Prior information notice
This notice is for prior information only
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
NHS Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board
QUY
Floor 2, North Wing, 100 Temple Street
Bristol
BS1 6AG
UK
Contact person: Alexandra Searle
E-mail: Scwcsu.procurement@nhs.net
NUTS: UKK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.england.nhs.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
I.1) Name and addresses
NHS Devon Integrated Care Board
QKJ
Aperture House, Pynes Hill, Rydon Lane
Exeter
EX2 5AZ
UK
Contact person: Alexandra Searle
E-mail: Scwcsu.procurement@nhs.net
NUTS: UKK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.england.nhs.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract involves joint procurement
I.3) Communication
The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge at:
https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Health
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Dental Urgent Care Helpline(s) across the South West
Reference number: C467776
II.1.2) Main CPV code
85130000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
This notice is placed as a Prior Information Notice (PIN) to inform the market of NHS England South West's intention to recommission Dental Urgent Care Helplines within each of the Integrated Care Board (ICBs) regions below.
1. Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG)
2. Devon
There is also potential for the other ICBs in the South West to recommission the services in their areas
1. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
2. Gloucestershire
3. Somerset
4. Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW)
5. Dorset
Please note that Devon and Cornwall ICBs are transitioning to form a 'cluster'; similarly BNSSG and Gloucestershire are forming a 'cluster'; and Somerset, Dorset and BSW are forming a cluster, ahead of statutory mergers taking formal effect, likely from April 2027.
At this time, the Commissioners would like to understand the level of provider interest in delivering the services and invites interested parties to express an interest by completing a market engagement questionnaire. There will also be the opportunity to attend one of the market engagement events which will be held as follows:
17th September in Bristol
30th September in Exeter
Further details to be confirmed with those who express an interest).
The purpose of the event will be to share further detail of the commissioners' aims and objectives for the service, as well as provide an opportunity for commissioners to obtain valuable feedback from providers to help inform the commissioning strategy. Details on how to express interest and/or register for the event are provided below.
The contract term and start date will likely vary across the ICBs in the South West, with the earliest potential date of commencement being 1st July 2027 for Devon.
Contracts will likely be for an initial term of 3 years and an option to extend for up to a further two years. However, contract length(s) will be confirmed at a later date.
This exercise is being carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioner.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
This notice is placed as a Prior Information Notice (PIN) to inform the market of NHS England South West's intention to recommission Dental Urgent Care Helplines within each of the Integrated Care Board (ICBs) regions below.
1. Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire (BNSSG)
2. Devon
There is also potential for the other ICBs in the South West to recommission the services in their areas
3. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
4. Gloucestershire
5. Somerset
6. Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire
7. Dorset
Please note that Devon and Cornwall ICBs are transitioning to form a 'cluster'; similarly BNSSG and Gloucestershire are forming a 'cluster'; and Somerset, Dorset and BSW are forming a cluster, ahead of statutory mergers taking formal effect, likely from April 2027.
At this time, the Commissioners would like to understand the level of provider interest in delivering the services and invites interested parties to express an interest by completing a market engagement questionnaire.
The aim of the Dental Urgent Care Helpline Service is to provide an accessible and equitable pathway for patients transferred from NHS 111 that do not have access to a dentist and require unscheduled urgent or non-urgent dental care within operational hours of the service.
The Service shall operate as a secondary triage and booking service and will only accept patient contacts transferred from NHS 111 via agreed interoperability mechanisms. Direct public access to the Service is not available.
The service will triage and assess all patients transferred against the national clinical guidance criteria for unscheduled urgent and non urgent dental care
As defined in the Management of acute dental problems guidance produced by the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP), patients requiring unscheduled dental care can be categorised into 1 of the following 3 categories:
• emergency unscheduled care (immediately life threatening and oral and dental conditions): patients who may require clinical triage by an appropriately trained clinical triage professional within 60 minutes and subsequent treatment within a timescale that is appropriate to the severity of the condition;
• urgent unscheduled care: patients who may require clinical care within 24 hours or as soon as practically possible, unless the condition worsens;
• non-urgent unscheduled care: patients requiring dental care within 7 days, unless the conditions worsens.
The Service will:
• prioritise patients based on clinical risk, vulnerability and access barriers and direct to the most appropriate service or offered proper and qualified advice from a General Dental Council (GDC) registered dental care professional.
• Provide information about NHS dental services in the area
• Provide appropriate advice and signposting for non urgent dental enquiries
• Support effective utilisation of commissioned urgent dental capacity by booking patients into urgent care appointments.
This will:
• Reduce inappropriate emergency department attendance
• Improve patient flow through urgent dental care pathways through the provision of access to unscheduled dental care and appropriate advice and information
A draft service specification has been developed and the commissioner is seeking feedback from providers via a market engagement questionnaire and a market engagement event to help inform the final specification and commissioning strategy.
II.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice:
01/12/2026
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
No
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit the Authority or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest.
Those interested in attending the market engagement event should follow the link to the e-procurement system, Atamis, search for the opportunity by clicking on 'View our Live Opportunities' from the home page, then complete the 'Market Engagement Event Registration Form' Microsoft (MS) Forms available within the system.
Please note that you will need to be registered on Atamis, and then select the option to 'register an interest' under the project titled 'Dental Urgent Crae Helpline- Market Engagement', project reference C467776 to gain access to the MS Forms registration link and draft Specification.
https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
The closing date for registering is 12 noon Thursday 10th September 2026. Further details of the event will be provided once the PIN has closed, to all respondents who have registered their interest and completed the registration form/questionnaire prior to this closing date.
Please note, attendees will be limited to a maximum of 2 per organisation, and depending on the level of interest in each event, the attendees may need to be reduced to 1 per organisation due to room capacity.
Organisations need not attend both events; they will be run in the same way, covering the same content. The two locations are to support with accessibility across the region. Please let us know which event you are interested in attending.
The Authority will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise. Interested parties should note that a response to this notice does not guarantee an automatic invitation to any subsequent formal procurement, which the commissioners will consider in due course.
This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) prior information notice. The contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and The Procurement Act 2023 do not apply.
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
24/08/2026