--- title: "Unscheduled Dental Care services for NHS England & NHS Improvement South East" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "NHS SOUTH, CENTRAL AND WEST COMMISSIONING SUPPORT UNIT" published: "2022-02-21" --- # Unscheduled Dental Care services for NHS England & NHS Improvement South East Buyer: NHS SOUTH, CENTRAL AND WEST COMMISSIONING SUPPORT UNIT Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e.json) ## Summary NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit is initiating a procurement process for Unscheduled Dental Care services across the South East region of England. This pre-procurement phase aims to engage potential providers in planning for service contracts set to commence in April 2024. The engagement end date for interested suppliers to submit their responses to the market sounding questionnaire is 21st March 2022. The procurement process falls under the Light Touch Regime as outlined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, with the services classified under CPV code 85131000 for Dental-practice services. This tender presents significant opportunities for healthcare providers, particularly those specialising in dental services, to expand their business in the South East region. Businesses with capabilities in delivering urgent dental care, including assessment services and in- and out-of-hours appointments, are well-positioned to participate. Engaging in this early planning stage could facilitate strategic partnerships and increase accessibility to urgent dental care services for patients, hence fostering business growth in a competitive healthcare market. ## Notice This notice is placed in order to facilitate early engagement with potential providers, and relates only to a pre-procurement market sounding questionnaire. NHS England and NHS Improvement - South East (NHSE/I) are seeking to commission Unscheduled Dental Care services (UDC) in the South East region, and will be conducting a recommissioning process to award new contracts for service commencement from April 2024. The aims for UDC provision are: 1. Increase access to urgent dental care for patients across the South East region 2. A more convenient service for patients providing in-hours care at more local locations 3. Remove inequalities in unscheduled dental care provision across the South East A memorandum of information has been attached to this notice to provide further indicative information about the proposed service. The commissioner anticipates that UDC services will involve three main elements, these are: 1. A dental clinical assessment service 2. Provision of in-hours face to face appointments 3. Provision of out of hours face to face appointments Interested providers with the capability and capacity to provide one or more UDC elements are asked to complete and submit a market sounding questionnaire via email to scwcsu.procurement@nhs.net by 12 Noon on Monday 21st March 2022, with the subject 'Market Sounding Questionnaire - Unscheduled Dental Care'. This process is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners. Additional information: This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit NHSEI or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest. Commissioners are looking to establish what interest there might be in providing such a service from suitably qualified, capable and competent organisations. NHSEI will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise. Interested parties should note that a response to this notice does not guarantee an automatic invitation to any subsequent formal procurement, which the commissioners will consider in due course. The services are healthcare services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations, but is instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77). ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2ba6388f-2f42-42f0-a9a7-b1660ae61b90 | | Notice type | Planned Procurement Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Not specified | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 21 Feb 2022 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 21 Mar 2022 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | NHS SOUTH, CENTRAL AND WEST COMMISSIONING SUPPORT UNIT | | Locality | BRISTOL | | Post town | Bristol | | Postcode | BS1 3NX | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) | | ITL 2 | TLK5 West of England | | ITL 3 | TLK51 Bristol, City of | | Local authority | Bristol, City of | | Electoral ward | Central | | Westminster constituency | Bristol Central | | Delivery location | TLJ South East (England) | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85131000 - Dental-practice services ## Release History - 21 Feb 2022 at 16:33 - Planning - Planned Procurement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2ba6388f-2f42-42f0-a9a7-b1660ae61b90 ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2ba6388f-2f42-42f0-a9a7-b1660ae61b90 21st February 2022 - Early engagement notice on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/7ea0680c-50bc-417a-b18f-25b7903294d9 Memorandum of Information (MOI) - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/fb125a72-59e0-4c1a-9e5a-ba295f65b3d4 Market Sounding Questionnaire ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-1e4e6363-65d7-4961-b636-9e8d9aa7445e.json.