AI Dynamic Purchasing System

Artificial Intelligence Dynamic Purchasing System.
Crown Commercial Service January 2021

• New service supporting public and third sector AI procurement.

Digital Technology Assessment Criteria

Digital Technology Assessment Criteria for health and social care
NHS England October 2020

• The Digital Technology Assessment Criteria for health and social care, beta (DTAC) forms a baseline assessment criteria that validates the suitability and function of digital health technologies for use by the NHS, social care staff or directly by citizens. It replaces the existing Digital Assessment Questionnaire (DAQ) and Digital Assessment Portal (DAP).
• It will be supported by the Guide to Good Practice for Digital and Data-Driven Health Technologies, which will be published in October by the NHS AI Lab.DTAC focuses on detailing the specific requirements that must be evidenced before digital health technologies can be used directly by patients or procured safely by commissioners and the wider health and care system. The five core areas are clinical safety, data protection, technical assurance, interoperability, and usability and accessibility.
• See the roadmap to assessing new apps and products and blog
• DTAC v1 is due to be published in January 2021.

Spark Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for remote monitoring

Spark Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for remote monitoring

• The Spark DPS, run by the Crown Commercial Services (CCS), aims to support organisations with the procurement of remote monitoring solutions. Buyers can compare viable solutions from suppliers which have been assessed on their suitability to manage outpatients or deliver vital signs monitoring remotely.

CCS plans AI procurement framework

CCS plans AI procurement framework [News]
UK Authority 7 August 2020

• The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) has published a plan to develop a dynamic purchasing system (DPS) framework for artificial intelligence systems in the public sector. The market notice indicating that the framework, set to run until March 2024, could be worth up to £200 million combined for suppliers winning places.
• It covers programming services of application software, business analysis consultancy services and programming services, and is aimed at providing public authorities with a simple route to the relevant procurements.
• The types of AI covered includes applications, augmented decision making, data and analytics, virtual assistants and chatbots, and medical AI. Functions of the latter include screening, diagnosis, augmented decision making and improving system efficiency.

Procuring health and care apps through the Dynamic Purchasing System

Procuring health and care apps through the Dynamic Purchasing System
ORCHA 16 July 2020

• NHS London Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP) is offering support to procure safe, secure apps through its Health and Social Care Apps Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). Developed in partnership with ORCHA, NHS LPP’s DPS allows NHS organisations to rapidly procure quality assured digital health solutions at scale.

A Buyer’s Checklist for AI in Health and Care

A Buyer’s Checklist for AI in Health and Care: A short reference to assist the decision-making for procuring AI solutions
NHS X, Government Digital Service and the Office for Artificial Intelligence, May 2020

• This guidance sets out 10 key questions which will be of use to parties deploying AI solutions or conducting data driven projects (in a health and care setting or otherwise).

Framework for health and social care apps

London NHS trusts launch major framework for health and social care apps
Public Technology 7 October 2019

• London Procurement Partnership (LPP) – which brings together 31 NHS trusts and 15 CCGs across London and the surrounding area – is launching a DPS for the provision of apps in five categories: child health; diabetes and hormones; heart and blood vessels; mental health; and pregnancy.
• Tender notice is available here.

NHS Long-term Plan: legislative proposals

NHS Long-term Plan: legislative proposals
Health and Social Care Select Committee 24 June 2019

• The Committee found that NHS England and NHS Improvement proposals  for legislative changes to the Health and Social Care Act 2012 in many cases continue the direction of travel towards a more integrated collaborative and placed-based system. It broadly supports NHS England and NHS Improvement’s proposals to:
• to promote collaboration and lessen the role of competition in the NHS, especially the proposal to repeal section 75 of the Health and Social Care Act 2012 and revoke the regulations made under it;
• remove the Competition and Market’s Authority’s role in mergers of foundation trusts;
• ease the burden procurement rules have placed on the NHS, ensuring commissioners have discretion over when to conduct a procurement process, with the inclusion of a ‘best value’ test; and
• allow greater flexibility locally over payment systems.
• However the Committee comments that the plans remains too NHS-centric rather than looking at the wider system with which it seeks to integrate and that the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and NHS Improvement should be clearer about the roles local government, the voluntary and community sector and independent providers should play in the future of the NHS.
• Themes of the report are competition, integrated care, NHS leadership, and Cross-party endorsement of legislative proposals

Consultation feedback on Integrated Care Provider Contract

Contracting arrangements for integrated care providers – response to consultation
NHS England March 2019

• NHS England has published its response following a consultation held about a new contract which can help local health and care communities provide better care for patients.
• The ICP Contract will give commissioners the option to commission services through a single contract, to build in integration and remove operational barriers.
• The feedback will be used to further develop the ICP Contract, which will be available in its updated form as an option for use in local health and care systems from spring 2019. Neither use of the ICP Contract nor adoption of lead provider models for integration will be mandatory: they will be options for local commissioners and their providers to consider.

Some Legal Implications of the NHS Long Term Plan

Some Legal Implications of the NHS Long Term Plan
Hempsons 19 February 2019

• In order to improve access to services, the Long Term Plan (LTP) sets out ambitions for better integration between primary, secondary and community services for patients. 
• This note highlights some of the legal implications of the LTP in particular around procurement, competition, workforce, and Primary Care Networks / Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships / Integrated Care Systems.

GP IT Futures framework

Matt Hancock: shake-up of GP IT will remove outdated systems

DHSC News 28 December 2018

• A new GP IT Futures framework has been announced that has been designed to create an open, competitive market that the NHS hopes will encourage the best technology companies to invest in the NHS.

NHS Digital is working directly with GPs, Healthcare IT suppliers and IT buyers in CCGs and CSUs to learn about needs.

GP IT Futures framework
GovTech Leaders 2 January 2019

• The framework will look at how patient data will be moved to modern cloud services to allow clinicians and patients to securely access crucial, life-saving information in real time.
• The new standards, developed by NHS Digital, will introduce minimum technical requirements so systems can talk to each other securely and are continuously upgradable.

Outcomes-based contracting in life sciences

Passing fad or game-changer? Outcomes-based contracting in life sciences
EY 2018

• Section 1 aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the compelling rationale for outcomes-based contracting (OBC) and the benefits for all stakeholders of adopting this innovative way of commissioning and paying for health care. In section 2, we outline the valid historical barriers and why, this time, we believe it is different, before finally setting out in section 3 a practical action plan for how to progress in a way that manages the risk.
• Full report.

My vision for a more tech-driven NHS - Hancock

My vision for a more tech-driven NHS
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock's speech at NHS Expo 2018, 6 September 2018

• The SOS outlines the issues around healthTech across the NHS as he sees them, and his future plans on how to fix it.
• In his speech the SoS announced the formation of a HealthTech Advisory Board chaired by Dr Ben Goldacre, which will report directly to him, consisting of tech experts, clinicians and academics.

Extracts:

• ... the NHS is at the same moment the world’s biggest opportunity for saving lives through modern technology, and the world’s most frustrating place to work for its IT. 
• ... the net result is not just scarce resources wasted but countless hours of clinical staff spent trying to work broken systems, patients being given sub-optimal care because the systems didn’t communicate, and ultimately lives lost. 
• We must harness the power of peoples’ innovation - in a full spectrum from the most mundane to the most exciting. From basic IT to advanced AI. 
• And here’s how we’re going to do it, in six parts. 
• First: Talk to each other 
• Next: buy the right stuff 
• Third: HealthTech and the cutting edge 
• Fourth: Backing the NHS to succeed 
• part five: a new skillset 
• my final point: culture change

National map of council shared services

National map of council shared services
LGA

• Map of shared services across LAs in England, including health and social care, finance and financial services, ICT and digital services, human resources procurement and commissioning.

HSJ blog: Is it time to make integrated care systems official?

Is it time to make integrated care systems official?
HSJ blog by Sharon Brennan, 28 June 2018
Extracts

• "talking to senior figures involved in the ICS agenda there is no clear agreement as to whether the centre should seek to make them (or sustainability and transformation partnerships) into statutory organisations and, if they do, what that might look like."
• "the focus is on pragmatic small legal changes, rather than wholesale restructure, and could be made through secondary legislation, not a great repeal of Lansley’s legacy."
• "The centre remains clear that ICS work when they are built on trusting relationships. "
• Potential benefits to making ICS official - employ own staff and reduce governance concerns
• But ICS are
• not yet tested on finances or population outcomes
• competition law - cannot continue to delegate budgets from commissioners to NHS providers, or to award contracts, without going out to competitive tender. Bound to be challenge by an angered alternative provider. But changes to procurement law are bound up in Brexit negotiations.

Health Systems Support Framework (previously known as ACS & STP Development Partner Framework)

*New* As of 2 February 2018 renamed the Health Systems Support Framework

ACS & STP Development Partner Framework [aka LPF2]
NHS England, 15 December 2017

• Tenders are open for suppliers to register to take part in the forthcoming the ACS & STP Development Partner Framework which will give commissioners and providers access to Population Health Management support. 
• This includes tools to identify patients who are at high risk of an adverse event and are likely to be amendable to a particular intervention, patient records that give clinicians across all care settings a full picture of their patient’s health and well-being; support to monitor wider system programmes; and enhanced tools to integrate clinical workflow with patient activation data to ensure patients are being treated in the right place at the right time.
• The ACS and STP Development Partner Framework will be structured around three areas:
• Infrastructure: encompassing EPR and place-based digitalisation; Local Integrated Care Records and Health Information Exchange; primary care IT support and transformation; and data management and information governance;
• Insight: population health analytics and digital tools for system modelling, planning, risk stratification and impactability, care coordination and care management.
• Impact and Intervention: transformation and change; primary care transformation; self-care, patient empowerment and activation; and system optimisation.
• Tender documents available here.

2 February 2018 - Framework renamed Health Systems Support Framework