05.07.19
NHS nominate firm for £1bn Bristol, South Glos and N. Somerset contract
NHS commissioners have chosen the winner of a £1bn contract to provide adult community services across Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire.
Health bosses selected their "preferred provider" from bids made during a tender process that started in January.
However, the name of the organisation is not set to be announced until the end of the month due to a legally required "standstill period" to allow the other bidders to comment on the selection.
The NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) will then make thorough background checks on that organisation before deciding whether to award it the contract.
The decision of the CCG on whether the contract is awarded is expected to be announced in September, a meeting of the CCG's governing body heard this week.
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The 10-year-contract will see a single organisation paid around £100m per year to run NHS services such as community nursing, diabetes support and physiotherapy across the Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire region from April next year.
Dozens of services currently provided by Bristol Community Health in Bristol, North Somerset Community Partnership in North Somerset, and Sirona care and health in South Gloucestershire will be taken over by the new company.
Despite some pushback, the CCG put out the tender back in January as it felt patients would benefit from quality adult health services that are more joined-up, closer to home and provided in a consistent and fair way across the region.
NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG serves nearly a million people in the region.