RiO trusts tender gets 33 responses

Thirty-three organisations have responded to a collaborative tender for clinical information systems that is being run by 30 community and mental health trusts in London and the South.

A procurement process was launched last month in preparation for the end of the trusts’ national RiO contracts in 2015.

It is looking to create a framework agreement worth between £50m and £300m over four years, depending on what the trusts take from it, and whether other trusts choose to use the framework over its lifetime.

Peter Gooch, the chair of the 2015 Clinical Information System Consortium, which represents the RiO trusts that received the system as part of the National Programme for IT in the NHS, said 33 organisations have responded to the pre-qualification questionnaire for one or more of the services lots.

The 30 trusts will have different needs, so the tender has been split into three lots. The first is for application software, deployment (including data migration), change management and maintenance. This received 20 submissions.

The second lot is for hosting services and attracted 17 submissions. And the third, for reporting, integration, interfacing, interoperability and cross care setting functionality, had the most submissions, at 27.

“The number of PQQ’s back from the potential bidders represents a good cross-section of service providers,” said Gooch.

“We are confident that it will provide a varied range of choice from which trusts can select the provider that best meets their individual needs.”

He said the PQQ’s will be fully evaluated over the next two months and a shortlisted number of potential bidders will then be selected for inclusion in the invitation to tender stage.

The aim is to have invitations issued to shortlisted companies this October.

Gooch added that the intention is to complete the award of framework contracts by mid next year, so that trusts can select their individual suppliers and award call-off contracts during the second half of 2013.

This will allow plenty of time to “plan, manage and deliver any transition that may be required in time for the end of the national contracts in 2015,” he said.