Level 1 Dental Sedation Service in Mid and South Essex

Location

Mid and South Essex

Description

NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (the Authority) has awarded three contracts to deliver Level 1 Sedation Services for children and adults in Mid and South Essex, following a Most Suitable Provider (MSP) process under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. Level 1 conscious sedation services provide basic, safe sedation, mainly inhalation sedation and single‑drug intravenous sedation, to help patients undergo routine dental treatment. These services follow nationally recognised IACSD Standards, which set requirements for trained staff, appropriate clinical environments, monitoring, and safe recovery.

Total Quantity or Scope

This notice is a confirmation of award of a contract under the most suitable provider process in accordance with the Provider Selection Regime 2023 (PSR). The Authority only considered organisations that could meet the following basic selection criteria: The Authority seeks to increase Level 1 dental sedation capacity in North Mid and South Essex, specifically from Chelmsford northwards, with services located along the A12/A120 corridor to ensure good patient access. Providers must operate an existing dental practice within this defined catchment. Providers must hold an existing GDS or PDS contract for NHS mandatory services within Mid and South Essex. They must meet all IACSD 2020 Standards for Level 1 sedation, including compliant clinical facilities and appropriate environment. A fully trained sedation team (IACSD and CQC aligned) must be in place at contract start. Providers should hold relevant SAAD accreditation (SSC and/or SSPS, or equivalent). Providers must evidence robust sedation governance, including a sedation policy, protocols aligned to IACSD 2020 and the UK Sedation SOP, appropriate screening and assessment processes, and clear escalation pathways for Level 2/3 or GA referral. Providers must demonstrate compliance with CQC Regulations 11, 12, 15 and 18, with no outstanding CQC enforcement relating to sedation. There must be no unresolved NHSBSA Sedation Assurance issues, and Providers must be able to self declare evidence of safe historical sedation activity. Providers must not be subject to remedial notices or clinical safety investigations. Providers must be able to deliver sedation for adults and children, and demonstrate integration with local care pathways, including established referral routes with local dental services or hospitals for escalation and cross provider collaboration. The planned service model is designed to meet a specific, limited level of patient need, with an annual total of 500 Courses of Treatment (CoT) each reimbursed at a tariff of £240 per CoT. As this activity is distributed across all appointed providers, individual provider volumes will be modest. Providers should consider how these limited activity levels align with their operational planning and service delivery model when assessing suitability for this opportunity. The total funding available across all appointed providers equates to £120,000. The Authority intends to award three contracts, so each Provider can expect an annual contract value of approximately £40,000. Providers must be able to mobilise by 1 July 2026, and the contract will be awarded for a duration of 9 months, up to 31st March 2027, with the option of a further 12 month extension, subject to the Authority’s requirements, which may be enacted at the Authority’s discretion where extension is considered necessary to ensure uninterrupted service provision, ongoing compliance and performance, operational stability, or where financial or strategic considerations justify continuation of the existing arrangements. The aggregate contract value per each contract based on the contract duration (21 months) is approximately £70,000, based on a third of the CoT funded. Therefore the total budget for this Service across all three contracts is approximately £210,000 over the contract duration including extension period, if enacted. Key Criteria Assessment: The key criteria are being assessed on a pass / fail basis and are weighted by the Authority as follows: 1. Quality and Innovation (20%) 2. Value (20%) 3. Integration, Collaboration, Sustainability (15%) 4. Access and Health Inequalities (35%) 5. Social Value (10%)

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 85000000 - Health and social work services
• 85120000 - Medical practice and related services
• 85121000 - Medical practice services
• 85130000 - Dental practice and related services
• 85131000 - Dental-practice services
• 85141000 - Services provided by medical personnel

Indicators

• Award on basis of price.

Legal Justification

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by midnight on 9th February 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.

Other Information

In applying the Process, the Authority has assessed the five Key Criteria and updated its provider landscape knowledge through an expression of interest data gathering process, to confirm provider capability and local connections. Based on this, the Authority was able to identify the MSP without a competitive process. Further details are available in sections II.2.4), II.2.14), and VI.3). Further details can be found at sections VI.3. The Authority published a Transparency Notice announcing its intention to follow the MSP process, based on the output of its MSP assessment, on 06/01/2026. The Authority observed a 14-day period to ensure suitably qualified and experienced providers could make themselves known in writing to the Authority. The Authority's MSP Process indicated its initial analysis was correct and the Authority is able to identify the most suitable provider without competition, and therefore will proceed to award the contract. The Authority only considered organisations that: • Met the basic selection criteria (Reg 19) as described at II.2.4) Description of the procurement • Is not excluded or excludable (Reg 20). • Demonstrated capability across the five key criteria (Reg 5) as described at II.2.4) Description of the procurement. The decision makers for this MSP Process were NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board Executive Team (now the NHS Essex Integrated Care Board Executive Team). In accordance with Regulation 21 of the PSR, the Authority has maintained a Conflicts of Interest (COI) Register throughout this Process. No declarations were raised. In accordance with Regulation 13 of PSR, Modification of contracts during their term, the Authority may introduce contract modifications during the contract term, provided these changes remain proportionate, aligned with the original scope, and do not alter the contract’s essential nature, risk profile, or core systems. Such changes will follow NHS Standard Contract change‑control processes. A summary of the information that was available and published in the MSP Process documentation follows: - Updates to national clinical standards for conscious sedation in dentistry, including any future changes to training, safety, or technical requirements. - Changes to workforce training, competency and accreditation requirements, including sedation specific qualifications, supervised clinical practice expectations, and life support training standards. - Amendments to referral pathways, clinical triage processes or assessment tools, including any future requirements for structured anxiety or sedation need assessment. - Adjustments to annual activity levels, clinical capacity, or distribution of activity across providers, based on changes in population need or commissioning priorities. - Updated requirements for clinical facilities, equipment, monitoring technology, recovery arrangements, infection control standards or environmental specifications. - Changes to quality assurance, clinical audit, incident reporting or patient safety reporting frameworks. - Modifications to clinical data requirements, reporting expectations, coding standards, or digital integration with local or national NHS systems. - Adjustments arising from local or national health needs assessments, including changes to patient groups served, service scope, or access expectations.