We have all been waiting with bated breath for the CCS Health Sector Resourcing Framework to land for several months, and now we have received some clarification regarding their plans for the provision of healthcare workforce services (including temporary clinical and non-clinical agency workers). It appears that there will be a coming together of the CCS and the NHS Procurement in Partnership (a four-hub collaboration which includes what we have historically known as the CPP / LPP/ EOECPH and NOECPH).
All of the services that were to fall under the framework that was referred to as Health Sector Resourcing (HSR) will now fall into a new portfolio of frameworks and together these will deliver the agency workforce services originally proposed by the CCS under the HSR framework
The most recent update together with Q&A (provided below in italics and published by the CCS on 4th February 2019) indicates the intention to publish a tender in February 2019 for the provision of Staff Bank services and at some point thereafter, there will be procurements for clinical and non-clinical agency services (timescale as yet not provided).
Crown Commercial Service and NHS Procurement in Partnership join together in workforce alliance
Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and NHS Procurement in Partnership are two public sector organisations coming together in collaboration to deliver the Flexible Resource Pool – Staff Bank
Services contract for the NHS and other public sector bodies.
Suppliers and customers will benefit from a strong partnership that brings together CCS, as the biggest public procurement organisation in the UK, combined with the extensive expertise and experience that NHS Procurement in Partnership has in the NHS.
NHS Procurement in Partnership is a four-Hub collaboration between NHS Commercial Solutions, East of England NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub, NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative and NHS London Procurement Partnership, previously known as NHS Collaborative Procurement Partnership (CPP).
This announcement updates the publication of the CCS strategy for the health workforce sector
last summer.
Our intention is for CCS and NHS Procurement in Partnership to work closely together, focusing on the forward strategy for the health workforce sector starting with the re-procurement of Flexible Resource Pool – Staff bank. The contract notice will be released in February 2019.
CCS and NHS Procurement in Partnership will be exploring the whole portfolio of health workforce services, including temporary clinical and non-clinical agency workers, with the intent to partner on the procurement, delivery, and management of these services. A full schedule of the planned phases of procurement will be communicated to our customers and suppliers in due course.
Frequently Asked Questions
- How are you planning to release tender documentation for new agreements?
Tender documentation for new opportunities will be available in the usual way through both CCS and NHS Procurement in Partnership websites. Notifications for opportunities will also be available on existing websites and through TED. - Will it still be released as one framework called HSR?
The alliance is seeking to procure a portfolio of framework agreements focusing on healthcare that serve central government, NHS and other public sector organisations. Together these agreements will deliver the services proposed by CCS under the HSR framework. - How are you intending to manage suppliers under collaboration frameworks?
Suppliers will continue to be managed against framework requirements, this will be undertaken as part of a blended alliance team. - Will tender opportunities be published by both collaboration members?
Opportunity notifications will be available on alliance member websites. - Who do customers and suppliers contact about existing and future frameworks?
Existing customers and suppliers should continue to contact their framework owner with enquiries on existing frameworks. Contact details will be provided for suppliers for each procurement. - Who do I contact if I require more information?
If you are not an existing customer or supplier (as stated above) and would like further information about the partnership, please contact lppworkforce@lpp.nhs.uk - What will the impact be on existing frameworks that do not fall within the collaboration?
There will be no change in the management of these frameworks. - When will the clinical and non-clinical agency agreements be released?
The schedule for upcoming procurements will be published in due course. - What are the timeframes for the new frameworks?
We are in the process of finalising timeframes for each of the frameworks and final information will be released in the near future. We are able to confirm that the replacement for workforce management (Flexible Resource Pool – Staff Banks) will be released first, which will, in turn, be followed by clinical agency staffing.
This is all we’ve got at the moment – so it’s a case of “watch this space” for more information!