NHS ROTHERHAM PROCUREMENT SCHEME

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1 NHS ROTHERHAM PROCUREMENT SCHEME Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) Volume 1 Instructions and guidance for completion Version 2 March

2 Table of Contents 1 PURPOSE AND ORGANISATION OF THIS DOCUMENT Purpose of this document Organisation of this document INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW THE PQQ PROCESS Issue of the PQQ Return of the Conflict of Interest Declaration PQQ Clarification Questions and Answers PQQ Deadline for Responses PQQ Evaluation Right to Cancel, Clarify or Vary the Process PQQ Clarification Questions from NHS Rotherham Right to Reject and/or Disqualify Pre-Qualification INSTRUCTIONS ON COMPLETING THE PQQ

3 1 PURPOSE AND ORGANISATION OF THIS DOCUMENT 1.1 Purpose of this document The Pre-Qualification Document (PQQ) is designed to secure the necessary reassurances about: o the capacity, capability and eligibility of Potential Bidders to satisfy the minimum requirements for this NHS Rotherham procurement; and o the successful completion of the procurement process itself. This document provides: o background to the PQQ process; and o instructions for completing the PQQ The PQQ responses will be evaluated by NHS Rotherham and the results will determine which Potential Bidders are issued with NHS Rotherham Invitation to Tender (ITT) documentation for this procurement. 1.2 Organisation of this document This document is intended to be read in conjunction with the NHS Rotherham Procurement Memorandum of Information (MOI), which can be accessed from the Bravo e tendering system at: 2 INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW Please refer to the NHS Rotherham MOI for further background information on this Procurement and the factors that will be critical to its success. Those Potential Bidders who are successful in their PQQ submission will be invited to submit a tender. 3 THE PQQ PROCESS 3.1 Issue of the PQQ The PQQ will be available on Bravo, to all Potential Bidders who registered their interest in this Procurement. All Potential Bidders wishing to bid for the NHS Rotherham procurement must complete and submit a PQQ on Bravo by the deadline stated thereon. The results of the PQQ evaluation will determine which Potential Bidders are issued with the NHS Rotherham Invitation to Tender (ITT) documentation for this procurement. Bravo is the chosen provider of e tendering solutions for all NHS Rotherham s procurements and should you experience any technical difficulties whilst using the Bravo system you should contact the Bravo Helpdesk on: Phone: +44 (0) E mail: help@bravosolution.co.uk 3

4 Should you have questions relating to the PQQ content then please use the messaging service within the Bravo portal to submit your question. You will then receive a written response via the system. This ensures that there is a fully auditable process capturing all questions and answers raised. Answers will be shared with other bidders where NHS Rotherham deems it appropriate to the fairness of the procurement. Failure to return a competed PQQ by the deadline above will normally result in the disqualification of the Potential Bidder from participating in the Procurement 3.2 Return of the Conflict of Interest Declaration In order to further ensure a fair and competitive procurement process, NHS Rotherham requires that all actual or potential conflicts of interest are declared to the organisation. Without limitation, such conflicts of interest may be perceived by NHS Rotherham to arise in circumstances where: A Relevant Organisation or any person employed or engaged by or otherwise connected with a Relevant Organisation has carried out or is carrying out any work for NHS Rotherham or the DH in the last six months; A Relevant Organisation is providing services for more than one Potential Bidder in respect of this project or procurement process. The Conflict of Interest Declaration, provided with the PQQ document, must be completed by an authorised signatory, in his / her own name, on behalf of the Potential Bidder. NHS Rotherham should be immediately notified, by to Doug Hershaw, Head of Procurement at Doug.Hershaw@rotherham.nhs.uk in the event that any actual or potential conflict of interest comes to a Potential Bidder s attention following the submission of the Potential Bidder s Conflict of Interest Declaration. 3.3 PQQ Clarification Questions and Answers A clarification question and answer process will operate during the PQQ stage as explained below. The objective of the PQQ clarification process is to give Potential Bidders the opportunity to submit questions to NHS Rotherham where they require clarification on the information contained in the PQQ. Potential Bidders should submit clarification questions through Bravo. Clarification questions received by any other method will not receive a response. The period in which Potential Bidders can raise clarification questions commences on the day the PQQ is issued. NHS Rotherham will seek to answer clarification questions within five working days following the day of receipt. Potential Bidders are urged to review the PQQ immediately upon receipt and identify and submit any clarification questions as soon as possible and in any event no later than 5 working days prior to the closing date as stated within the MOI or on Bravo, details on the latter taking precedence over those stated within the former. Any clarification questions received after this time will not be answered. 4

5 In order to treat Potential Bidders fairly, NHS Rotherham will normally provide an anonymised copy of any clarification questions, and the answers to those questions, to all Potential Bidders. This will be provided in digest form, periodically updated and uploaded to Bravo for all Potential Bidders. Provision will be made for Potential Bidders to request clarification in confidence, but in responding to such requests NHS Rotherham will reserve the right to act in what it considers a fair manner and in the best interests of the Procurement, which may include uploading to Bravo and/or circulating the response to all potential Bidders. Potential Bidders should note that no further information in addition to that provided in the MOI will be provided about the NHS Rotherham Procurement at this time. More detailed information on NHS Rotherham s requirements will be made available in the NHS Rotherham ITT documentation. Under no circumstances should Potential Bidders approach NHS Rotherham, its staff or advisers seeking further information in relation to the Procurement in general. Any such approaches (direct or indirect) may result in the Potential Bidder s exclusion from further consideration in the Procurement. 3.4 PQQ Deadline for Responses The PQQ submission must be completed in accordance with the instructions contained within the MOI, PQQ and appearing on the Bravo system. If there is a variance between the date appearing in the MOI and on Bravo, the date appearing in Bravo will take precedence. Failure to submit a completed PQQ by the deadline above will normally result in the disqualification of the Potential Bidder from participating in this Procurement. 3.5 PQQ Evaluation The PQQ evaluation criteria and process for the Procurement is outlined below. Potential Bidders should note that NHS Rotherham reserves the right to vary the selection procedure to support continued competition, avoid unnecessary bidding costs, and adhere to subsequent technical or legal guidance, or for other reasons at its sole discretion. The evaluation of responses at PQQ stage will consist of three elements as outlined below: Preliminary compliance review; Initial evaluation; and Detailed evaluation Preliminary Compliance Review The information supplied in the PQQ by each Potential Bidder will be checked for completeness and compliance with the requirements of the PQQ before responses are evaluated. The preliminary compliance review will check that submissions: Answer all questions (or explain satisfactorily if considered not applicable); Have clearly identified the proposed Service Provider(s); Are made in the format, medium and quantity requested; and Have been provided with a signed Declaration of Consent form, Conflict of Interest Declaration and the Declaration. 5

6 Where, in the opinion of NHS Rotherham a response is non-compliant, the Potential Bidder may be excluded from further consideration. Failure to provide a satisfactory response (or any response) to any element of the PQQ may result in NHS Rotherham not proceeding further with that Potential Bidder Initial Evaluation At initial evaluation, unsatisfactory answers in the following areas may result in a failure to pre-qualify and be short-listed: Previous failure to complete a significant contract (if one held) and / or previous or ongoing damages claims; Ongoing liabilities which threaten the Potential Bidder s solvency; Unresolved conflicts of interest; Failure to accept the key commercial terms as set out in the MOI; Failure to provide details of referees; Failure to include an appropriate statement of health and safety policy (as detailed in Section E.1) or have in place adequate arrangements to have health and safety policy in place by ITT stage Detailed Evaluation At the detailed evaluation stage, Potential Bidders will be scored against their answers to questions grouped in the following categories: Capacity, capability & experience, including organisation and Information Management & Technology Clinical capabilities & experience (if/where relevant to this procurement) Financial & economic standing (including minimum financial & legal requirements) Environmental & Ethical standards Vertical Integration (if/where relevant to this procurement) Details of the scoring system for the responses is attached within the Bravo portal for information 3.6 Right to Cancel, Clarify or vary the Process NHS Rotherham reserves the right to: cancel the Procurement, including the selection and evaluation process, at any time; require a Potential Bidder and/or its supply chain members to clarify its/their submission in writing and/or provide additional information (a failure to respond adequately may result in a Potential Bidder not qualifying); and/or amend the terms and conditions of the process 3.7 PQQ Clarification Questions from NHS Rotherham NHS Rotherham reserves the right to require Potential Bidders to clarify their PQQ submissions in writing or in Bravo. Any such request will be made by e mail or via Bravo to the Potential Bidder s nominated representative. Such clarification questions do not seek to elicit additional information to that initially requested in the 6

7 PQQ, nor give Potential Bidders an opportunity to correct incomplete or otherwise non-compliant submissions. It is likely that any response to a clarification question will be required within two working days of request. Failure to respond adequately or in a timely manner to clarification questions may result in a Potential Bidder not being considered further in the Procurement. 3.8 Right to Reject and/or disqualify NHS Rotherham reserves the right to reject or disqualify a Potential Bidder and/or its supply chain members where: the PQQ is submitted late, is completed incorrectly, is incomplete or fails to meet the NHS Rotherham submission requirements which have been notified to Bidders; the Potential Bidder and/or its supply chain members is/are unable to satisfy the terms of Article 45 of Directive 2004/18/EC and/or Regulation 23 of The Public Contracts Regulations 2006 at any stage during the selection and evaluation process; the Potential Bidder and/or its supply chain members is/are guilty of serious misrepresentation in relation to its application and/or the process; there is a change in identify, control, financial standing or other factor impacting on the selection and/or evaluation process affecting the Potential Bidder and/or its supply chain members; or there is a conflict of interest arising between NHS Rotherham and the Potential Bidder and/or its supply chain members. 3.9 Pre-qualification Following evaluation of responses to the PQQ, Potential Bidders successfully meeting the requirements within the PQQ and outlined in this document will prequalify for this NHS Rotherham Procurement and all Potential Bidders advised of the outcome. 4 INSTRUCTIONS ON COMPLETING THE PQQ The PQQ comprises the sections summarised in the table below: Section A B C D Contents Details of the Potential Bidder and its business structure Declaration of Consent (to be completed as Annex A4) Legal and Regulatory Financial information General requirements 7

8 Section E F G H I J K L Contents Health and Safety Workforce Information Management &Technology (IM&T) Property Environmental Management & Ethical Procurement Vertical Integration Only relevant to secondary care providers Declaration Conflict of Interest Declaration Potential Bidders must complete all applicable parts of the PQQ on Bravo and supply any additional or supporting information as required. No other format should be used. Questions are to be answered in English and in the same order that the questions appear in the PQQ using the same numbering format. Where the Potential Bidder believes a question is not applicable, or cannot be answered, this should be clearly stated and an explanation must be provided. No response should be left blank. Where applicable, the terms Not known, Not available or Not applicable should be used and an explanation as to why the question is Not applicable is required. If the Potential Bidder is unclear as to whether or not a question is applicable to it, then use should be made of the Clarification Question mechanism (see 03.3 above). The inclusion of an executive summary, general marketing and company literature or any separate statement of reasons for selection is not required and will not be considered in the evaluation of the PQQ. Potential Bidders should not include any information beyond that requested in the PQQ. A Potential Bidder who fails to complete and return a PQQ by the stated deadline will be disqualified from participation in this Procurement, save in exceptional circumstances, where NHS Rotherham may exercise its discretion to allow a Potential Bidder to participate. In completing their PQQ submissions, Potential Bidders should not assume that NHS Rotherham has any prior knowledge of the Potential Bidder, its practice or reputation or its involvement in existing services, projects or procurements. In evaluating PQQ submissions, NHS Rotherham will only consider information provided in response to this PQQ. NHS Rotherham reserves the right to reject any Potential Bidder that fails to comply fully with the requirements of the process set out in this document, or which makes any misrepresentation in supplying any information requested. Each Potential Bidder is subject to an ongoing obligation to notify NHS Rotherham of any material changes to the information included in its PQQ response, including but not limited to changes to the identity of Relevant Organisations or the ownership or standing thereof. Changes should be notified as soon as they become apparent through the Bravo system Failure to notify NHS Rotherham of any material changes may lead to the Potential Bidder being liable for disqualification. In the event that the Potential Bidder notifies NHS Rotherham of a change to their PQQ response, NHS Rotherham reserves the right in its absolute 8

9 discretion to refuse to allow such a substitution or introduction of information. In exercising its absolute discretion to either refuse or allow such a change, NHS Rotherham may take into account whether such change is material to the delivery of the Services. Each Potential Bidder should complete only one PQQ and include information, where relevant, for all Relevant Organisations. It must be noted that the definition Relevant Organisation is specific and can be found in the glossary. If an organisation fulfils more than one role, it must complete all sections relevant to all roles e.g. a Potential Bidder may also be the Clinical Services Supplier and must therefore complete in full both Sections A and D. Potential Bidders will be responsible for the accuracy of all information concerning Relevant Organisations submitted to NHS Rotherham within the completed PQQ. 9