to provide the standard and capacity to cope with the increasing demand of aseptically prepared doses. In addition the scope of the tender also includes the Mount Vernon site, whose chemotherapy is currently provided by a third party. Due to the lack of capital investment within the NHS, we are inviting tenders for the provision of aseptically prepared drugs to East and North Hertfordshire Trust and Princess Alexandra Hospital in working partnership.

To meet the current and forecast service level requirements of the Contracting sites and wider region, it is expected that the successful Bidder will commit to building a new compounding facility in the Hertfordshire/Essex area to be operational within two years of award date and capable of providing a range of aseptically prepared products including Parenteral Nutrition (PN), Out-patient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT), Chemotherapy, Biologics and Clinical Trials investigational drugs. However, alternative proposal from bidders are welcome and bidders are invited to demonstrate other models and solutions to meet our requirements.

Furthermore, nationally there is a shortage of aseptic capacity, a situation which has been highlighted and reviewed jointly with NHS England and other stakeholders. The successful Bidder must meet the strategic need of the Trusts to increase the available aseptic capacity through investment in incremental production capability.

The successful Bidder must be able to accommodate the chemotherapy requirement of Lister and MV from the start of the new contract without impact on contracted service levels. It should also have a plan to introduce PAH’s chemotherapy requirement and all sites aseptic preparations requirement by 31.12.2019, such that both The Lister and PAH can decommission their current in-house facilities to their own timetable.