Survey to support CCGs in choosing and buying commissioning support services

On 12^th June, NHS England published its strategy for supporting the development of a vibrant and dynamic market for commissioning support services where CCGs and other commissioners are able to choose the best services for them.

The focus of strategy complements other activities across NHS England to bolster the impact of support services on commissioning. NHS England’s Commissioning Development Team is looking to design a programme with CCGs and other commissioners to identify what support services they need to buy to achieve their goals and how to effectively manage supplier relationships.  But it is equally important that we hear from suppliers (CSUs and those from the independent and voluntary sector) on how they plan to meet these needs.

Our engagement with CCGs and other stakeholders so far has shown that many are looking to NHS England to support them in the future to buy their external commissioning support requirements. Many stakeholders have flagged a number of concerns and issues that we would like to explore further in order to develop the right solutions. For example:

• Concerns around potentially high transaction costs from carrying out procurement and a desire for clarification around when they need to procure
• Many CCGs feel unprepared to undertake procurement and see the need for external support to help them through the process
• Many CCGs were worried about having to source multiple contracts and liked the idea of buying the majority of their commissioning support through a ‘lead provider’ who can supply the full range of services (or simply those that are needed) through their in-house capability or through sub-contracting arrangements, eg with voluntary sector organisations
• Concerns around the timetable and risk of stifling the supply market if many CCGs go out to tender at the same time

Our engagement document that we published alongside the strategy – Supporting CCGs to buy commissioning support services – sets out some of the potential options that we would like to explore further, including:

• Supporting easy access to procurement advisors and mentors who can help buyers to work through specifications and the tender process
• Developing a robust but flexible call-off framework of pre-accredited ‘lead providers’
• Supporting collaboration between potential lead providers and other suppliers to ensure that CCGs can access the widest range of specialist services
• Supporting CCGs to undertake joint procurements with other CCGs to get a stronger and better value for money response from suppliers as well as potential phasing options to ensure suppliers have time to gear up to respond to tenders
• Developing standard service specifications and tender documents that CCGs can choose to use to support the process

The survey should only take 10 minutes, and your feedback will be invaluable in helping to co-create a practical approach to support CCGs in choosing the best commissioning support service in the future. The results will be used to inform our response and next steps that we aim to publish in the Autumn.