The Isle of Man Government has a significant number of contractual arrangements with external providers of goods, equipment and services in both the private and charitable sectors. Contracts always run for set periods (usually three or five years). Government policy dictates that the renewal of contracts should be based on competitive tendering exercises, and that departments and other public bodies which are carrying out such exercises will be supported by the Procurement Services team in the Attorney General’s Chambers.
At the start of a procurement exercise, a detailed pack of information is prepared and given to interested parties detailing exactly what is required from the provider and how the whole exercise will be conducted. The bids received from interested parties are assessed objectively and under the main headings of quality and price. For the Liverpool patient transfers exercise, the evaluation weighting for quality and price was 50:50. Government policy sets a number of rules for procurement, including that:
'The standard evaluation approach to be used requires designated bodies to consider criteria, other than just price, when evaluating a tender. Quality criteria are not permitted to prevail over cost without the prior approval of the Treasury.'
In relation to the transfer of patients from Liverpool airport to local hospitals, a competitive tendering exercise has been carried out in anticipation of the end of the current contract. A number of parties were interested in the contract and tendered for it. Those parties were notified about the outcome of the exercise by letter dated 2 March 2017. No public announcements will be made by the Department until a period of 10 working days has ended: i.e. 16 March 2017. This so-called ‘standstill period’ allows the parties who tendered to seek feedback and appeal against the outcome, all of which is confidential. The details of how the procurement process is run and the mandatory requirements for confidentiality until it has concluded are made clear to all interested parties in the detailed pack of information issued when they express interest in tendering for the contract.
The Department of Health and Social Care appreciates that patients using the transfer service in Liverpool wish to be assured that it will be managed professionally, caringly and with their best interests in mind. The Department was motivated by the same considerations when carrying out the procurement exercise. Patients have strong personal views about the current provider of the service and some have chosen to express those through an online petition.
