Orthodontic Services (Greater Manchester)

North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) is working for and on behalf of Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership who wish to undertake a Request for Information exercise (RFI). This RFI exercise is being undertaken to engage with the market to inform the further development of draft proposals for the service delivery for Orthodontic Services across Greater Manchester.
Orthodontics is the dental specialty concerned with facial growth, development of the dentition and occlusion, and the assessment, diagnosis, interception and treatment of malocclusions and facial irregularities. Orthodontic treatment should only be undertaken in situations where it is believed to be in the patient's best interests in terms of their oral health and/ or psychosocial wellbeing. In all situations, the clinical advantages and long-term benefits of Orthodontic treatment should justify such treatment and outweigh any detrimental effects. The overall aim is to provide equitable, accessible, high quality and cost effective specialist Orthodontic Service in line with the National Guide for Commissioning Orthodontics, 2015 and NHS (Personal Dental Services Agreement) Regulations 2005 and any subsequent revisions. The service will deliver orthodontic treatment to those patients up to the age of 18 years old with an Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) as defined within Schedule 1, part 2, 4 (3) of the National Health Service (General Dental Services Contracts) Regulations 2005 and PDS equivalent (currently Dental Health Component 3 Aesthetic Component 6 or above). The service is aimed at those patients who require orthodontic procedures, defined in Section 1.5, that are not expected to be within the remit of general dental practitioners or hospital services. This RFI will be conducted via the NECS e-Tendering system (In-Tend) and as such there will be no hard copy documents issued to respondents and all communications between respondents and NECS will be conducted via the (In-Tend) Supplier Procurement Portal. To express an interest in responding to this RFI exercise and obtain a copy of the RFI documentation please register on the In-Tend e-tendering portal, which can be found at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/nhsnecsu/aspx/Home and follow the registration instructions. Please note that it is free to register on In-Tend, which can be assessed at any time of day. Should you have any queries or are having problems registering on the portal you should contact the e-Tendering provider by email at support@in-tend.com or by phone: 0845 557 8079 / +44 (0) 114 407 0065 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5:30pm). Please note that this exercise is not part of any pre-qualification process. It is intended as an awareness, communication and information gathering exercise offering an opportunity for organisations to help inform potential future service models and/or commissioning intentions. Please note that the deadline for RFI responses is by 5:00pm on 28 May 2021. Please note that the RFI documents can be accessed via the In-Tend portal from the 10 May 2021.