Further Competition Guide
This guide sets our understanding of the key considerations to:
- Develop your strategy
- Engage stakeholders and generate a specification
- Engaging suppliers
- Deciding on the route to market
- Contracting and implementing a Further Competition utilising the frameworks and guidance and support provided by NHS Supply Chain: Diagnostic, Pathology and Therapy Technologies and Services.
NHS Supply Chain: Diagnostic, Pathology and Therapy Technologies and Services welcomes dialogue with you in the early stages of your thinking to provide some initial guidance on the steps required to realise an effective Further Competition. You will need to engage the relevant stakeholders at your trust, identifying current assets, spend and maintenance arrangements, and align yourself to the various sign off stages required by your trust.
Phase 1 – Engagement
We can engage with you at the various stages of a Further Competition:
- At the onset, you must be engaging the correct stakeholders, capturing information on assets, maintenance, primary and sub contractor spend, budget availability and identifying trust sign off processes.
- Linking into the NHSI sign off process for high value projects is also a key consideration at the onset of a project, if applicable.
- We will detail the award options in our Framework Agreement so that you can decide the route to market and confirm the process and support we provide.
We have then made available a few different templates and documents that you are able to use to support your initial engagement piece, you are welcomed to use whichever templates you feel most appropriate:
- Category Tower Best Practice Guidance for Customers
- Issue the overarching framework information including the awarded suppliers, product scope and specification and the questions asked at original tender.
- Configurable project plan.
See our Useful Links section for further information on our Engagement Data Set Checklist.
Phase 2 – Development
Once the scope of the replacement has been defined you will be required to:
- Develop and define your specification
- Compile questions relevant to the service required
- Develop evaluation criteria compatible with the framework
- Set realistic and meaningful KPIs.
We will support and guide on:
- The development of the tender documentation including providing templates to define requirements and evaluation criteria.
- Provide assurance that there has been consistent approach to suppliers – standardising tenders and reducing the potential for commercial challenges.
- Review final templates to ensure compliance to framework if required.
Phase 3 – Evaluation
Upon the tender documents being published to the market, you will be required to:
- Reply to bidder clarification questions
- Upon the tender closing, coordinate tender responses and evaluate tender responses.
Phase 4 – Award and evaluation
Once the tender responses have been evaluated you will be responsible for:
- Completing award letters to both successful and unsuccessful bidders
- Issuing award letters and managing the standstill period
- Responding to any legal challenges, if they arise
- Ensuring the implementation carried out within the agreed parameters and on time
- Ongoing contract management.
We will:
- Offer templates for award Letters and call-off documents
- Facilitate the NHS Supply Chain catalogue changes or provide a Unique Reference Number (URN) for Direct orders.
Further information and support
Our Category teams are on hand to help and support you through a Further Competition. If you are considering undertaking a Further Competition under one of our frameworks, you can contact us by completing our enquiry form and a member of our Procurement Delivery team will be in touch.
