GP Systems of Choice Lot 3 How to Buy Guide

Transcription

1 GP Systems of Choice Lot 3 How to Buy Guide Contents 1. Introduction 2. Disclaimer 3. Benefits of Catalogue 4. The Buying Process 5. Selection Process 6. Legal Documentation 7. Completing the Contract 8. Key Contract Terms 9. Data Processing 10. Data Sharing 11. Further support Annex A The Selection Process Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 1

2 1. Introduction This guide explains how to buy services from the Catalogue ( Catalogue ). The Catalogue is managed by the Authority under the terms of the Framework Agreement. The suppliers listed in the Catalogue are signatories of that Framework Agreement. For the purpose of this guide, the Authority means the Secretary of State for Health acting as part of the Crown and by HSCIC as its agent. 2. Disclaimer The information in this document is for guidance purposes only. It is not a recommendation for purchase in relation to any suppliers or services. Your organisation must take responsibility for its own decisions and pay due regard to relevant procurement law at all times. The Authority does not endorse and, other than as explicitly identified in the Catalogue, has not assured or accredited the services offered for sale on the Catalogue. Therefore, you must undertake your own validation, testing and assurance activities, as required. 3. Benefits of using the Catalogue The Catalogue is a website which lists all available services. Click here to go to the Lot 3 online catalogue The benefits of using the Catalogue for purchasing services under the GPSoC framework are: It is open to everyone in the public sector who purchases IT services that interoperate between systems and services used in care settings outside the GP practice and systems and services in use in the GP practice; There is no need to run your own Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) or Invitation to Tender the procurement has already been done and you just need to follow a selection process to choose the services you require under the framework (see below); The Catalogue shows service details, options, and pricing information which enables you to easily find and compare potential solutions against your needs and budget; The Catalogue enables users to call-off services under consistent contract terms; Suppliers may bring additional services onto the Catalogue during the life of the framework, keeping the Catalogue up to date with current demands. Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 2

3 4. The Buying Process The steps represented in the diagram above will involve the following activities: Step 1 Activities Involved Understand what services you need and create a list of any specific requirements 2 Search the Catalogue for appropriate services 3 Create a list of potential suppliers Review the list of suppliers, request further details from suppliers (where necessary) and create your shortlist Assess shortlist of suppliers by applying the selection process (see section 5 below) Select your services and enter into the Call-Off Agreement with the relevant supplier. Please note that purchasing services through this framework remains subject to your local approvals process at all times. Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 3

4 5. Selection Process Whenever services are selected from the Catalogue, a selection process must be run to meet the requirements of EU Procurement Law. The selection process applicable to GPSoC Lot 3 services is set out in Annex A to this guidance document. If you have enough information available in the Catalogue, you may run the selection process without seeking further information or proposals from potential suppliers. Otherwise, you may contact the suppliers and request more information about their services and pricing. When running a selection process, you should take into account the following guidance: Only compare suppliers on the Lot 3 Catalogue who are delivering the the same type of services (for example you should compare only Electronic Health Record systems against other Electronic Health Record systems). All relevant suppliers on the Lot 3 Catalogue must be considered in the selection process, however not all need to be scored. For example, a decision can be made to only score services that meet certain criteria e.g. are hosted, are compliant with certain Standards etc. Only suppliers that are part of the framework can be included in the selection process. You only need to complete scores for relevant criteria. Your assessment of suppliers throughout the selection process should always be as fair and transparent as possible. You must record your decision and justification for appointing the supplier as the provider of services in an internal written report in all cases. If you require further information regarding the selection process, please contact the GPSoC team on the contact details included in section 11 below. 6. Legal Documentation One of the key benefits of this framework is to provide consistent ordering and contracting procedures common to all Suppliers and Call Off Ordering Parties. Therefore: Services purchased through this framework must be ordered using the Lot 3 Order Form; and The Call Off Agreement (including terms set out in the Order Form) will apply to all purchases made through this framework. The template Lot 3 Call Off Agreement can be found on the GPSoC website at Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 4

5 7. Completing the Contract Once you have selected the supplier and services (using the selection process above), you will need to enter into a Call Off Agreement with that supplier. The table below sets out steps and guidance to completion of the contract documentation: Once you have selected a supplier, you must complete the Order Form. In the Order Form, set out all details such as: scope of the services, price, term, implementation and performance management. Some of this information can be taken from the Catalogue In the Order Form, you may agree the optional implementation plan with the supplier (as set out at Schedule C1) In the Order Form, you may also agree any Special contract terms (such as service levels or enhanced licence terms) plus any additional plans with the supplier (such as an exit plan) A purchasing organisation may purchase services on behalf of a number of service recipients (e.g. Trusts, CCGs, GP Practices etc). The Order Form must be signed by you and the supplier. Once signed, the Order Form and Call Off Agreement will create legally binding obligations between you and the supplier. We strongly suggest you review all of the documentation and guidance available on the GPSoC website before placing your order. 8. Key Contract Terms The following key contract terms are applicable to all services purchased through this framework. Please familiarise yourself with the terms below: i. Prices Charges agreed with suppliers in the Order Form must be consistent with the prices and pricing mechanisms published on the Lot 3 Catalogue for the relevant Catalogue Items. However, due to the nature and complexity of some Lot 3 services, prices published on the Lot 3 Catalogue may be indicative only. Therefore, you are advised to ensure that you establish prices that will apply to you with relevant suppliers and undertake your own local negotiation as necessary in order to agree applicable prices and payment profile for your specific project. Further details (terms and conditions) are found in the Framework Agreement under Schedule 3 (Catalogue Terms). Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 5

6 ii. Term Initially the term of the Lot 3 Call Off Agreement could not extend beyond 31 December In April 2016 the end date was extended to 30 September 2019 and this is the default end date in the current Call Off Agreement template available on the GPSoC website. You can agree to have a shorter Call Off Agreement Term, but 30 September 2019 is the latest date permitted. A Call Off Agreement can be terminated by you at any time on 3 months written notice to the supplier. iii. Implementation Due to the nature of Lot 3 services, a suitable implementation plan should be agreed with suppliers as part of the ordering process. An optional arrangement for the implementation plan is set out in Schedule C1 to the Call Off Agreement. If an alternative plan is to be used, this should be set out in the Special Terms (Section D to the Call Off Agreement). The implementation plan should clearly define the activities required to deliver the Lot 3 services. The plan should: identify milestones and associated deliverables; identify any milestones that trigger payment to the supplier and sums due on delivery of those milestones; set out any delay payments if the supplier fails to deliver certain milestones; set out any other consequences if there is a failure to meet milestones or other obligations set out in the implementation plan, depending on cause and likely consequences; align with the agreed terms set out in the Order Form - for example, milestone payments should correspond with charges set out in section 7 of the Order Form. In addition, you should agree any testing plans with the supplier as Special Terms or as part of the Plan Approval Process (see clause 10 of Call Off Agreement). Please note that clauses 5-9 of the Call Off Agreement govern implementation of the Lot 3 services. iv. Service Levels There are no defined service level requirements within the Lot 3 contract documentation. The intention is for suppliers and customers to agree service levels and Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 6

7 performance monitoring terms on a case-by-case basis. A supplier may propose its own standard service levels (for approval by the customer) or the customer may propose its own service level requirements. An example service level schedule can be found on the GPSoC Lot 2 website see Call Off Agreement Schedule C4 (Service Level Specification and Performance Monitoring). The agreed terms relating to service levels and performance monitoring must be incorporated into the Call Off Agreement as Special Terms. v. Additional Orders Once services have been called-off using the processes described above, you may order additional services from a supplier without entering into a new Selection Process and Order Form. However, please note that the services need to be the same as those set out in the original order. For example, you may add new parties to the list of Service Recipients. To do this, you will need to maintain Schedule A3 to the Order Form as an on-going services schedule. Once you have agreed the changes with the supplier, then you and the supplier will update, sign and date Schedule A3. However, if you wish to order different catalogue items from the same supplier, then you will need to run a Selection Process and enter into a new Order Form. 9. Data Processing Data processing deed A Supplier who processes (or intends to process) any personal data on behalf of GP Practices, as part of the services, must execute a data processing deed, as prescribed by the Authority. This is a contractual requirement which suppliers must meet in order to offer a compliant Lot 3 service (see clause 35.7 of the Call Off Agreement) For the purpose of this guide, we refer to this document as the Deed. Why is this necessary? The Information Commissioner directed that GP IT system suppliers who handle personal data (i.e. patient data) for GP Practices must have a direct contract with the GP Practice covering how that data is processed. The Deed has been created by the Authority to satisfy this requirement. Is this relevant to your services? Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 7

8 If the service you are purchasing involves a supplier processing personal data (as described below), they will need to have executed the Deed in order for their GPSoC Services to be compliant with the terms of the Lot 3 Framework. To determine whether a Service falls into this category, please note the following definitions: Processing, in relation to information or data, means obtaining, recording or holding the information or data or carrying out any operation or set of operations on the information or data, including (a) organisation, adaptation or alteration of the information or data, (b) retrieval, consultation or use of the information or data, (c) disclosure of the information or data by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, or (d) alignment, combination, blocking, erasure or destruction of the information or data. Personal data means data which relate to a living individual who can be identified (a) from those data, or (b) from those data and other information which is in the possession of, or is likely to come into the possession of, the data controller, and includes any expression of opinion about the individual and any indication of the intentions of the data controller or any other person in respect of the individual. If you are unsure whether this requirement applies to the GPSoC Services you are purchasing, you may wish to refer to the Information Commissioner s website ( or to your legal advisers for further guidance. Who has signed the Deed? HSCIC maintains a list of suppliers who have signed and returned the Deed. This list will be published on the supplier page of the Lot 3 catalogue ( and you should check this as part of your initial enquiries and use it to inform your selection process. 10. Data Sharing Some Lot 3 services enable personal data to be shared between different Service Recipients. This may form a network of Data Controllers and Data Processors (as defined by the Data Protection Act 1998). The Call Off Agreement does not govern this activity, nor Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 8

9 does it extend to any data sharing arrangements which may need to be put in place to enable this flow of data. Whether you are acting as Data Controller, Data Processor or both, it remains your responsibility to ensure full compliance with data protection legislation and applicable guidelines. You should seek further legal advice if required. 11. Further Support For further support relating to the use of the Framework please contact Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 9

10 ANNEX A - The Selection Process Schedule 12 (Selectio Copyright 2016, Health and Social Care Information Centre. All rights reserved. 10