Why have BHRUT put out tender to Close King George Hospital as an acute Hospital?

Earlier today I was sent a link


https://www.lppsourcing.org/procontract/LPP/attachment_5.nsf/dsp_frm_attachments/ATT-AE7C-9YZC5A/$FILE/Acute%20Reconfiguration%20Tender.doc

Which suggests BHRUT is asking private companies to draw up a plan to close King George Hospital as an acute hospital per the business case passed by Andrew Lansley, then Secretary of State for Health on 27 October 2011.

The 2011 closure plan would leave some community and other beds on the King George site, but it would be closed as as an acute Hospital taking emergency admissions.


I am seeking clarification as to what is happening from BHRUT as the 27 October 2011 Department of Health press release which passed the closure plan made clear there would be no changes made until the KGH & QH were found to be of a high standard by the CQC.

It also odd that BHRUT are planing to close King George as an acute Hospital when the NEL STP says a new hospital may be needed for NE London

An extract from the invitation to bid is below.

The time table is given as

I have cut and pasted the full tender below:

1. This is an invitation to tender only. Barking, Redbridge and Havering University NHS Trust (The Trust) reserves the right to vary any or all parts of the information contained in the Invitation to Tender and will review the tender return date accordingly if required.
2. Barking, Redbridge and Havering University NHS Trust intends to accept the tender which scores the most marks against the criteria set out in this ITT document. Barking, Redbridge and Havering University NHS Trust at its sole discretion, reserves the right to accept or reject any Bid submission. The Trust does not bind itself to accept the lowest priced or any tender and shall not be liable for any costs incurred in the production of your submission.
3. The Trust reserves the right to change the timing or any other aspect of the procurement process or to cancel the procurement process at any stage or not to proceed with the procurement for any reason whatsoever without prior notice. Under no circumstances will Barking, Redbridge and Havering University NHS Trust or any of its advisers be liable for any costs or expenses incurred by Bidders and/or their members in this procurement.
4. The Trust reserves the right not to disclose information that it feels would put them or it’s suppliers at a commercial or unacceptable contractual disadvantage.
5. All documents and all correspondence relating to this tender must be written in English.
6. Barking, Redbridge and Havering University NHS Trust may evaluate the financial status of the Preferred Bidder by reviewing its audited accounts for example to ensure contracting with it does not pose a risk to the Trust. Where the Trust feels the bidder does not have the financial capability to carry out the contract, it reserves the right to appoint the next highest placed bidder as Preferred Bidder (subject to the same assessment).

1. The Requirements

In 2010 the HfNEL Decision Making Business case was developed (Please see attached supporting documents file name: Decision Making Business Case 2010). The business case included the consolidation of Barking Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals Trust (BHRUT) Emergency Department services at Queen’s Hospital and the development of an enhanced Urgent Care Centre at King George Hospital. The Secretary of State formally signed off on the business case in February 2012.

In January of 2016 a new programme board, the North East London Acute Reconfiguration Programme Board (NELAR), was formed. Chaired by the Chief Executive of BHRUT, the board focused on the development of plans to implement the closure of the Emergency Department at King George Hospital in two phase, the first phase being the overnight closure and the second being the full closure. Further to the completion of detailed impact analysis in early summer 2016, Barts Health confirmed plans that would create the necessary capacity at Whipps Cross and Newham Hospitals by September 2017 to accommodate phase 1. Work is now on-going to finalise the plans and develop supporting assurance to achieve the overnight closure.

NELAR has agreement as part of the NEL STP, to commence work on the development of a business case for full closure, the completion of ED service centralisation at Queen’s Hospital and the development of an enhanced Urgent Care Centre at King George Hospital. The Trust has committed to developing a Business Case by March 2017. The format of this Business Case is yet to be confirmed with NHSE/NHSI, but it is likely to constitute an OBC/FBC conforming to using a five case model.

The Trust is seeking expertise from the market place in developing the Business Case by the end of February 2017 with approval process during March 2017 to enable implementation to commence as soon as possible in 2017. Suppliers are invited to provide sufficient information with supporting evidence to meet the requirements. All requirements are mandatory.

Responses to the Trust must be provided by 4pm on Tuesday 4 October 2016 in electronic format via Due North (Trust e-tendering portal). Printed copies of relevant materials are optional.

The Trust would be informing all suppliers of the outcome during week commencing Monday 10 October 2016.

2. Timetable

The timetable for the procurement is as follows:

Key Actions	Dates
Issue of Invitation to Tender	27th September 2016
Closing Date for Questions	3rd Oct 2016
Tender Return Deadline and initial review/evaluation of tenders	4th Oct 2016
Evaluation of tenders	10th Oct 2016
Contract Award	TBC
Contract Signed	TBC
Contract Work Commencement Date	TBC

3. Bid Submission’s

1. Bid submissions must be submitted in accordance with the following instructions;

• Tenders must be written in English and in Pounds Sterling
• Commercial proposal must be submitted separately from the technical proposal
• Bidders must not make any changes to the tender documents.
• Any attached files must be clearly named with both your company name and the subject matter of the data.
• All pages of the tender must be numbered (including any forms to be signed and returned).
• Hard copies of your written tender submission are not required/permitted. All bids Submissions to be received via Due North.

Evaluation Metric:

Outline Business Case 40%

Reference 10%

Project Management & Support 20%

Finance 30%

Appendix 1

Commercial Proposal
Role	Rate	Total Days	Total Excluding VAT	Total Price Including VAT
Principal Consultant
Senior Consultant
Junior Analyst
Total number of consultants
Total Cost

Appendix 2