Procurement details: DHSC: OHID: Digitisation of the NHS Health Check, Alpha phase

• Summary of work:

  The Department for Health and Social care are seeking a multidisciplinary digital delivery team to deliver the alpha phase of a digital version of the existing NHS Health Check. This follows the conclusion of a successful Discovery in September 2022.

• Where the supplied staff will work:

  No specific location (for example they can work remotely)

• Why the work is being done:

  The NHS Health Check programme is commissioned by local authorities. It aims to prevent heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and some cases of dementia and kidney disease among people aged 40-74 years in England. It assesses the top 6 risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD), calculating a person’s risk of a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years and supporting people to access clinical management or prevention programmes to reduce their risk. A review of the programme, found that the programme could achieve greater impact through use of a digital approach to ‘transform all aspects of the NHS Health Check, including accessibility, scale, conduct and delivery.’ The Government’s commitment to develop a digital NHS Health Check was announced by the former Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and forms a part of DHSC’s Plan for Digital Health and Social Care. Our intention is to create a digital version of the NHS Health Check Programme. The vision is that this will be a national digital service, offering patients the same tests, access to results and support as an in-person check, increasing reach of the check and allowing in-person services to focus on those at highest risk.

• The business problem:

  Not enough eligible people are completing the NHS Health Check and participation has been declining year-on-year since 2014-15. Consequently, the programme is not contributing as much as it could to reducing premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality and morbidity as a result of conditions including hypertension, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease and some cases of dementia. The majority of NHS Health Checks are delivered in general practice. There is a need to diversify the delivery model in order to increase reach and allow in-person services to focus on those at highest risk. Following a Discovery in September 2022, we are seeking a supplier to provide multi-disciplinary delivery team to work with our in-house team to deliver an alpha phase and prototype and test different opportunities to provide a digitally transformed NHS Health Check.

• User type:

  Members of the General Public

• Definition:

  We have conducted a detailed user needs analysis as part of the discovery which is available upon request. Users include: • Individuals eligible for an NHS Health Check, the primary end user of the digital NHS Health Check. • Upper tier local authorities, have a legal responsibility to commission the NHS Health Check. For reporting, they will want to know the numbers of individuals being invited to, and taking up, a digital NHS Health Check. • Providers commissioned by local authorities to deliver the NHS Health Check. They are responsible for inviting participants—including prioritising which eligible individuals should be invited and when—delivering the checks and ensuring that data are returned to the individuals and GP. • General practices, may be providers of the NHS Health Check. They are also responsible for assessing results of the NHS Health Check for their patients and providing clinical management for individuals who complete their check. • Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) – National ownership of the NHS Health Check programme. OHID within DHSC is responsible for strategic oversight and national implementation of all aspects of the NHS Health Check programme.

• Work done so far:

  The Discovery phase, led by NHSE, was completed in September 2022 and recommended that we progress to Alpha. Prior to this, in 2019, PHE conducted an NHS Health Check digital exemplar. This discovery and alpha prototyped and tested approaches to addressing barriers faced by end users, providers and commissioners to engage with the check. A systematic literature review was conducted to strengthen the evidence on the influences of NHS Health Check behaviours. The more recent discovery builds on this and looks to validate previous user needs and understand whether needs have changed, particularly in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.

• Which phase the project is in:

  Alpha

• Existing team:

  The multidisciplinary Digital NHS Health Check team consists of policy leads, CVD and NHS Health Check subject matter specialists, digital transformation specialists, behavioural scientists, NHSE oversight and input, and programme delivery teams.

• Address where the work will be done:

  The work can be delivered remotely however the successful supplier may need to travel to DHSC sites if required but this would be limited.

• Working arrangements:

  The work will be delivered according to the standards and delivery principles documented in the Government Service Manual. Regular meetings will be held between the supplier and OHID delivery team via MS teams. We would expect these meetings to include all of the common agile ceremonies. Work may be carried out from multiple locations including the Supplier’s offices. Attendance at OHID offices in London may be required for meetings.

• Security and vetting requirements:

  Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

• Latest start date:

  24 April 2023

• Contract length:

  0 years 6 months 0 days

• Optional extension:

  0 years 3 months 0 days

• special term or condition:

  The contract will be divided into two separate parts. Schedule 1: Further exploration and research: In this phase, we will review all previous work completed, test different assumptions, designs and prototypes before deciding what options to take further in our second phrase. Schedule 2: Prototyping and testing potential solutions: There will be a break clause included between schedules 1 and 2. This is because allowing the work to progress onto schedule two will require the satisfactory assessment of the completed work under schedule 1, and subsequent authorisation to proceed to schedule 2 from the CDDO assurance board.

• Indicative maximum:

  £1230000

• Indicative minimum:

  The contract value is not specified by the buyer

• Further information:

  A maximum of £1.23m (inclusive of VAT) is available to deliver schedules 1 and 2 of the project. Suppliers must submit responses, based on time and materials required to deliver the objectives and outcomes outlined in the specification. Tender responses need to appropriately apportion budget across the two schedules based on the objectives/outcomes. However, excessive weighting of resources to schedule 1, increases the risk of unaffordability of schedule 2 if the break clause were applied, and will not be considered acceptable. Allocation of resources of over 50% to schedule one will be scrutinised to ensure the cost balance is evidenced.

• Contracted out service or supply of resource?:

  Contracted out service: the off-payroll rules do not apply

• How many suppliers to evaluate:

  5

• Technical Competence:

  70%

• Cultural fit:

  10%

• Social values:

  0%

• Price:

  20%

• Essential skills and experience:

  35%

• Nice-to-have skills and experience:

  15%

• Technical questions:

  50%

• Description:

  Demonstrate successfully leading strategic, user-centred design work to understand the end-to-end lived experience of users and the professionals who deliver services.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Description:

  Demonstrate recent experience (within the last 2 years) of designing and prototyping digital services that meet Government service and technology standards.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Description:

  Demonstrate a full understanding and demonstrable experience of a wide range of research and design methodologies for designing high-volume digital services which have a diverse mix of users.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Description:

  Demonstrate experience of delivering solutions using flexible models including resource.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Description:

  Be able to demonstrate recent experience (within the last 2 years) of supporting organisations to develop digital services that meet the Government Service Standard.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Description:

  Demonstrate understanding and previous experience working with health, social care or local government services.

• Weighting:

  25%

• Description:

  Demonstrate understanding of when and how to use different types of and fidelity of artefacts and prototypes to validate concepts and communicate and get buy-in from a range of stakeholders.

• Weighting:

  25%

• Description:

  Have experience designing services for users with low digital literacy and seldom-heard audiences/those most impacted by inequalities.

• Weighting:

  25%

• Description:

  Be familiar with the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) process and have knowledge or experience of clinical safeguarding. Be familiar with the requirements for achieving medical device status.

• Weighting:

  25%

• Question:

  Please provide a case study evidencing where you have delivered an Alpha phase for a digital product of a similar scale. Please include your delivery approach and methodology, timeframes, risks and dependencies

• Weighting:

  100%

• Question:

  Outline your style to working diplomatically and sensitively with cross-government team members, all user groups, working groups, and external stakeholders.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Demonstrate how you will be transparent, collaborative and consultative when providing advice to decision-makers.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Demonstrate how you will share knowledge and experience with other team members.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Describe how you will be comfortable in advocating for and delivering agile practices, user centred and inclusive design.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Question:

  Describe how you will engage with stakeholders to progress a project and communicating in an appropriate manner for the audience.

• Weighting:

  20%

• Pricing model:

  Capped time and materials

• Additional assessment methods:

  Presentation

  Case study

  Work history

• Question and answer session details:

  We will hold a webinar via Microsoft teams. This webinar will involve a presentation from the in-house team and provide an opportunity for prospective suppliers to ask questions. We advise that you familiarise yourself with the DOS advertisement and specification ahead of the session. We would encourage you to submit questions in advance of the session if possible. The session will take place on Thursday 9th February, 14:00–15:00 If you are interested in attending the session please email nhshealthcheck@dhsc.gov.uk.

• Level:

  Not Met

• Score:

  0

• Description:

  Failure to understand and/or failure to substantial failure to provide and/or provides no confidence that the requirement will be delivered.

• Level:

  Partially Met

• Score:

  1

• Description:

  The response meets elements of the requirement but gives concern in a number of significant areas. There are reservations because the response shows: • Some misunderstandings of the requirements; • Generally, a low level of information and detail provided; • The Tenderer fails to meet the requirement in many ways and/or materially in one or more ways; • Provides insufficient confidence that the Tenderer’s proposal will meet and deliver the requirements

• Level:

  Meets

• Score:

  2

• Description:

  The response broadly meets what is expected for the criteria. There are some areas of concern. The response therefore shows: • The Tenderer, generally, understands and addresses issues appropriately; • Some areas of misunderstanding of the requirements; • A generally low level of information and detail provided; • More of a “model answer” than a true commitment; • The response only provides some confidence that the Tenderer’s proposal will deliver requirements

• Level:

  Good

• Score:

  3

• Description:

  The response clearly meets the required standard in all material respects. There are no significant areas of concern. The response therefore shows: • A good understanding of the issues; • A good level of detail; • Demonstrable evidence that the proposals are achievable; • The response therefore provides a good level of confidence the Tenderer’s proposal will deliver the requirements

• Level:

  Exceeds

• Score:

  4

• Description:

  The response clearly exceeds many aspects of the criteria. There are no significant areas of concern. The response therefore shows: • A very good understanding of the requirements; • Clear, detailed proposals of how and what will be delivered; and • The response therefore provides a high degree of confidence that the Tenderer’s proposal will meet the requirements.

• Publication of stage 1:

  07/02/2023

• Clarification period closes:

  10/02/2023 12:00

• Deadline for suppliers to submit their stage 1 responses:

  2023-02-21T16:00:00Z

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