Capita approved for NHS England’s lead provider framework for commissioning support services
Framework will be used to procure services with an estimated value of between £3-5billion by April 2016
Capita has announced that it has been approved by NHS England to join the Lead Provider Framework for Commissioning Support Services, which will be used to procure services with an estimated value of between £3-5billion by April 2016.
The framework will play a key role in supporting health service providers across the country over the next 12 to 18 months. Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) will be required to reprocure many of their support services by April 2016 in order to comply with EU procurement law. NHS England has put in place free procurement and legal support to reduce the burden on CCGs so that this process is as quick and simple as possible. It expects that the typical procurement process will only take three months to award each contract.
Capita and its supply chain partners, alongside only two other private sector consortia and nine NHS Commissioning Support Units and their partners, have been approved for the framework following a rigorous selection process. Capita has been approved for the core Lot 1, End-to-End Commissioning Support Services; and for Lot 2A, Specialist Decision Support Services – Medicines Management and Optimisation.
Lot 1 comprises a wide range of support services, such as back-office finance and HR, GP IT services, contracting, engagement and business intelligence. Lot 2A includes services for commissioners to support medicines procurement, the implementation of new national guidance and analysis of data to identify efficiencies in medicine use.
Andy Parker, Capita’s chief executive, said: “Our approval to join this framework is a testament to Capita’s experience in the health sector and wider public sector. The breadth and scale of services that will be procured through the new framework will transform service commissioning for the NHS and other healthcare providers. We are committed to supporting the NHS in enhancing its efficiency and delivering the best experience and care for patients.”
Neil Griffiths, Capita’s market director for health, added: “Our use of data-driven insight is fundamental to Capita’s proposal for this framework. Our expertise in this area will allow commissioning services to capitalise on the vast amount of data and information that they already have access to. Working with our partners, we will use our insight to help commissioners and service providers make better-informed decisions.”
In order to deliver the wide range of services that can be purchased through the framework, Capita has developed an extensive supply chain of partner organisations. The majority of these are specialist small-to-medium-sized enterprises and third-sector organisations, as well as a number of academic and international partners. Working with these organisations, Capita will bring the full strength of its expertise in the health sector to bear on the new commissioning framework.
The framework will also be available to other public sector organisations, both within the NHS and outside, including local authorities, who want to procure some or all of their support services.