Optometric Enhanced Services

The contracts currently awarded to 30 optometric providers across Somerset provide the following Optometric Enhanced Services:

• Acute Community Eye Care • Intra-Ocular Pressure Referral Refinement Service • Ocular Hypertension Monitoring Service

These services are aimed at increasing access to acute eye care in the community and reducing unnecessary referrals to hospital eye care. Part of the service is aimed at the prompt diagnosis of high intra-ocular pressure in at risk patients.

The contracts with these providers are due to expire on 31st March 2021 and the commissioner intends to directly award contracts to 30 existing providers across Somerset from 1st April 2021, to continue the delivery of these Services for a period of 36 months to 31st March 2024.

The decision to award the three year contract supports alignment with the developing Fit For My Future strategy and public consultation, which will determine the services required in the future and the new contracting model supporting organised primary care. The CCG has already undertaken a review of all the enhanced services, and would not want to destabilise delivery of the services through undertaking procurement.

All optometric practices provide a good quality service that meets the needs and expectation of the commissioner and patients. The commissioner has no concerns regarding the proposed providers' ability to deliver the service through to 31st March 2024. As a result of all the material factors noted above, the negotiated procedure without prior publication has been followed and justified under regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) 'competition is absent for technical reasons'.

The indicative Annual Contract value which is split across 36 separate optometry practices within the boundaries of Somerset is circa £500,000 per annum.

Additional information: The services are healthcare services falling within Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations, but is instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime" contained within Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Regulations (Regulations 74 to 77).