Critical Skills Equipment and Devices

AI-generated analysis of the documents. Check the official notice and any amendments for current submission details.

1. At a glance

2. Scope of Work

This procurement seeks to establish a multi-supplier framework agreement for the supply, delivery, installation, and commissioning of Critical Skills Equipment and Devices. The framework will support vocational training in healthcare sub-specialisms at Galway Technical Institute (GTI) and other GRETB Further Education Training colleges. The estimated total value for purchases under this framework is between €200,000 and €1,200,000 (excluding VAT) over its duration. The anticipated spend for the first year is €380,000, subject to budget approval.

The framework will accommodate a maximum of four members. Contracts awarded under the framework will have an initial duration of two years, with the option for two twelve-month extensions, totalling a maximum of four years, contingent on satisfactory performance, business needs, and budgetary constraints.

The scope encompasses several key healthcare sub-specialisms:

• Elder Care: Including hospital beds, pressure-relieving mattresses, bedside lockers, overbed tables, hospital bed sheets, blankets, pillows, pillow slips, and curtain rail installation.
• Disability: Including wheelchairs, hoists, and slide sheets.
• Mobility Supports: Including wheelchairs and mobility aids.
• Clinical Monitoring and Assessment: Including Electro Cardio Graph (ECG) machines, vital-signs monitors, oximeters, tympanic thermometers, stethoscopes, and sphygmomanometers.
• Simulation Mannequins: Including full-body patient simulators (adult and geriatric), with articulated limbs, realistic anatomical landmarks, and durable skin. These will support training in patient assessment, clinical decision-making, advanced nursing interventions, patient handling, personal care, and independent living skills. Specific models will support geriatric care, wound care, and ostomy care training.
• Hygiene and Sanitation Supports: Including commodes, medi laundry carts, laundry bags, slipper bed pans, and slide sheets.
• Medtech: This category is broadly defined and includes the clinical devices listed above.

The provision of this equipment is intended to support nursing and other healthcare learners in developing practical, technical, and interpersonal skills through simulation-based education and immersive learning. This includes the creation of an immersive simulation room within an existing teaching space at GTI. The equipment must facilitate realistic scenario-based learning aligned with modern healthcare practice, enabling learners to gain experience and competencies required across acute, community, and long-term care settings.

Contracts under the framework may be awarded via a cascade system (awarding to the first-ranked firm, then sequentially down the ranked list if the primary firm cannot deliver) or through mini-tender competitions among all admitted framework members.

3. Background & buyer context

Galway and Roscommon Education and Training Board (GRETB) is a statutory authority responsible for education and training across Galway and Roscommon. GRETB operates over 650 sites, including second-level schools, further education colleges, and training centres, delivering a wide range of educational programmes. This procurement aligns with GRETB's commitment to providing high-quality vocational training, specifically focusing on equipping nursing and healthcare learners with essential practical skills. The establishment of this framework is driven by the need to acquire critical skills equipment and devices to enhance simulation-based education and immersive learning experiences within their facilities, particularly at Galway Technical Institute. This initiative aims to improve learner preparedness for real-world clinical practice and future professional roles.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered eligible for evaluation:

• Turnover requirement: Not specified for this tender.
• Insurance:
• Public Liability Insurance: Minimum indemnity limit of €6,500,000.
• Product Liability Insurance: Minimum indemnity limit of €6,500,000.
• Employer’s Liability Insurance: Minimum indemnity limit of €13,000,000 (not required for a sole trader). Bidders must declare compliance and be able to provide supporting documentation within seven working days of request. Failure to provide evidence will lead to elimination.
• Certifications: Not specified for this tender.
• Past experience: Bidders must demonstrate successful delivery of two comparable contracts within the past three years. These contracts should be of similar scope, scale, and complexity to the requirements of this tender. Specific details of the delivered goods, client name, annual value, and contract dates must be provided for each reference.
• Personnel: Not specified for this tender.
• Geographic / facility constraints: Not specified for this tender.

Additionally, bidders must confirm they are fully tax compliant with the Irish Revenue Commissioners and complete a Declaration of Bona Fides. Tenderers must also demonstrate they have effective and efficient technical systems to deliver the goods, providing a complete description of specifications requested in Appendix 1, with statements of compliance or non-compliance. Compliance with Health and Safety legislation (Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (General Applications) Regulations 2007) must also be demonstrated, including adequate policies, procedures, and systems, with confirmation of third-party certification where applicable.

5. Award criteria & scoring

The tender process uses a single-stage procedure where all interested parties may tender, but only those meeting the selection criteria are eligible for evaluation against the award criteria. The award criteria are not explicitly detailed with scoring weights in the provided extract. However, the document states that the "lowest cost tender that also meets all of the minimum requirements" is a key consideration. It also notes that responses to specification questions will be assessed collectively to evaluate the tenderer's overall response to award criteria and sub-criteria. If a tie occurs between tenders, the tender with the highest score for the highest weighted criterion will be deemed most economically advantageous. If the tie persists, further criteria will be assessed sequentially. If a tie remains after all criteria, a Best and Final Offer (BAFO) may be requested.

The overall approach is described as a "single stage tender procedure whereby all interested parties may tender, but only those meeting the selection criteria (financial and technical capacity) will be deemed eligible for evaluation against the award criteria." The document implies a "lowest cost tender that also meets all of the minimum requirements" will be favoured.

6. Submission requirements

Tenderers are required to submit their responses through the eTenders platform. Key submission requirements include:

• Tender Response Document (TRD): Tenderers must complete and submit the TRD, which will be used to assess compliance with selection criteria.
• Pricing Schedule: All cost submissions must be kept separate and included in the Excel file entitled "Appendix 2 – Pricing Schedule".
• Declarations:
• Form of Tenderers’ Statement.
• Declaration of Bona Fides (as per Article 57 of Council Directive 2014/24/EC).
• Confirmation of tax compliance with Irish Revenue Commissioners.
• Declaration of compliance with minimum insurance requirements.
• Technical Capacity Evidence:
• Complete description of all specifications requested in Appendix 1, with statements of compliance or non-compliance and proposed alternatives.
• Information demonstrating successful delivery of two comparable contracts in the past 3 years, including detailed descriptions, client names, contact details, annual values, and contract dates.
• Demonstration of compliance with Health and Safety legislation, including policies, procedures, and systems, and third-party certification where applicable.
• Warranties: Details of manufacturer's warranties for all equipment items must be provided, confirming compliance with specifications and covering repair or replacement.
• Company Information: Company name, address, and contact details for the individual responsible for the tender. If a grouping, separate information for each member is required.

A mandatory site visit is not specified. Tenderers must associate their company with the competition on eTenders before submission.

7. Key dates & process

The tender validity period is 12 months from the submission deadline.

8. Contract terms that matter

The framework agreement will have an initial duration of two years, with an option to extend for two additional twelve-month periods, totalling a maximum of four years. This extension is subject to satisfactory performance, business needs, and budgetary constraints. Contracts awarded under the framework may extend beyond the framework's expiry date.

Payment terms are not explicitly detailed, but invoices are to be submitted monthly for costs incurred in the preceding month, quoting a Contracting Authority purchase order number and the designated manager's name and email. Invoices not quoting the relevant order number will be returned. The Contracting Authority operates a decentralised purchasing system, requiring suppliers to invoice individual sites.

A dedicated account manager must be nominated by the tenderer to act as the main point of contact. Account management activities are non-billable. Notification of any proposed changes to nominated personnel must be in writing and subject to the Contracting Authority's written approval; replacement personnel must be of equal or better standing.

The Contracting Authority reserves the right to terminate the framework agreement or a call-off contract under specific circumstances, including material breach of terms, failure to perform obligations, or if the framework member cannot deliver required goods/services to satisfaction. The framework agreement constitutes no guarantee of purchase quantity. The Contracting Authority also reserves the right to procure requirements outside the framework.

A quick response time of no more than 36 hours from logging an issue is required for reported problems. Tenderers must outline escalation and dispute resolution procedures, including spare parts stocking and provision of replacement parts.

9. Risks, red flags & unusuals

• Multi-Party Framework with Limited Capacity: The framework is limited to a maximum of four members. This, combined with the cascade award mechanism, means that even successful framework members are not guaranteed work and may only receive call-off contracts if higher-ranked members are unavailable or decline.
• No Guaranteed Expenditure: The framework agreement explicitly states there is no obligation to purchase a specific quantity of supplies or services, and admission to the framework does not guarantee any contract award.
• Right to Procure Outside Framework: The Contracting Authority reserves the right to go outside the framework for procurement needs without reference to framework members.
• Decentralised Invoicing: The requirement for suppliers to invoice individual GRETB sites adds administrative complexity.
• Non-Billable Account Management: The nominated account manager's duties are non-billable, requiring this cost to be absorbed by the supplier.
• Potential for Mini-Tenders and Negotiation: While a cascade system is mentioned, the Contracting Authority also reserves the right to employ a negotiation stage in mini-tender competitions, introducing an element of uncertainty in the final award of call-off contracts.

10. SME fit assessment

This tender is structured as a multi-party framework agreement for critical skills equipment and devices. A credible bidder would likely be a specialist supplier or distributor with a proven track record in providing healthcare simulation equipment, medical devices, and associated training aids. The requirement for two comparable contracts within the last three years, coupled with specific insurance levels (€6.5m Public Liability, €6.5m Product Liability, €13m Employer's Liability), suggests a need for established businesses rather than very small sole traders.

Consortium bidding is not explicitly mentioned, but the structure allows for multiple suppliers (up to four) to be admitted to the framework. Sub-contracting is not explicitly addressed but would likely be permissible for specific components or services, provided it is declared and approved.

The bid preparation effort is likely to be moderate to high, given the detailed specification of equipment, the requirement for past experience references, and the need to demonstrate technical and health & safety compliance. The absence of a specific turnover requirement might make it accessible to some SMEs, but the insurance levels and experience criteria are significant hurdles.

The "Pwin" signal is mixed. The multi-party framework structure aims to increase competition, but the limited number of framework places (maximum four) and the cascade award mechanism mean that securing actual work after framework admission is not guaranteed. The Contracting Authority's right to procure outside the framework also reduces certainty. The tender is open to firms that can meet the specified technical and financial requirements, particularly those with experience in the healthcare education sector.

11. Where to dig deeper

• Source RFT Filename: [Call for Tender (CFT) Critical Skills Equipment and Devices.pdf]
• eTenders CFT ID: Not specified in the provided text.
• Contact Email / Clarification Portal:
• Email: [email protected]
• Phone: +353-818001459
• Key Attachments:
• Appendix 1: Specification of Requirements
• Appendix 2: Pricing Schedule
• Tender Response Document (TRD)