COR63 - Provision of a Minor Injury Clinic Facility with Associated Services

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

The contract requires the provision of a Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) facility and associated services within the emergency ambulance catchment area of Mater Misericordiae University Hospital (MMUH). This initiative aims to divert patients with non-life-threatening or limb-threatening injuries from the main Emergency Department, improving patient experience times and ensuring appropriate care settings. The MIU will treat injuries that are less than six weeks old, including fractures, sprains, strains, minor facial injuries, minor burns, lacerations, and minor head injuries in fully conscious patients. The unit will not treat conditions due to medical illness, serious head injuries, chest or abdominal pain, respiratory conditions, gynaecological problems, neck or back pain, pregnancy-related conditions, pelvis or hip fractures, injuries due to self-harm, or suspected serious injuries. Children under 16 years old are also excluded.

The facility must be located in a community setting, not within a hospital, and within a 5 km radius of the MMUH. It must accommodate a minimum of 8 clinical and treatment bays. The service will operate from 08:00 to 20:00 daily, initially Monday to Friday, with a future expansion to seven days a week subject to funding. The service provider must be able to cater for at least 80 patients between 08:00 and 18:00 hours.

On-site access to X-ray imaging is a requirement, with projected annual volumes of approximately 14,000-17,000 procedures. Access to advanced imaging such as MRI is also required. The service provider's diagnostic facilities must be capable of interfacing with the MMUH's "Patient Centre" IT system.

Facility management services are also required, including:

• Cleaning services
• Clinical and general waste disposal
• Security services
• Maintenance services
• Provision and management of utilities

Administrative support services are also required, including:

• Medical administration (patient registration, managing consultant review clinics, scanning ED documents, handling telephone enquiries, assisting with imaging requests and results)
• Triage administration (notifying clinical staff of suitability concerns for the minor injury service)

Medical records must be maintained to MMUH standards, scanned onto the "Patient Centre" IT system, and hard copies disposed of via confidential waste. Staff may be required to remotely access the hospital's patient administration system. A single service provider will manage all facilities and services.

The service provider must demonstrate either an existing facility within the specified area or the capacity to procure a suitable facility and resources ready for operationalisation within 4 months of contract award.

3. Background & buyer context

The procurement is driven by continuing increases in attendances at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital's (MMUH) Emergency Department. The establishment of a Minor Injuries Unit (MIU) is deemed essential to ensure patients are treated in the most appropriate setting and to comply with non-admitted Patient Experience Times. Local Injury Units are part of an Emergency Care Network designed to divert patients from Emergency Departments for non-life-threatening injuries. The MMUH has observed an upward trend in minor injury attendances, necessitating this service provision. The contract aligns with the HSE injury unit guidelines and aims to alleviate pressure on the MMUH ED.

4. Eligibility & selection criteria

Bidders must meet the following minimum requirements to be considered:

• Turnover requirement: A minimum average annual turnover of €2,500,000 for each of the last three financial years. Evidence must be provided from an appropriate external source, such as audited accounts.
• Insurance: The following insurance levels must be in place or capable of being secured upon contract award:
• Employer’s Liability: €13 million for any one claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence.
• Public Liability: €6.5 million for any one claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence.
• Professional Indemnity: €6.5 million for any one claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence.
• Professional Indemnity: €5 million for any one claim or series of claims arising out of a single occurrence.
• Certifications: Candidates must demonstrate they have measures in place via a 3rd Party certified Quality Assurance system relating to the provision of a Minor Injury Clinical facility (MR4).
• Past experience: Candidates must demonstrate at least 3 previous contracts within the last 5 years fulfilling the categories of service listed in Section 2 - Scope of Requirements (D3).
• Personnel: Demonstration of the ability to provide human resources to support the contract (D1).
• Geographic / facility constraints: The facility must be within the MMUH catchment area and within a 5 km radius of the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. Candidates must demonstrate they have an existing facility or the capacity to procure a suitable facility and associated resources, ready to operationalise within 4 months of contract award (MR2).

5. Award criteria & scoring

The contract will be awarded to the most economically advantageous tenderer. The evaluation process involves two stages: qualification and tendering. Bidders must first meet all Pass/Fail criteria in the Qualification Questionnaire. For the weighted criteria, bidders must achieve a minimum score of 60% in each weighted criterion and an overall minimum score of 6,000 out of 10,000.

Criterion Weight (%) Sub-criteria