Commissioning Guidance
Contracting
Contracting refers to the part of the commissioning process that relates to definition of the agreement between the Commissioner, who is purchasing the services and the Provider of the same services.
Contracting falls into two broad categories: those services that fall within the NHS family and those that are purchased from outside the NHS.
The contracting process needs to be governed by a clear agreement, sometimes referred to as a Service Level Agreement . The key purpose of this agreement is to ensure that both parties to this agreement are aware of what is included and where appropriate, what is excluded.
The contracting process ensures that this written agreement defines the level of service, which can then be monitored.
Having chosen a provider and having negotiated the level of services to be provided, it is necessary to define the actual ‘contract terms’.
Typically a contract will include the
- Description of the parties
- Objectives of the contract
- Services to be covered
- Volume/mix of each service to be provided
- Price
- Payment terms
- Quality Specifications
- Admission and discharge procedures
- Audit
- Waiting times
- Variation of contract terms
- Monitoring
- Duration and re-negotiation
- Remedies for non-performance
- Arbitration
The contracting process will ensure that there is a defined level of service at an agreed price over a specified time frame.
A Contract within the NHS should not be approached as a legislative or adversarial process, but instead as a means of discussing and agreeing how improvements to patient care can be procured and over what time.
Any contract placed with an organisation outside of the NHS family will need to be more specific, because this contract will become legally binding to both parties.
Involving patients in contracting.
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