Essex Community Dental Service

Services provided: * Mandatory services and additional services for a minority of people whose oral care needs cannot be met through other local NHS primary care due to special needs. Includes urgent treatment. * Evidence based oral health improvement programmes. * Epidemiological studies. * Sedation services. * Domiciliary service. The original contract term was for 5 years. With an option to extend for 2 years - from 1 April 2016 for five years until 31 March 2022, and from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2024. At the end of the contract term, NHSE delegated commissioning of dental services to ICBs and a subsequent two-year contract was awarded under Direct Award C from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2026. It is intended that this contract is continued for one year ending 31 March 2027 to enable a full procurement for Essex to be undertaken by the new Essex ICB. A further one-year extension is proposed to ensure continuity of service in the event that Essex ICB is not legally able to procure before 31 March 2027. NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board are awarding the contract named within this notice under the Direct Award C process which is outlined within the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. The provider named in this notice is an existing provider and has been reviewed through a Key Criteria assessment to ensure the awarding body is satisfied with current performance and reasonably expects the provider to be able to satisfy the contract which is the subject of this notice. The contract which is the subject of this notice has not changed considerably when compared with the existing / previous contract delivered by the named provider. The ICB may wish to introduce additional services during the lifetime of the contract ("Contract modifications"). Such contract modifications will be contemplated where additional requirements are similar and or complementary to the services already included in the Specification, at any given time. Such expansion would be by the addition of services commissioned by the Authority as named in the Contract Notice. To this end, after the award of contract, there is a possibility that the contract may be varied as allowable in accordance with the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.