Non-Emergency Patient Transport Service (NEPTS)

Description

This is a Voluntary Ex-Ante Transparency Notice and as such provides notification of the intention of the Authority to enter into a contract for provision of Non-Emergency Transport Services (NEPTS) with its incumbent provider, East of England NHS Ambulance Trust (EEAST). The new contract is intended to start on 1st October 2024 and will be for a period of 1-year, ending on 30th September 2025. Prior to the the incorporation of NHS Hertfordshire and West Essex ICB, the service was provided to each of the Clinical Commissioning Groups under separate contractual arrangements but delivered by the same provider. The contract has now been consolidated into a single contract under an all inclusive block arrangement. The total cumulative value of all contracts since they started, to 30th September 2024 will be £43,065,760 (exclusive of VAT). Please note that these are expected values and may be amended post contract finalisation with the provider. The value of the new proposed contract is £9,293,757 (exclusive of VAT). NHS England has bene working to improve NEPTS and as a part of this work, certain regions have been identified as pathfinder areas to test the implementation of the new national framework for NEPTS. The East of England Region is one of those pathfinder areas. EEAST are participating in the second wave of the national pilot for the coordination of NEPTS at both a regional and place-based level to explore how the service can support the regionally agreed clinical model of Access to the Stack, 'Call before you Convey' and Community Hubs. This work may have implications for the future service model which the new specification should consider. To procure the service at this point would likely mean that a service model is implemented which is not fit for the future and not in line with the national model. A process will be undertaken prior to the new contract end date to ensure a new contract is in place by 1st October 2025.