Agenda item

The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing considered the report, which sought approval for the acceptance of external funding of £200,000 from Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) for Workplace Cardiovascular NHS Health Checks pilot.

In order to successfully deliver the programme, an approval to vary the existing contract for the provision of NHS Health Checks delivered by Haringey GP Group Limited trading as Haringey GP Federation to provide workplace Cardiovascular NHS Health Check pilot was recommended.

In response to questions from the Cabinet Member, the following information was provided:

-       Given the clear objectives for delivery of the service in the next 12 months, there was no option to go out to tender for this provision.

-       The Haringey GP Federation were successfully providing this service and varying the existing contract with them allowed a consolidation of resources and continued capacity for this provision.

-       The Council were one of only six London boroughs to gain access to this funding.

The Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing,

RESOLVED

1.    To grant approval to accept external funding estimated to be £200,000 for Workplace NHS Health Checks pilot in accordance with Contract Standing Order (CSO) 17.1; and

2.    To vary the existing contract for the provision of NHS Health Checks delivered by Haringey GP Group Ltd t/a Haringey GP Federation to provide workplace Cardiovascular NHS Health Check pilot with a target start date in July/August 2024 for a period of 9 to 12 months at the maximum cost of £200,000 (exclusive of VAT).  The proposed variation is allowed under CSO 10.02 and CSO 16.2.  The total contract value for the duration of the existing contract is £495,080. The aggregated total value of the contract will be a maximum of £695,080 including the above proposed variation.

Reasons for decision

Accepting this external funding will help the council to upscale its current outreach NHS Health Checks with target to workplaces for eligible population for NHS Health Checks and/or those outside of the 40 to 74 year old age range including workers from out of the area as specified in the grant specification. This model also open opportunities to engage with eligible population but less likely to take it up (e.g. men and younger age groups). Furthermore, the checks involve Mini cardiovascular disease (CVD) checksfor some individuals who may not be ready to engage with a full NHS Health Checks.

The NHS Health Checks will spot the early signs of cardiovascular disease, (which is the 2^nd highest cause of mortality after cancer in Haringey), such as heart disease and provide people with the information they need to reduce their risk of having a heart attack, stroke or developing diabetes. This workplace project would also contribute to a reduction in sickness absence and worklessness, associated costs of staff turnover, loss of skill base, downtime, recruitment and re-training.

Variation to the current NHSHC contract is a viable option:

The confirmed funding is expected to be spent on Workplace Cardiovascular NHS Health Checks within very short timeframe (e.g. by 31^st March 2025). Due to such a tight deadline, a procurement process is not appropriate and will not be a realistic alternative. Furthermore, this potential contract opportunity is unlikely to be of interest to other suppliers as it’s a one-off project for a very short period and has clinical requirements which would be a challenge for most potential bidders.

Recently, the Public Health Team conducted an open and competitive tender for the Integrated Lifestyle Change Programme, known as One You Haringey (OYH) which involves NHS Health Checks as one of its service components. Following a robust evaluation process, the contract was awarded to Haringey GP Federation. Furthermore, Haringey GP Federation has been successfully providing another NHS Health Checks contract since 2023 and Public Health is of the view that they will be able to satisfy the requirements of the proposed variation. Therefore, the variation of the current NHS Health Checks contract with the GP Federation is a viable option for various reasons including avoiding duplication, helping to consolidate resources, service integration, and collaboration.

The public health team has discussed the opportunity with Haringey GP Federation, and they expressed their interest, provided their financial model along with key deliverables and targets that they can achieve. They have showed full confidence that they will meet the requirements required through this contract variation and able to engage individuals in workplaces and deliver increased number of NHS Health Checks as well as Mini CVD Checks.

Alternative options considered

The Council could decide not to accept the grant. As such the council will lose the opportunity to provide NHS Health Checks or Mini CVD checks for Haringey workforce in their workplaces which provides them an opportunity to have checks on their CVD risk factors particularly those economically disadvantaged groups (by targeting the service in those workplaces with employees who are likely in low paid jobs) and those outside eligible population. Therefore, it is in the Council’s interest to accept the funding in order to deliver the service against the commitments set out in the Council Corporate Delivery Plan 2022/23 and 2023/24.

Going to tender or not to vary the existing contract – going to tender would not be a viable option due to limited time available as well as not be able to attract good market due limited period of funding as well as the need for clinical requirements which would be a challenge to meet requirements. Also, setting up a separate contract would create duplication and avoidable administrative costs as well as losing the benefits from service integration, improving access, reducing health inequalities and facilitating choice and achieving greater value for money.