C43704_Digital Productivity_Robotic Process Automation

Description

Summary of the work The NHSX Digital Productivity team is seeking support to develop a comprehensive guidance for Robotic Process Automation for health and care. The service provider will develop guidance through working with relevant stakeholders across the ecosystem. Expected Contract Length Up to 3 months Latest start date Monday 4 October 2021 Budget Range 1. All outputs will be owned by NHS England & NHS Improvement and published openly where appropriate using a suitable open license that supports reuse (e.g. MIT and OGL). 2. All materials/outputs derived from the contract shall be the property of NHS England & NHS Improvement. 3. GDPR requirements will be discussed and agreed once the successful supplier has been notified (as part of discussions to agree the wording of the call-off contract). 4. All expenses must be pre-agreed between parties Why the Work is Being Done In July 2020, NHSX conducted a national survey to understand current challenges and barriers to using robotic process automation (RPA) in health and care, which received c.170 responses, 54% from NHS and Social Care. The survey findings identified a number of challenges in safely and rapidly implementing RPA as a first step on the automation journey. Over 40% of health and social care respondents are actively considering investing in RPA, but lack of guidance and best practice have hindered this. Also, a number of organisations were not aware of safety implications of RPA if implemented without suitable due diligence and governance, such as clinical safety assessment. To accelerate the adoption of this technology safely and rapidly, there is a need to inform and educate potential users on how to implement and use such technology safely. Problem to Be Solved To minimise the risk of unsafe adoption of RPA in health and care, the healthcare providers need to have access to a comprehensive national guidance and assurance checklist. This will provide a foundation to RPA users on how to safely start their automation journey. The guidance will also highlight the technical standards required to implement RPA across different sectors. The guidance will enable safe and effective adoption of automation across the health and care sector and will minimise variation of governance, improving confidence within the system and reducing the risk of unregulated solutions. Who Are the Users The users of the guidance are NHS providers across health and care sectors such as CCIOs and CIOs across 7 regions (pharmacy, dentistry, optometry, ambulance and community services) and secondary care, NHS arm's length bodies, Local authority, social care, and primary care. Early Market Engagement No Work Already Done No Existing Team The NHSX Digital Productivity team will include: Senior Manager (the programme lead) and 2 project managers. Current Phase Not started Skills & Experience • Knowledge and expertise in automation and robotic process automation (RPA) and understanding the governance and technical requirements for implementation such technology in health and care sector in UK • At least 4 years of expertise in developing and designing materials and products • Ability to navigate, communicate and build relationship with the relevant stakeholders • Demonstrate experience of applying principles of user-centred design to the development of digital product for a diverse range of users, paying particular attention to accessibility needs • Detail with example(s) of your experience working within a highly regulated industry and delivering the expected outcomes • Methodological, organised with exceptional record keeping • Previous experience working with the UK’s health sector Nice to Haves • Work collaboratively, sharing knowledge and experience. • Provide evidence of leading in project governance and delivery. • Provide evidence of building relationships quickly • Experience of delivering similar projects in the UK’s Health Sector (example of written materials) Work Location Remote. The existing team has offices in London and Leeds. Working Arrangments The supplier staff will be working very closely with the NHSX Programme team hours to maximise knowledge transfer and required to attend the checkpoints and stand-up meetings. The work patter will be Monday-Friday, 7.5 hours per day. Security Clearance Add security clearance Additional T&Cs 1. All outputs will be owned by NHS England & NHS Improvement and published openly where appropriate using a suitable open license that supports reuse (e.g. MIT and OGL). 2. All materials/outputs derived from the contract shall be the property of NHS England & NHS Improvement. 3. GDPR requirements will be discussed and agreed once the successful supplier has been notified (as part of discussions to agree the wording of the call-off contract). 4. All expenses must be pre-agreed between parties No. of Suppliers to Evaluate 5 Proposal Criteria • Discovery approach and methodology. • How the approach would meet our requirements. • Estimated timeframes for the work • Identified risks and dependencies, with mitigations. • Team structure. • Value for Money Cultural Fit Criteria • Work as a team with our organisation and other suppliers • Be transparent and collaborative when making decisions • Have a no-blame culture and encourage people to learn from their mistakes • Take responsibility for their work • Share knowledge and experience with other team members • Challenge the status quo • Be comfortable standing up for their discipline • Can work with clients with low technical expertise Payment Approach Fixed price Assessment Method • Case study • Work history • Presentation Evaluation Weighting Technical competence 60% Cultural fit 20% Price 20% Questions from Suppliers 1. Could the Authority provide the procurement timelines including shortlisting, presentation and award date? Indicative Timetable: 2021Stage 1 – Requirements• Clarification deadline: 31 Aug at 11:59pm• Requirements submission deadline: 7 Sep at 11:59pm• Evaluations to shortlist 5 suppliers: 7-9 SepStage 2 – Proposal• Shortlisted Bidders invited via Atamis: 10 September• Proposal submission deadline: 24 September by 12noon• Panel evaluations: 24 – 29 September• Outcome Notifications: 30 September• Contract Start: 4 October 2. Would you accept consultants that do not currently have SC but are willing to undergo clearance? Yes 3. Who from your team will be scoring applications for this opportunity and what positions do they hold? The digital productivity team will evaluate and score the applications. The team includes, Programme Director, and Senior Managers. 4. Is this project to create a help guide on how to create automations or to actually develop automations? This project focuses on creating a Guidance for health and care organisations on how to start their automation journey by following the right set of standards and requirements. The guidance will focus on what automation is and how it can be implemented safely in health and care 5. You have referenced open source software.Is this to publish the help guide or to develop open source RPA Bots? It is to publish the help guide. 6. From your comments, we are of the impression you are looking to empower citizen developers to create their own low risk bespoke automations. Yes, that’s correct. The main aim of the guidance is to ensure safe development of automation. 7. From your comments, we are of the impression you are looking to empower citizen developers to create their own low risk bespoke automations. These actions will be supported via a national go to guide. Are these two assumptions correct? Yes, that’s correct. The main aim of the guidance is to ensure safe development of automation. 8. There are three main vendors for RPA, do you have one in mind at this stage? We are not developing RPA processes. We are developing guidance to empower health and care organisations to use automation safely. The guidance is vendor-agnostic. 9. Planning forward, are you looking to go beyond the RPA platforms to move to Intelligent Automation and /or Artificial Intelligence applications? Yes, by 2023 we will be moving to IA. 10. Could you please clarify budget range allocated for this contract? £77k-£110k (exclusive of VAT) 11. Do you have any RPA tools in place? Is there a budget for commercial tooling? This proposal is not to develop RPA tools or processes. The aim of this ITQ is to develop RPA guidance to empower health and care providers to safely develop and implement RPA. 12. Is Security Clearance something you can help attain/sponsor – ie start with BPSS until SC comes through? No