DFOCVC

The ‘Digital First Online Consultation and Video Consultation (DFOCVC) Framework’ sits within the Digital Care Services Catalogue and is the primary mechanism for procurement of Online Consultation (OC) and Video Consultation (VC) systems for general practice but will also provide a buying route for any NHS customer (noting that there are different funding arrangements for other NHS providers). The DFOCVC Framework replaced the NHS England Online Consultations DPS and the ‘eConsultations – Patient/Service User to Clinician’ Capability under GPIT Futures. 

Standards and Capabilities

Solutions which are available via DFOCVC have been reviewed by NHS Digital to validate their compliance with various Standards, such as Information Governance and others. The Capabilities provided by solutions have also been subject to assessment by NHS Digital, which validates that the solutions are able to deliver the Capabilities as stated. The full Standards and Capabilities model for DFOCVC is available via Digital First Online Consultation & Video Consultation - Confluence (atlassian.net). 

Standards and Capabilities are used across the Digital Care Services Catalogue, to describe functional or technical requirements. The following page explains these terms in more detail Capability and Standards Overview - Buyer Guidance - Confluence (atlassian.net) 

Buying from DFOCVC

DFOCVC solutions are available to purchase for NHS bodies, including Primary Care, Secondary Care and others. 

There are three procurement procedures available under the DFOCVC Framework.  They are:

• Direct Award

  - low complexity contracts valued up to £40,000. The decision to execute a Direct Award for a DFOCVC Catalogue solution can be determined using information on the DFOCVC Catalogue

• Further Competition On-Catalogue

  - low complexity contracts valued up to £250,000. A Further Competition On-Catalogue procedure can be executed using information available on the DFOCVC Catalogue and requires an evaluation of information published via the DFOCVC Catalogue to determine suitability.

• Further Competition Off-Catalogue

  - high complexity and high-value contracts. A Further Competition Off Catalogue procedure requires an Invitation to Tender issued to DFOCVC Catalogue suppliers, and an evaluation process informed by information on the DFOCVC Catalogue

The DFOCVC Catalogue is available via DFOCVC framework - results (digital.nhs.uk)

 For support with making purchasing decisions via DFOCVC please contact commercial.procurementhub@nhs.net