Sector: Community health
Client: Dr Lothe and Partners
Services provided: Bid preparation, bid writing support.
Benefits delivered
HealthcareBids helped Dr Lothe and Partners to create the winning bid for Surrey Heath Clinical Commissioning Group’s community pain and musculoskeletal service tender. HealthcareBids managed the procurement portal, wrote the bid document, and provided advice and coaching for the bidder presentation.
Project summary
Surrey Heath Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) undertook a two-stage procurement process to commission a combined community pain and musculoskeletal (MSK) service. The commissioners wanted the service to adopt a ‘whole person’ approach, supporting integrated, partnership working between a variety of healthcare providers. In particular, the CCG was keen for integrated working between GP practices, community providers and hospital services. The CCG’s goal was to deliver seamless provision of services to patients and carers.
One in four of the adult population in the UK are affected by an MSK condition. Often, these conditions have a significant impact on the quality of life of the sufferer. Collectively, they account for more than 30% of GP consultations in England and more than 25% of NHS surgical interventions.
Dr Lothe and Partners, a GP partnership based in Camberley, asked HealthcareBids to help them to respond to the procurement.
Developing the community pain and MSK tender
HealthcareBids first helped the partnership to develop a comprehensive Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) submission. The PQQ was successful and the partnership was invited to tender for the service.
The Invitation to Tender (ITT) required more than 30,000 words to be written in answer to 30 questions. HealthcareBids worked with the lead GPs, the Practice Manager and other key staff to understand the proposed integrated service in detail. A key part of this was ensuring that proposals met the commissioner’s requirements. Together, we allocated questions to the most appropriate people in the joint bid team.
HealthcareBids drafted tender responses and also reviewed responses written by other team members, acting as a ‘critical friend’ and offering suggestions and advice. This included checking that responses fully answered each question and that each response was robust and compelling. We took great care to highlight the partnership’s strengths and its experience in MSK and pain management.
On behalf of the partnership, we managed the procurement portal, for example asking clarification questions and distributing replies. Once all tender documents were complete, we uploaded them to the portal ahead of the deadline.
The last stage of the procurement process involved bidder presentations. For this final stage, we provided advice and guidance to the bid team over the structure and content of their presentation.
We were delighted when Dr Lothe and Partners were announced as the preferred bidder.