Running an on catalogue competition

On the Buying Catalogue there are two ways to start an on catalogue competition:

• create a shortlist and click the Create competition button

or

• navigate to competitions, click on theh Create new competition button then select the appropriate shortlist

Input a unique competition name.  The name should easily identify your competition from others for your organisation. The description should be as descriptive as possible.

Select at least 2 solutions and a maximum of 8 to take through to your competition. You must provide a justification for any solutions that are not added.

Select the organisations that will receive the winning solution for this competition. Or, you can also upload them using a CSV file.

Confirm how long your contract will be in months. 

Select if you want to compare using price only or price and non price elements. This could include features such as, implementation, interoperability or service levels.

If you are using price only you can move straight to calculate the price.

Give your chosen award criteria weightings based on how important they are to you. The total weightings must add up to 100%. 

• price - enter a percentage between 30% and 90% in multiples of 5
• non price - enter a percentage between 10% and 70% in multiples of 5

Add at least 1 optional non price element to help you score your shortlisted solutions. Choose at least 1 from the following: features, implementation, interoperability or service levels.

Features requirements

Explain your requirements for features provided by the winning solution. You can add more features requirements later if needed.

Decide if the feature is a must or should requirement. Is it essential that the winning solution meets this requirement or is it a nice-to-have? For example:

• must have
• should have

Decide if there is a certain funtionality that you need to meet your business needs. The winning solution will need to provide this.

Decide on your implementation requirements

Think about how quickly you'll need the solution to be up and running. Consider if there is anything else you need from the supplier during implementation.

Interoperability requirements

Select which integrations your winning solution needs to work with:

• IM1 integrations
  • bulk
  • transactional
  • patient facing
     
• GP connect integrations
  • access record HTML
  • appointment management
  • access record structured
  • send document
  • update record
     
• NHS App integrations
  • online consultations
  • personal health records
  • primary care notifications
  • secondary care notifications

Service level requirements

Provide information on the level of support you require for a winning solution:

• detail times you require core support to be available
  • enter times in the 24 hour format, for example, for 9am use 09:00 and for midday use 12:00
• detail applicable days
  • select the days you require core support to be available
  • don't forget to include bank holidays if you need support on those days

Give your chosen non-price elements weightings based on how important they are to you. Enter a percentage in multiples of 5. The total weightings must add up to 100%.

Review the weightings you’ve applied to your competition. Look at the details of any non price elements you’ve added.

Once you have confirmed your competition criteria you cannot change the information.

The award criteria and non price elements you've selected will be locked. The weightings you've given for each of them will also be locked. 

Based on the non price elements you've added:

• for each non price element:
  • compare the information on the marketing pages to your requirements
  • download the information and send to the colleagues involved in the procurement process
• collaborate with those colleagues to score your shortlisted solutions. Use the following scoring system:
  1. Bad, no requirements met
  2. Poor, few requirements met
  3. Adequate, just meets requirements
  4. Good, requirements covered well
  5. Excellent, all requirements covered well
• keep a record of the rationale you used to score each solution, as you will need to add this to the score
• once you've reached agreement, input the final scores and your justifications for them

Calculate the price for each of your shortlisted solutions:

• accept the list price, or input a lower price if negotiated
• the NHS publishes the latest practice list sizes
• make sure you know how many you need if quantities are measured differently. For example, per licence per month
• include any additional and associated services you need to fulfil your requirements. This includes training and migration costs
• the price will be calculated and scored for you. It cannot be changed once you view the results

You will be able to review your non-price elements scoring and the price for each solution. 

You can return to your competition task list if you need to make any changes to the information you’ve provided. By continuing you’ll no longer be able to make any changes.

Once you have viewed your results you cannot make any changes to the information you’ve provided. This competition will be complete. You can then order your winning solution.

However, the result is non-binding so you are under no obligation to place an order for the solution if you don’t want to. If you do, the information entered for the competition will be carried over to the order. This could include items such as the solution and service recipients.

You will be provided with a breakdown of results. It will contain all the details you have entered and the winning solution.

The price score is calculated as follows:

• 5 = Lowest price
• 4 = <25% difference to the lowest price
• 3 = 26-50% difference to the lowest price
• 2 = 51-100% difference to the lowest price
• 1 = >100% difference to the lowest price

If more than one solution has the same winning score, you can decide which solution you want to procure.

Order the winning solution or don’t proceed with the competition.

• if you order the winning solution the information you entered will be carried over to the order. This will include items such as solution and service recipients
• if your requirements have changed you can create another competition