Preliminaries
The terminology used below assumes that the reader has familiarised themselves with some key Digital Care Services concepts available via the following guidance / tutorials:
There are different ways to execute a procurement depending on which procedure you choose; however for all procedures there are a set of high level steps a buyer should follow.
Step 1: Get Ready
Identify requirements
Complete pre-procurement research (if applicable)
Choose the right procedure (either Direct Award or Further Competition On-Catalogue or Further Competition Off-Catalogue)
Step 2: Prepare
Define your evaluation approach and your evaluation criteria
Prepare to use the procedure
Step 3: Review Catalogue Solutions
Use the Buying Catalogue to identify solutions that meet the requirements you have identified and establish a shortlist
Step 4: Evaluate:
Assess each Catalogue Solution against the evaluation criteria you have defined.
Step 5: Call-off order form and contract award
Complete and sign the Call-Off Order Form - this is required to execute a contract - more detail is provided in the GP IT Futures Contract pages.
Step 6: Manage your contract
Implement the services
Manage changes
Any changes that need to be made to your GP estate software and services, for example: Practice Migrations, Activations of new services , Cessations, Mergers or Splits need to notified to NHS Digital using the GPITF Order Tracker.
Details of Continuity Call Off Agreements will be pre-populated on the Order Tracker you are sent, please check these are correct.
The Order Tracker must be returned to the [gpitf.filfilments@nhs.net] team at NHS Digital on a monthly basis, (even if a nil return) by the date allocated to your CCG to enable the prompt processing.
The submitted Order Tracker data will be used to prepare Reconciliation Invoices. The reporting of actual practice activation or cessation dates is critical to ensure that correct payments are made to suppliers. Payments for services will start and end based on the information submitted in the Order Tracker.
CCGs need to confirm service activation, cessation or merger dates on the Order Tracker. Site activations or cessations should be identified against an order. Cancellations or mergers of practices in the Continuity Call Off Agreement should be added Order Tracker where applicable.
Monitor performance
The legacy GPSoC framework utilised a now discontinued database for buyers to order and record their procurement outcomes. For the GP IT Futures framework the intent is to develop similar functionality within the Buying Catalogue. At this stage of the Buying Catalogue’s development however, a transition processes will be in place to enable the procurement processes and their outcomes, to manage information about each order placed, and to enable associated financial processes, including those for invoicing, to be support. These processes are described at Appendix 4. [I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THE PREVIOUS 2 SENTENCES ARE INTENDED TO IMPART]