Tender: UK-Manchester: research and development services and related consultancy services

UK-Manchester: research and development services and related consultancy services

2010/S 143-220855

CONTRACT NOTICE

Services

SECTION I: CONTRACTING AUTHORITY

• I.1)
  NAME, ADDRESSES AND CONTACT POINT(S)

  Contact: Attn: Tel. E-mail: National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence
  Level 1A, City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza
  Procurement
  Irene Walker
  M1 4BDManchester
  UNITED KINGDOM
  +44 1618703198
  irene.walker@nice.org.uk

  Internet address(es)

  General address of the contracting authority http://www.nice.org.uk

  Address of the buyer profile http://www.nhsevidence.nhs.uk/default.aspx

  Further information can be obtained at:Contact: Attn: Tel. E-mail: Internet: National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence
  Level 1A, City Tower, Piccadilly Plaza
  Procurement
  Irene Walker
  M1 4BDManchester
  UNITED KINGDOM
  +44 1618703198
  irene.walker@nice.org.uk
  http://nice.org.uk

  Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained at: As in above-mentioned contact point(s)

  Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: As in above-mentioned contact point(s)

• I.2)
  TYPE OF THE CONTRACTING AUTHORITY AND MAIN ACTIVITY OR ACTIVITIES

  Body governed by public law

  Health

  The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities No

SECTION II: OBJECT OF THE CONTRACT

• II.1)
  DESCRIPTION
• II.1.1)
  Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

  Clinical Hub Centres.

• II.1.2)
  Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance

  Services

  Service category: No 8

• II.1.3)
  The notice involves

  A public contract

II.1.4)
Information on framework agreement

• II.1.5)
  Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

  Today, NHS Evidence provides access to 30 collections of specialist evidence content, the "Specialist Collections".

  The on-line specialist collections contain links to recent, quality-assured clinical and non-clinical information on the key health priority areas. Information Specialists in each collection filter a huge quantity of published research for relevance, quality and the extent to which the new information has a bearing on clinical practice. As a result, users can easily identify the latest guidelines and systematic reviews and can research an area of interest. The Specialist Collection teams also produce Annual Evidence Updates in key topic areas, and support engagement and use of evidence within their specialist community.

  In April 2011, NHS Evidence will launch a redesigned and improved specialist evidence service. Transition to a new technology platform will fundamentally transform the way the specialist content is managed and made available to users. There will be better integration with other NHS Evidence services and greater visual consistency across collections. As well as the technical developments, topic coverage will be extended and greater emphasis will be placed on quality assurance and standardisation of processes and products across topic areas.

  The current Specialist Collection service is contracted out to 21 distinct organisations (with an overall headcount of approx. 80 staff). The contracts for these services are due to end on 31st March 2011. In order to achieve the quality, consistency and standardisation objectives listed above, NHS Evidence are aiming to rationalise the provision of the core service to three Clinical Hub Centres. One of these will be in-house and Manchester based. The other two will be contracted out.

  Aim.

  The purpose of this tender is the provision of the service of these two Clinical Hub Centres from April 1st 2011. Each contracted out hub will cover 8 to 10 speciality areas; the specific range of areas will be discussed at the Supplier Day later in July.

  Key activities of each centre will include hand-picking content from sources routinely ingested by NHS Evidence, searching and identifying content from specialist sources, tagging resources/allocating to an agreed taxonomy, identifying entries for UK DUETs (UK Database of Uncertainties about the Effects of Treatment), preparing and programme managing Evidence Updates on selected key topics within the hub’s remit (there are currently over 60 Evidence Updates in total across all specialist collections, but this number is likely to increase). Managing and quality assuring the activities of each hub will be part of the service.

  The development of the new technology platform is not included in the scope of this tender. Activities of the Hub Centres will focus on the identification and appraisal of high quality and relevant content. The technology solution to create records, add metadata and publish resources to users will be provided by NHS Evidence.

• II.1.6)
  Common procurement vocabulary (CPV)

  73000000, 72312000, 72311100, 72310000, 72312100, 72313000, 72314000, 72315000, 72315100, 72315200, 72316000, 79410000, 79411000, 85141000, 85148000, 85121200

• II.1.7)
  Contract covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

  No

• II.1.8)
  Division into lots

  Yes

  tenders should be submitted for one or more lots

• II.1.9)
  Variants will be accepted

  Yes

• II.2)
  QUANTITY OR SCOPE OF THE CONTRACT
• II.2.1)
  Total quantity or scope

  The purpose of this tender is the provision of the service of these two Clinical Hub Centres from April 1st 2011. Each contracted out hub will cover 8 to 10 speciality areas; the specific range of areas will be discussed at the Supplier Day later in July.

  Key activities of each centre will include hand-picking content from sources routinely ingested by NHS Evidence, searching and identifying content from specialist sources, tagging resources/allocating to an agreed taxonomy, identifying entries for UK DUETs (UK Database of Uncertainties about the Effects of Treatment), preparing and programme managing Evidence Updates on selected key topics within the hub’s remit (there are currently over 60 Evidence Updates in total across all specialist collections, but this number is likely to increase). Managing and quality assuring the activities of each hub will be part of the service.

  The development of the new technology platform is not included in the scope of this tender. Activities of the Hub Centres will focus on the identification and appraisal of high quality and relevant content. The technology solution to create records, add metadata and publish resources to users will be provided by NHS Evidence.

II.2.2)
Options

• II.3)
  DURATION OF THE CONTRACT OR TIME-LIMIT FOR COMPLETION

  Duration in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

INFORMATION ABOUT LOTS

LOT NO: 1

TITLE Clinical Hub Centre 1

• 1)SHORT DESCRIPTION

  As main body of notice.

• 2)COMMON PROCUREMENT VOCABULARY (CPV)

  73000000, 72312000, 72311100, 72310000, 72312100, 72313000, 72314000, 72315000, 72315100, 72315200, 72316000, 79410000, 79411000, 85141000, 85148000, 85121200

• 3)QUANTITY OR SCOPE

  As main body of notice.

• 4)INDICATION ABOUT DIFFERENT DATE FOR DURATION OF CONTRACT OR STARTING/COMPLETION

  Duration in months: 36 (from the award of the contract)

• 5)ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT LOTS

  As main body of notice.

LOT NO: 2

TITLE Clinical Hub Centre 2

• 1)SHORT DESCRIPTION

  As main body of notice.

• 2)COMMON PROCUREMENT VOCABULARY (CPV)

  73000000, 72312000, 72311100, 72310000, 72312100, 72313000, 72314000, 72315000, 72315100, 72315200, 72316000, 79410000, 79411000, 85141000, 85148000, 85121200

• 3)QUANTITY OR SCOPE

  As main body of notice.

• 4)INDICATION ABOUT DIFFERENT DATE FOR DURATION OF CONTRACT OR STARTING/COMPLETION

  Duration in days 36 (from the award of the contract)

• 5)ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT LOTS

  As main body of notice.

SECTION III: LEGAL, ECONOMIC, FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION

• III.1)
  CONDITIONS RELATING TO THE CONTRACT

III.1.1)
Deposits and guarantees required

• III.1.2)
  Main financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions regulating them

  As detailed in the Invitation to Tender (ITT).

• III.1.3)
  Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded

  As detailed in the Invitation to Tender (ITT).

• III.1.4)
  Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

  No

• III.2)
  CONDITIONS FOR PARTICIPATION
• III.2.1)
  Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

  Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met: As detailed in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire.

• III.2.2)
  Economic and financial capacity

  Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met: As detailed in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire.

• III.2.3)
  Technical capacity

  Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if requirements are met:

  As detailed in the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire and Invitation to Tender.

• III.2.4)
  Reserved contracts

  No

• III.3)
  CONDITIONS SPECIFIC TO SERVICES CONTRACTS
• III.3.1)
  Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession

  No

• III.3.2)
  Legal entities should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service

  No

SECTION IV: PROCEDURE

• IV.1)
  TYPE OF PROCEDURE
• IV.1.1)
  Type of procedure

  Competitive dialogue

• IV.1.2)
  Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

  Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates: No limitation.

• IV.1.3)
  Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

  Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated No

• IV.2)
  AWARD CRITERIA
• IV.2.1)
  Award criteria

  The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document

• IV.2.2)
  An electronic auction will be used

  No

• IV.3)
  ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

IV.3.1)
File reference number attributed by the contracting authority

• IV.3.2)
  Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

  Prior information notice

  Notice number in OJ: 2010/S 129-197613 of 7.7.2010

• IV.3.3)
  Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents

  Time limit for receipt of requests for documents or for accessing documents 4.8.2010 - 17:00

  Payable documents No

• IV.3.4)
  Time-limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate

  16.8.2010 - 17:00

• IV.3.5)
  Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

  23.8.2010

• IV.3.6)
  Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up

  English.

IV.3.7)
Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender

IV.3.8)
Conditions for opening tenders

SECTION VI: COMPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

• VI.1)
  THIS IS A RECURRENT PROCUREMENT

  No

• VI.2)
  CONTRACT RELATED TO A PROJECT AND/OR PROGRAMME FINANCED BY EU FUNDS

  No

• VI.3)
  ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

  Suppliers Day.

  The NICE Supplier Day was advertised in the PIN notice published on TED and the NICE website and took place on Friday 23rd July 2010 at the NICE offices in London.

  The presentation given to suppliers attending the supplier day is available to all interested suppliers on request to Irene.walker@nice.org.uk, a copy of this presentation can also be downloaded from the NICE website, Tenders page.

  Further Information.

  For further information about the current Specialist Collections service and the new Clinical Hub Centres, please use the following links:

  Tender information:

  http://www.nice.org.uk/aboutnice/tenders

  Current Specialist Collections:

  http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/aboutus/Pages/Listofspecialistcollections.asp...

  NICE and NHS Evidence:

  http://www.evidence.nhs.uk/default.aspx

  http://www.nice.org.uk

• VI.4)
  PROCEDURES FOR APPEAL

VI.4.1)
Body responsible for appeal procedures

• VI.4.2)
  Lodging of appeals

  Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals: NICE will incorporate a minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the point information on the award of the contract is communicated to tenders. This Period allows unsuccessful tenderers to seek further debriefing from the contracting authority before the contract is entered into.

  Applicants have 2 working days from the notification of the award decision to request additional debriefing and that information has to be provided a minimum of 3 working days before the expiry of the standstill period. Such additional information should be requested from the contracting authority named in section l.1.

  If an appeal regarding the award of a contract has not been successfully resolved the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 (SI2006 No 5.) provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by breach of the rules to take action in the High Court (England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Any such action must be brought promptly (generally within three months).

  Where a contract has not been entered into, the Court may order the setting aside of the award decision or order the authority to amend any document and may award damages. If the contract has been entered into the Court may only award damages.

VI.4.3)
Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

• VI.5)
  DATE OF DISPATCH OF THIS NOTICE:

  22.7.2010