Department of Human
Servces Victoria Australia
Acute Health Division
ASSESSING THE QUALITY OF CONSUMER INFORMATION
TENDER BRIEF
TENDER NUMBER: T1564
Initial enquires regarding this tender
may be directed to:
Tender Due: 2pm Thursday 6 May 1999
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PART B: Conditions of Tendering
PART D: Standard Contract Information
The purpose of this brief is to provide background information and consultancy requirements to prospective consultants interested in tendering for the Department of Human Services' Assessing the Quality of Consumer Information Tender Brief.
The Department of Human Services (Îthe Department') is committed to ensuring the quality and effectiveness of acute and sub-acute health care services.
The aim of this project is to:
Assess the quality and relevance of information provided by Victorian hospitals to consumers in the six specific health areas.
The project will meet this aim by:
2.1 Department of Human Services
The Department is responsible for purchasing, monitoring, regulating and providing services within the health, housing and community services sectors of Victoria. The Department provides support to the Minister for Health and Aged Care, the Minister for Housing, the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs and the Minister of Youth and Community Services.
Most services are provided by separate agencies under service agreements. These include Government related agencies such as public hospitals, health care networks and a diverse range of non-government organisations providing mainly welfare and community services. The Department also provides some services directly, in particular, public rental housing, child protection and some mental health services.
2.2 Acute Health Division
The Acute Health Division is one of nine program areas within the Department of Human Services. The Division has purchasing responsibility for acute hospital inpatient, ambulatory and emergency services and community based services which substitute for hospital care. The Division aims to enhance health care outcomes by purchasing high quality health services which are accessible and relevant to individual and community needs.
The Quality Branch was established at the end of 1997 to develop policy and innovative programmes so that acute health care providers can improve the safety, accessibility and effectiveness of health services in Victoria. Through the activities promoted by the Quality Branch, the Department is developing strategies which encourage the use of health care practices known to improve health outcomes and to improve information for consumers.
The Effectiveness Unit was established in 1998 to support and promote the up take of research evidence in clinical practice. The Effectiveness Unit is concerned with supporting and promoting the transfer of research evidence into clinical practice and health care service delivery to get the best health outcomes for consumers. The Unit recognises that this is a complex process, involving not just knowledge, but social, organisational and economic aspects.
The mission of the Effectiveness Unit is to ensure the delivery of safe and effective acute health services to consumers by:
The management responsibilities of this Unit include the Consumers & Communication Cochrane Collaboration Review and the Consumer Information Program.
2.3 Research informing the development of this tender brief
In 1998, the King's Fund, a health research organisation in the United Kingdom, undertook research to assess the quality of patient information materials. This research is based on the Patient's Charter which outlines the rights of patients using the National Health Service. The Patient's Charter includes the right for consumers to information about their health care and the opportunity to be involved in decisions about their treatment if they so wished (King's Fund 1998).
This research provides the basis for the project outlined in this tender brief. The King's Fund report identifies a number of appropriate methods for accessing the views of consumers and clinicians about consumer information materials. It also provides tools for analysing the relevance, quality and accuracy of information provided to consumers. The researchers recommend the development of guides to assist in the development and assessment of consumer information.
Locally, the Health Issues Centre, based in Melbourne, has undertaken a range of research projects looking at the information needs of health care consumers. In particular, the Health Issues Centre has developed a framework to assist hospitals to develop good practice in the provision of information to consumers.
Through the tender brief detailed below, the Department is keen to build on these projects in order to inform its approach to supporting the development and assessment of quality consumer information to Victorians using public acute health care facilities.
3.0 Assessing the Quality of Consumer Information
Assessing the Quality of Consumer Information Project will commence in July 1999 for eight (8) months, and will review current information available to Victorian public hospital patients to assess the quality and relevance of information in relation to six (6) health problems/interventions. The purpose of the project is to:
Assess the quality and relevance of information provided by Victorian hospitals to consumers in the six health areas.
The project will do this by:
The six health problems/interventions identified for the consumer information review are:
The choice of health problems for inclusion in the project was determined by the availability of local and international research evidence on the condition/procedure and treatment options, as well as the identification of an adequate amount of information material available in Victoria.
Please note: Tenders will be considered which:
Tenders which focus on a single condition area will not be considered.
The project will have two distinct but overlapping stages. Stage one of the project will focus on the collection and review of written information in the six health condition areas. This includes the development of a guide to assess and develop quality consumer information. This process will be informed by the King's Fund project outlined below.
The second stage will assess the information for the six health problems/interventions provided by hospitals against the guide developed as part of stage one. Stage two will include a report on consumer information provided by Victorian hospitals which will be use to provide feedback to hospitals.
The project will be based on, and provide a local focus to, research undertaken by the King's Fund in the United Kingdom. The King's Fund project Informing Patients: An assessment of the quality of patient information materials, was undertaken in 1997/98. The findings were published by the King's Fund in 1998. Adoption by the tender(s) of the methods used by the King's Fund will be required. Variations to the methods which take into account local issues and context can be negotiated.
Please note: the King's Fund project included a wide range of information materials. This tender brief will focus on the analysis of written information only.
The methods used in the King's Fund project included:
This tender brief specifies that written information which is available to Victorian public hospital patients will be the focus of this project and should be collected from:
Please note: the King's Fund publication Informing Patients: An assessment of the quality of patient information materials (1998) is available for review by prospective tenderers at the Department Resource Centre, Ground Floor, 555 Collins St., Melbourne. Viewing will be at the Resource Centre only. The publication is not available for loan.
4.1 Project plan
The successful tenderer will be required to provide the Department with a detailed project plan incorporating changes and amendments that may have been identified, discussed and agreed with the Department following notification of success.
4.2 Project documents
The successful tenderer will be required to provide the Department with a range of documents. These are:
A report which includes:
The successful tenderer will be required to provide the Department with two documents which can potentially stand alone, and which can easily be used by the target audiences, which provide:
A second report which will be provided to all Victorian hospitals which includes:
Please note: that while this report will provide a general overview of consumer information in these specified areas in Victorian public hospitals, it is expected that results from individual hospitals will be collected so that they can be sent to these hospitals upon request.
Interim reporting requirements
An interim report will be required by the end of November which includes an analysis of themes and/or issues which may inform future Department direction in this area.
In addition, it would be expected that the tender(s) would produce at least one article for publication in relevant journal(s).
4.3 Target audiences
The audiences for these documents will be:
The consultancy will be managed by the Effectiveness Unit, Acute Health Quality Branch.
The Assessing the Quality of Consumer Information Project, as described in this brief, is expected to be undertaken over a eight (8) month period commencing upon receipt of and agreement to the Project plan. For the purposes of this project it is imperative that specified time-lines be adhered to.
Projected timelines against deliverables are:
PART B: CONDITIONS OF TENDERING
27th March 1999 Advertisement of tender project brief.
6th April 1999 Final date for all questions
6th May 1999 Tender submissions due by 2.00 pm
Tenderers may be asked to attend an interview to clarify or expand on any aspect of their tender
19th July 1999 Anticipated project commencement date
Initial enquiries by prospective tenderers about the tender can be made by telephone to
Ms. Laure Graham on (03) 9616 7324.
All other requests for clarification of any tender documentation should be made in writing. All written questions asked and answers provided will be recorded and provided to all parties who have requested this tender documentation. Requests for information can be addressed to:
Tenderers must demonstrate knowledge of national and international literature related to consumer information.
Tenderers must demonstrate their capacity to access and apply systematic reviews of research evidence pertaining to each of the specific health areas.
Tenderers must demonstrate involvement of people/organisations with relevant expertise and knowledge in the key elements of the project, including clinical and research expertise, and expertise in consumer issues in relation to information. In particular, the tenderer must show that their proposed project personnel have expertise in:
Demonstrate their capacity to work collaboratively with other various stakeholders, such as non-government organisations, hospitals, related professional organisations, self help groups.
Evidence of capacity to complete the project within designated time frames. Presentation of a project plan, key milestones and timelines would be an expected attachment to the tender submission.
Demonstrated capacity to resource and manage the project.
Demonstrate the successful completion of similar projects. This can be done by providing nominated referees and by previous clients for whom relevant and related work has been undertaken.
Extent to which the proposal represents value for money.
Tenders will be assessed by a selection panel and evaluation will be based on the key project requirements which are listed above. All the key project requirements are mandatory and have equal weighting. For shortlisted tenderers, information obtained at interview will be considered as part of the evaluation process.
Any attempt, by a tenderer, after the issue of tender documentation, and prior to the issuing of an acceptance by the Department, to exert influence on the outcome of the evaluation process by lobbying departmental staff, Members of Parliament, or by way of an offer of money or other material benefits to departmental personnel shall disqualify their offer from further consideration and render their offer invalid.
All information provided by an organisation in its tender will be considered to have been submitted in confidence.
Organisations are expected to treat all information regarding the Department, obtained during the preparation of the tender, as information acquired in confidence.
Organisations must disclose any potential conflict of interest arising if they were successful and how this conflict would be addressed.
Tenders must be lodged no later than 2pm on Thursday 6 May 1999 at:
Five (5) copies of the consultants proposal, together with relevant supporting documentation must be submitted. One (1) set must be clearly marked "Original" and the other sets must be marked "Copy". Where any discrepancy occurs between the original and the copies of the tender documentation, the original shall prevail.
The envelope in which the proposal is enclosed must be properly sealed and clearly marked:
Proposals must be addressed to:
Late tenders will not be accepted. Tenders received after the closing date and time will be recorded as such, with the time and date of receipt, on the envelope and returned to the tenderer. Faxed responses will not be accepted.
If the tender does not include the information requested in this brief, or is incomplete in any way, it may be rejected.
The Department reserves the right to consider, at its discretion, a tenderer's non-conforming bid if no conforming bids were submitted.
The Department may choose not to accept the lowest priced, or any tender. The Department does not warrant or undertake that any successful tenderer will necessarily be awarded work.
All tenderers, successful and unsuccessful, will be notified of the outcome of the tender assessment in writing.
12.0 Ownership of Documentation
Documents submitted in response to this request for tender will remain the property of the Department of Human Services. Intellectual property in the information contained in the response will remain vested in the respondent.
The successful tenderer will enter into a standard contract with the Department of Human Services. The contract will be based upon revised documentation of the submitted project brief incorporating any modifications negotiated between the tendereers and the department. A copy of the standard contract is included as Part D of this document.
Tenderers are required to set out their tenders in accordance with the following format.
Details of organisation including name, affiliations, location and principal contact details.
Tenderers should outline recent experience in consultancy work, particularly in government and the health and/or aged care sector and their capacity to undertake the work proposed in the brief. Particular reference should be made to recent experience in acute health/clinical settings providing clear examples of work in information analysis and review. Tenderers should also demonstrate their capacity to access relevant experts in defined areas as required.
Tenderers should briefly describe major projects undertaken which demonstrate the successful achievement and implementation of project outcomes and/or products, including the tenderers capacity to provide agreed upon deliverables within specified time frames.
Tenderers should describe in detail the proposed approach and methods which will be used to fulfil the requirements of this tender, including stakeholder consultation and reporting. Reference should be made to any potential issues for consideration by the Department that may impact on the proposed methods.
A list of all personnel who will participate in the project must be specified, providing details of their qualifications, details of relevant and recent work experience, and proposed role in the project.
A list of stakeholders should be included, providing details about their proposed involvement and participation in the project.
7.0 Quality and Evaluation Processes
Details should be provided about mechanisms which will be used throughout the project to ensure the quality and effectiveness of project processes including a clearly articulated method for project evaluation.
Tenderers should outline their proposed project management processes and demonstrate how compliance with all specified timelines will be ensured.
Tenders should specify a detailed cost structure to complete the proposed work, including, if relevant:
Tenderers should indicate their acceptance of the Conditions of Contract (Part D) by signing the Acknowledgment form and return the original of the Acknowledgment form with the tender. Alternatively the tenders must provide a tabulated statement showing in order of the relevant clauses, any departures from the Agreement. The Consultancy Brief will form part of the agreement.
Tenderers should note that by signing the Acknowledgment form they have accepted the conditions of contract and that these are not open to further negotiation.
If the tenderer submits a tabulated statement showing departures to the Agreement as outlined in Part D, Conditions of Contract, the Department is not bound to accept these changes and may deem the tender submission to be non-conforming.
Details of three referees with whom the Department may consult in relation to the consultancy services for which the tender is lodged.
Details, including name of contact person, position, telephone number, organisation that he/she represents and brief outline of relationship to tenderers should be provided.
The Department also reserves the right to approach other sources and referees.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I acknowledge that I have read the tender documents and understand all associated conditions and matters relating to the proposed contact. Business details Name and address of Business: ·····················. ·····················. ·····················. ·····················. ·····················. ·····················. Australian Companies Number: ·····················. (if applicable) Place of Incorporation: ·····················. (if applicable) Registered Business Name: ·····················. (if applicable) Principle Office Address: ·····················.. ·····················.. ·····················.. Telephone: .····················· Facsimile: ·····················.. e-mail: ·····················. Principal of Organisation: ·····················.. (office held) ·····················.. (signature of principle)
PART D: Standard Contact Information