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18-month bid time for next NHS LIFT
21:00 05 Oct 2005
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The bidding period for fourth-wave NHS LIFT schemes will be extended to 18 months to allow for the inclusion of clinical and soft FM services, Partnerships for Health (PfH) chief executive Brian Johns said last week.
The number of sample designs will also be reduced to just two to encourage greater innovation.
Speaking at Contract Journal's NHS LIFT conference in London last week, Johns said experience on the first three waves had shown the original target of 12 months was too tight. "We planned to extend it to 15 months and with the addition of clinical services and soft FM we now feel 18 months is more appropriate."
Johns said funders are prepared to back the new arrangements. He told CJ: "We have had talks with a number of main lenders and they are getting comfortable with the concept."
He added that the private sector should recognise the opportunities this shift in NHS policy would bring. "What we need are entrepreneurial LIFTCos to seize these increasing opportunities and to widen the service scope."
Clinical services could be provided in a number of ways, Johns said. "It may be the primary care trusts (PCTs) want the LIFTCos to organise the procurement of clinical services for them or they may want the LIFTCos to directly provide the services. We want to give the PCTs the flexibility to do whatever is best locally."
Johns dismissed concerns at NHS plans to rationalise PCTs. "It is a complicated issue, but the amalgamation will have no impact in terms of contract, it does not raise any major obstacles to LIFTCos."
Johns also revealed the establishment of an NHS LIFT steering group that will meet for the first time in November. The group will provide a forum for discussing NHS LIFT issues and for gathering and disseminating information on benchmarking, continuous improvement, innovation and supply chain management. Members will include private sector players and officials from the Department of Health, PfH and PCTs.
Mark Calverley of Bevan Brittan also addressed the thorny issue of clinical services. He told delegates that PCTs are more likely to require assistance in the provision of a clinical service provider, not necessarily from the LIFTCo supply chain, rather than the direct provision or procurement of a provider.
"This would have a minimal effect on standardised documentation because it would require a separate contract between Clinico (the clinical services provider) and the PCTs."
The number of sample designs will also be reduced to just two to encourage greater innovation.
Speaking at Contract Journal's NHS LIFT conference in London last week, Johns said experience on the first three waves had shown the original target of 12 months was too tight. "We planned to extend it to 15 months and with the addition of clinical services and soft FM we now feel 18 months is more appropriate."
Johns said funders are prepared to back the new arrangements. He told CJ: "We have had talks with a number of main lenders and they are getting comfortable with the concept."
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He added that the private sector should recognise the opportunities this shift in NHS policy would bring. "What we need are entrepreneurial LIFTCos to seize these increasing opportunities and to widen the service scope."
Clinical services could be provided in a number of ways, Johns said. "It may be the primary care trusts (PCTs) want the LIFTCos to organise the procurement of clinical services for them or they may want the LIFTCos to directly provide the services. We want to give the PCTs the flexibility to do whatever is best locally."
Johns dismissed concerns at NHS plans to rationalise PCTs. "It is a complicated issue, but the amalgamation will have no impact in terms of contract, it does not raise any major obstacles to LIFTCos."
Johns also revealed the establishment of an NHS LIFT steering group that will meet for the first time in November. The group will provide a forum for discussing NHS LIFT issues and for gathering and disseminating information on benchmarking, continuous improvement, innovation and supply chain management. Members will include private sector players and officials from the Department of Health, PfH and PCTs.
Mark Calverley of Bevan Brittan also addressed the thorny issue of clinical services. He told delegates that PCTs are more likely to require assistance in the provision of a clinical service provider, not necessarily from the LIFTCo supply chain, rather than the direct provision or procurement of a provider.
"This would have a minimal effect on standardised documentation because it would require a separate contract between Clinico (the clinical services provider) and the PCTs."
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