�Patients and NHS staff throughout England will benefit from the
extension of a highly successful partnership between Primary Care
Trusts, local regime and the private sector to finance and build
better local healthcare premises and facilities.
A new national framework procurement, Express LIFT, was launched by
the Department of Health today to extend access to the LIFT (Local
Improvement Finance Trust) dodge, to all Primary Care Trusts wHO
want to make manipulation of it. Currently, about half of Primary Care Trusts
in England benefit from LIFT, using it to build and finance new,
mod GP surgeries, health centres and walk-in centres.
The national procurance framework will generate a list of approved
individual sector partners, each of whom testament have demonstrated a
record of delivering the services required of a successful LIFT
Company. This includes providing strategic advice, blueprint skills,
management of a supply chain and an ability to obtain funding, whilst
providing good value for money for the taxpayer. Trusts and local
authorities will be able to prime organisations from the framework
to act as partners in their local LIFT schemes.
The framework should greatly quicken the procurement process for
infrastructure projects and vastly reduce costs to bidders compared
to the current process, cutting the length of time for pass completion on
bids to four-spot to v months (depending on the number of bidders),
with local procurements from the framework able to be completed
within about quatern to six weeks kinda than deuce years as is currently
the case.
Mark Britnell, Director General, Commissioning and System Management
at the Department of Health aforesaid:
"LIFT has proved highly successful, allowing Trusts to upgrade
inadequate or ageing facilities about the nation and address the
historical legacy of underinvestment in NHS primary care facilities.
"Allowing the LIFT system to quickly expand volition enable more Primary
Care Trusts and local authorities to direct advantage of its benefits -
faster builds, improved working weather for staff, better care
environments for patients, and better overall facilities uncommitted
for the local community.
"Only the best companies will draw it onto the fabric list and we
know that secret sector developers will receive this development,
both because of the potential future work and the quicker and cheaper
procurement process."
The LIFT programme was established in 2001. It was developed because
previous investment in primary and social care had been poor and
piecemeal, resulting in facilities that were old, ofttimes
converted from other uses and not designed to deliver integrated
services. Under the enterprise, a series of long-run public/private
partnerships have been set up between Primary Care Trusts, local
government and the private sector to offer modern, purpose-built
facilities. Private sector partners benefit from long-term
relationships and a steady flow of work.
It is expected that Primary Care Trusts will be able to consumption the new
scheme from January 2009.
Notes: 1. The national Express LIFT procurance framework will shortly be
published in the Official Journal of the European Union to seek a
list of between six-spot and 10 approved partners. Each system
listed will have demonstrated a track record of delivering the
services required of a successful LIFT Company (for example,
strategic advice, good design, management of a ply chain and an
ability to obtain funding) all providing good value for money for the
taxpayer.
2. Once the list is established, PCTs can draw down pat from the
framework and establish a LIFT Company (using criterion documents
passim to simply the process). Once in place the LIFT company
will help finalise and deliver the PCT's strategic plans. Interested
PCTs testament be able to formulate these whilst the national procurement is
being ladder.
3. It is proposed that the framework testament run for two years with an
option for the Department to go for a further iI years depending
on the performance of the fabric partners. This will allow for a
re-tender, significance new, punter performing companies can be added.
4. For the first time ever neither the bidder nor the PCT will need
to engage potentially wasted design analysis and as a result pointless
bidder costs will be minimal. Currently a PCT is mandatory to work up
its first scheme or schemes and and then up to three bidders produce a
full designing for each scheme and provide proposals for procuring both
a supply chain and financial support for that scheme. Procurements can pick out
about deuce years for a PCT, and both PCT and bidders can incur
significant bid costs, which in the case of the two losing bidders,
volition have no prospect of being healed.
5. By avoiding these difficulties and the emphasis on design the new
process allows both PCTs and potential drop bidders to focus on the value
added through long-term strategical partnerships. Additionally, bid
costs are in practice passed on the public sector, so their reduction
as a effect of this new process will non only be of welfare to the
private sector.
6. There are presently 48 LIFT Companies (47 of which have reached
financial close) covering around half of England's population which
have delivered over �1,400 million worth of master care facilities.
Half of PCTs however do not currently suffer an arrangement with LIFT
company, lack of coverage is peculiarly acute in rural areas.
7. Interested potential partners should email:
express-lift@dh.gsi.gov.uk for more details on the procurement
framework.
Department of Health, UK
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