Invitation to Tender and Specification
Project Title
Development and pilot of learning and development programmes for those working in informatics in social careAPPENDIX 1
Invitation to Tender & Specification
1 INTRODUCTION
2 APPLICANT DETAILS
3 STATUS OF APPLICANT
4 DETAILS OF HOLDING/PARENT COMPANY
5 BUSINESS STRUCTURE
6 MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY
7 PROJECT PROPOSAL
8 SELECTION CRITERIA
9 HEALTH AND SAFETY LEGISLATION
10 STAFF DEVELOPMENT
11 PROCESSES AND QUALITY ASSURANCE
12 DETAILED COSTINGS AGAINST MILESTONES AND OUTCOMES (Please add more rows to table if necessary)
13 INSURANCE
14 REFERENCES AND EXPERIENCE
15 DECLARATION
INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS
- These instructions are designed to ensure that all tenders are given equal and fair consideration. It is important therefore that you provide all the information asked for in the format and order specified. Please contact your project manager (details below) in Skills for Care if you have any doubts as to what is required or you have difficulty in providing the information requested.
- Applicants should read the Invitation to Tender Letter and any subsequent documents that may have been supplied before answering any questions
- To enable Skills for Care to assess your company's suitability to become a Supplier, it requires all the information outlined in this Invitation to tender and Specification.
- Where insufficient space has been provided in this document, the applicant may expand the boxes but companies are warned wherever possible to remain concise. Excessive detail may not be evaluated
- An address label for the return of your tender is enclosed and must be used. Envelopes and packages must bear no reference to the Tenderer by name; franking machines, which automatically print the company’s name, should not be used.
- Tenders will be received up to the time and date stated. Those received before the due date will be retained unopened until then. It is the responsibility of the Tenderer to ensure that their tender is delivered no later than the appointed time.
- By issuing this invitation to tender, Skills for Care is not bound in any way and is not obliged to accept the lowest or any tender.
- Skills for Care reserve the right to accept a portion of any tender, unless the Tenderer expressly stipulates otherwise in their tender. Canvassing will result in disqualification.
- Offering an inducement of any kind in relation to obtaining this or any other contract with Skills for Care will disqualify your tender from being considered.
- In the event of questions being posed to clarify requirements, Skills for Care will share those questions together with Skills for Care response to all suppliers invited to the tender. The originator of the question will remain anonymous to the other suppliers.
- Pre-tender negotiations will not be entered into.
- Please note the following requirements, you must not:
- Tell anyone else what your tender price is or will be, before the time limit for delivery of tenders.
- Try to obtain any information about anyone else’s tender or proposed tender before the time limit for delivery of tenders.
- Make any arrangements with another organisation about whether or not they should tender, or about their or your tender price.
Failure to comply with these conditions may disqualify your tender.
- You will not be entitled to claim from Skills for Care any costs or expenses which you may incur preparing your tender whether or not your tender is successful.
- Following the award of contract, debriefing will be available to unsuccessful tenderers on request.
- The tender process will be conducted in a manner that ensures tenders are evaluated fairly to ascertain the economically most advantageous tender.
- All sections must be completed, but if any section is not applicable it must be stated so by entering a “N/A” in the relevant box.
- Your response to our requirement will be evaluated as stipulated in the specification.
- Due to the intensive evaluation process Skills for Care requires tenders to remain valid for a period specified in Invitation to Tender document Appendix 1.
- Whilst every endeavour has been made to give tenderers an accurate description of Skills for Care requirement, tenderers should make their own assessment about the methods and resources needed to meet those requirements.
- Appendix 1 must be signed and completed. Failure to do so will invalidate your tender. A director or other senior representative of the company or organisation must sign this form.
- Any contract which may result from this Invitation to Tender will be based upon the attached draft contract (Document 3) into which will be inserted the prices and timetable and key milestones contained in the response to this Tender, subject to any changes which may be agreed following post-tender clarification.
- If this work is identified by the Skills for Care Project Manager as involving contact or working with vulnerable adults and/or children;
- A declaration must be provided that lists ALL persons that will have direct contact with Vulnerable Adults and Children who will be working on the project. All persons who are listed must sign the form. Skills for Care will provide the necessary paperwork to complete.
- An up to date original or certified copy of the Enhanced CRB Disclosure for each person working directly in contact with Vulnerable Adults and/or Children on the project must be provided for all persons listed on the declaration.
- Any information and/or documents submitted in response to this tender must relate to the applicant only. The applicant is the organisation, which it is proposed will enter into a formal contract with Skills for Care if awarded the contract, or in the case of a consortium not yet formed each member of the consortium.
- Any alterations to the Invitation to Tender and Specification documents will automatically disqualify your tender.
- Applicants to complete from section 2 onwards.
Failure to complete the Invitation to Tender and Specification in full or to provide any of the documents requested may result in your tender being rejected.
If you have any questions about completing the Invitation to tender and Specification please contact Sue Johnson / Victoria Collier [Project manager] at:-
informatics @skillsforcare.org.uk
Skills for Care LimitedWest Gate
6 Grace Street
LEEDS
LS1 2RP
Telephone number: 01132451716
Email:
For your convenience this invitation to tender and specification is supplied electronically by email. However the completed invitation to tender and specification, and supporting documentation must be returned in hard copy.
If there are any significant changes to the information that you have supplied in this invitation to tender and specification after it has been submitted you must let Skills for Care know in writing as soon as possible and before the closing date for submission of tenders. You should also note that financial evaluations will be made based on the information and records submitted to Skills for Care.
Four complete sets of invitation to tender and specification documentation (only one copy of accounts is required which should be a separate document) should be submitted to the Contact Details above, using the enclosed reply label marked ‘tender documents enclosed’. There should be no identification of the company submitting the tender on the outside of the packages.
Invitation to Tender and Specification must be submitted by 2pm
on the Monday28th September 2015. Late Tenders will NOT be considered.
The Tender can be accepted electronically by the deadline but will only be valid if the required number of hard copiesare also received on the deadline or within two working days of the deadline. If the hardcopy varies in any way from the electronic copy then the tender will be null and void and will not be considered.
APPENDIX 1
TENDER SUBMISSION
From:Project Title: / Development and pilot of learning and development programmes for those working in informatics in social care
By signing this form:
- I/we declare that our tender for the above contract has been prepared in accordance with the Instructions to Tender, Specification and Conditions of Contract by Skills for Care.
- I/we declare we have not communicated to any other party the amount or approximate amount of the tender price and this is a bona-fide bid.
- I/we declare that we have not tried to obtain or sought to obtain confidential information from an employee or an ex-employee of Skills for Care.
- Skills for Care requires contractors to be in good standing with their relevant regulatory authority and we take signature of this Invitation to tender an assertion that this is so.
- I/we agree that any contract which may result from this Invitation to Tender will be based upon the attached draft contract (Appendix 3) into which will be inserted the prices and timetable and key milestones contained in the response to this Tender, subject to any changes which may be agreed following post-tender clarification.
The tender is for the sum of £
- Plus (20%)Value Added Tax of £ VAT No (If Applicable)
The tender price is valid until (date)
Authorised Signatory:Name (Block Capitals):
Position:
Date:
Invitation to Tender & Specification
1INTRODUCTION
1.1 / Skills for Care is seeking consultants to carry outDevelopment and pilot of two learning programmes, as detailed in this invitation, for those working in informatics in the social care sector.
Submissions may be made for one or both of the programmes identified using this one form.
1.2 / This tender is let on behalf of the following organisation: Skills for Care Ltd.
Skills for Care is part of Sector Skills Council responsible for improving qualifications, training and development for 1.5 million adult social care workers in England. We work with 35,000 adult social care employers, government and other partners to create a skilled and versatile workforce for the future.
Skills for Care supports employers; working with them to set standards for qualifications and helping the adult social care workforce to develop their skills, knowledge and careers. We work closely with government and other stakeholders and provide data so the sector can understand current and future demands for a workforce that can deliver high quality social care services.
1.3 / Project Objective:
There is a growing recognition of the need to ‘professionalise’ the role of informatics in social care. Over the last 18 months Skills for Care has been working in partnership with the Health and Social Care Information Centre to identify the social care informatics workforce in the statutory, private, independent and voluntary sectors in social care and to scope out their professional needs.
This current invitation to tender reflects specific gaps which were highlighted as priorities, but it is envisaged that more programmes will be identified as the project progresses depending on the successful implementation of these across the sector.
Invitations are sought from proven learning provider organisations with regard to 2 separate learning programmes for informatics as follows:
Introductory programme
The introductory programme will be for staff new to the organisation or new to either the role or to social care. It will give a baseline from which to progress in the future.Thus it can be studied by anyone who thinks it will be relevant to their role, or indeed forthcoming roles.
Leadership programme
This course is based around equipping managers to lead an informatics workforce, to understand how they can collaborate with other areas / sectors to enhance their work outcomes, to effectively lead and equip informatics teams to ensure outcomes based performance, to have confidence in their product and the role of informatics, to influence decision makers in transforming services and organisations and to contribute to the wider discussion of the informatics profession.
It is envisaged that the programmes could be used across all types of service delivery in social care and various organisations who are involved with collection and management of data and information, whether working in specialist teams or whether being an individual in an organisation that is beginning to consider how they may make better use of data and information.
Indicative content for both programmes is included in this invitation. The successful contractor will demonstrate detailed programme content and delivery methods, offering robust evidence for their selections. A variety of methods could be acceptable but good reasoning must be made for each with clear preferences marked.
Submissions will also be expected to pilot the programme / programmes with one cohort of at least 8 - 12 learners per programme and provide a robust evaluation with recommendations for future programme delivery. They must detail the mode of delivery, details of the proposed pilot, including timing and methods used to recruit learners.
The costs quoted in the submission must include development and publication costs of any learning materials for the purposes of the pilot project but not beyond that. . At this stage funds available will not cover the development of an e:learning platform but the submission could make a business case for this method of delivery in the future.
Successful programmes will become the property of Skills for Care and will be made available for future delivery to any Skills for Care endorsed learning provider. Details of the endorsement framework can be found on our website. Endorsement Framework. For the purposes of this contract you do not have to be an endorsed provider but of course we would encourage the successful contractor to consider this route in the future.
Introductory programme – Indicative Content
The introductory programme will be for staff new to the organisation or new to either the role or to social care. It will give a baseline from which to progress in the future. Thus it can be studied by anyone who thinks it will be relevant to their role, or indeed forthcoming roles. In addition we believe that it could be useful to some in solo admin roles, especially in the independent sector who might wish to progress the business of their organisation by investigating data and information a little further than their current skills and knowledge allow.
Module / Title / Description
1 / Understanding the social care context / What is social care? Historically and currently
Overview of structure, funding, processes and legislative responsibilities
Current policies and drivers in social care
Overview of structure and processes of health services
Terminology used in social care and health
2 / Data sources in social care / Different organisation requirements for data returns
Primary data sources and segmentation
Identifying range of datasets useful to the sector and their context
Useful data sets outside social care
Data warehousing / Open data
3 / Information management / Information management
Requirements for information sharing
Information governance in social care and health
4 / Statistical analysis / Analytical techniques and tools
Defining the business requirement
Practice examples to include data quality / data validation
5 / Statistical application in social care / Application of analytical tools with range of social care and external data
Putting it all into practice in social care context
Practical examples using own setting
6 / Data Visualisation / Making sense of data in the social care context
Getting the message across
Tailor the message to your audience
Tools to use
Leadership programme - indicative content
Purpose:This course is based around equipping managers to lead an informatics workforce, to understand how they can collaborate with other areas / sectors to enhance their work outcomes, to effectively lead and equip informatics teams to ensure outcomes based performance, to have confidence in their product and the role of informatics, to influence decision makers in transforming services and organisations and to contribute to the wider discussion of the informatics profession.
Module / Title / Description
1 / Strategic overview of social care and health services / High level policies / drivers in social care and health
Structures and decision makers in social care and health
Legislative responsibilities of social care and health services
2 / Communicating with stakeholders / Coproduction skills in data and information management
Developing tools to challenge and influence senior management
Developing business cases for investment procurement
3 / Leading Informatics teams / Identifying skills and knowledge requirements for informatics teams
Supporting professional development in informatics in context of social care
Establishing professional approach to team operations to ensure outcomes based performance
4 / Maximising use of data across the organisation / Overview of available data and information
Ensuring quality of data not just quantity
Strategic uses of collected data and identification of other useful data sets to solve business problems
Using innovative data collections to ensure impact on business, not just current data collections
Where to find and how to use Open Data
Information governance
5 / Project and Programme management / Overview of range of methodologies and tools for project and programme management including Prince 2, Agile and others
What to look for in a good project management training programme
6 / Leaders at the forefront of Informatics developments / Keeping up to date with progression in informatics –tools to help
Horizon scanning – where to look
Emerging technologies and how to overcome barriers to implementation
Managing change
Supporting own professional development
Contributing to Informatics professional discussions