Pathology project progress
The submissions from Trusts interested in delivering future community-requested pathology services in the East of England have now been evaluated. The company is not at the stage of announcing ‘preferred bidders’ yet, as the recommendations have to be approved by the Project Board and PCT Chief Executives. Trusts have, however, been informed of the evaluation outcome and whether they are to progress to the next stage, subject to approval. They expect to be able to announce the outcome in September.
Evaluating the East of England Pathology ITT responses
Bidders had until 20 March to make their Invitation to Tender (ITT) submissions for community requested pathology services in the East of England, and these are currently being evaluated.
Recommendations as to preferred bidders are scheduled to be made in May. The benefits of the proposals will be comprehensively included in the full business case.
Pathology ITT responses in
The Invitation to Tender (ITT) for providing future community requested pathology services in the East of England was issued on 25 January. In their ITT submissions, bidders were asked to confirm agreements reached during the dialogue phases and include a financial model for future service provision. They had until 20 March to make their submissions.
These are now being evaluated and the recommendations as to preferred Bidders will be made in May. A full business case is being developed to demonstrate comprehensively the benefits of the proposals.
Pathology ITT launched
Shortlisted bidders have been invited to the next stage of the Transforming Pathology Services project
By the 7 November deadline, five bidders successfully made their ITPD (Invitation to Participate in Dialogue) submissions to provide community pathology services in the east of England. All 18 Trusts are represented in one of the five bids. Some Trusts made standalone proposals, while others collaboratively pitched their ideas for how they might provide services in the future.
The Strategic Projects Team, advisors and invited experts have now completed the evaluation and a shortlist of recommendations was presented to the project board on 4 January. Trusts had clearly put a great deal of thought into their submissions including detailed proposals and evidence, alongside much inspiration.
The shortlisted bidders have now been invited to the next phase of the project, and the Invitation to Tender (ITT) was issued on 25 January.
To help Trusts prepare for this phase, a briefing session was held with Chief Executives on 24 January, in which an earnest discussion was held about the project next steps. Agreement was reached on the route and timeframe in going forward.
In their ITT submissions, bidders will be confirming agreements reached during the dialogue
phases and including a financial model for future service provision. They have until 6 March to make their submissions.
The picture across the cluster with transforming pathology services
The Strategic Projects Team has been asked to undertake a review of the progress being made so far by pathology transformation projects across the new SHA cluster and where the team might help. Members of both the East and West Midlands Teams have already engaged in discussions.
The main focus of the review is to look for opportunities to build some common aims across the cluster and for the regions to learn from each other to transform pathology services in a consistent way. A ‘road map’ for each region is likely to be finalised later this month and is expected to build on existing achievements and to engage commissioners in the process.
In the East of England, they are currently finalising the evaluation of Trusts’ ITPD (Invitation to Participate in Dialogue) submissions, and shortlist recommendations will be going through the approval process soon. It is already clear that the submissions reflect a high degree of commitment and work by the Trusts and provide solutions to support the SHA’s new ambitions. More about these ambitions will soon be posted on the main SHA site.
Extended submission date
They are now in the full throes of evaluating the bidders’ ITPD (invitation to participate in dialogue) submissions. The deadline for submissions was changed to 7 November as some bidders had asked for extra time for preparation. This is a significant project and, as a result, They extended the timeline for all bidders to ensure that everyone’s challenges were accommodated, as far as appropriate. They recognise that, for some, this may have been disruptive, but they spoke to each of the bidders to ensure that they were confident that they had everything necessary to prepare their submissions.
They have tried hard to reduce the impact at the end of the timeline so that the project can ‘catch up’ and have minimal impact during the implementation stage. They are involving pathologists, GPs, commissioners, finance and other experts to help them in the evaluation of all of the bids to ensure impartial and expert scrutiny.