PCD 1628 Medical Streamlined Forensic Reporting

PCD 1628 Medical Streamlined Forensic Reporting

This paper seeks approval for the award of a further single tender action for the provision of streamlined medical reports. The timely and accurate medical evidence obtained supports the judicial process and helps secure successful convictions and positive outcomes for victims.  The proposed upto 4-year term of the contract is estimated at £2,880,000.  

The Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime is recommended to:   

1. Approve a new award of contract under a single tender action to SFR Medical for a period of upto 4 years. The maximum value of the contract will be £2,880,000. 

2. Approve revenue growth of £500,000 per annum to support the Medical SFR service going forwards. The total estimated cost between 2024/25 and 2027/28 will be £2,960,000. The growth for this service has been included in the approved budget. 

PART I - NON-CONFIDENTIAL FACTS AND ADVICE TO THE DMPC 

1. Introduction and background  

1. In June 2022 MOPAC approved the award of a single tender action to SFR Medical via Softcat Plc for the provision of timely and accurate medical evidence which summarises a victim’s injuries and the subsequent treatment by medical professionals.  This was to provide a compliant, efficient and simple ‘one touch’ process for front line officers to obtain medical Streamlined Forensic Reports (SFRs) as supporting evidence for any associated investigations and/or judicial process. 

2. The approval awarded a upto 3-year contract (an initial period of 2 years with a further option to extend for up to 12 months) with a maximum value of the contract at £900,000. 

3. The contract commenced in July 2022. 

2. Issues for consideration 

1. The change arising from the implementation of the contract has proved successful.  The company estimated that it previously took an average of 67 days to get a medical evidence report.  Performance under the contract is showing at 2 days, with more than 98% of standard reports delivered within 10 days, and for urgent referrals (needed where there is a in-custody case) the average is just over 8 hours.  

2. Securing this evidence in this efficient way has vastly improved the success of requests to remand the most prolific offenders, improved the subsequent likelihood of a successful prosecution case and removed delays in the judicial process. This has allowed for quicker and proper outcomes for victims of crime thereby improving victim satisfaction. 

3. The urgency provision provided by SFR Medical will enable essential key evidence in support of such offences to be obtained within a 24 hour window reducing the number of offenders released under investigation or on police bail. In cases where an urgent SFR has been requested, currently, 59% have been charged whilst in custody.  A data analysis in August ‘23, found that in 84% of cases looked at, the case would not have been charged without the medical evidence with most resulting in bail or possibly NFA. 

4. The original award was on the basis of limited data as the existing MPS process for obtaining medical reports and statements involved frontline police investigators attending hospitals in person and there was no overall picture of the volumes involved.  The current monthly average of c800 is in excess of the expected volumes and contract spend is being incurred faster than anticipated.  

5. In support of Operation Hampshire a programme to respond more effectively to assaults on police officers and staff, the supplier has provided free of charge reports where the victim is an emergency worker, whether on or off duty. This includes police, NHS, fire service, Crown Prosecution Service, London Ambulance Service and more recently, Transport for London employees.  

6. The MPS estimate that the implementation generates an annual c£2,900,000 non-cashable savings from freeing up officer time.  

7. NHS partners have been mutual beneficiaries of this process, allowing their front line to be released to focus on healthcare priorities. 

3. Financial Comments  

1. The estimated contract value is £2,880,000 over a upto 4-year term.  The total value of the service is £2,960,000. 

2. The cost can be met from within the recently approved budget which included provision for an increase in this service cost.  

4. Legal Comments 

1. The Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (“MOPAC”) is a contracting authority as defined in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“the Regulations”).  All awards of public contracts for goods and/or services valued at £214,904 or above shall be procured in accordance with the Regulations. This report confirms the value of the proposed contract exceeds this threshold.   

2. The Directorate of Legal Services assure that the proposed procurement is compliant with Public Contract Regulations.  Regulation 32 permits the direct of award of a contract without prior publication of a contract notice in a limited number of circumstances.  Specifically, 32(2)(b)(ii) provides it shall be lawful if competition is absent due to technical reasons provided no reasonable alternative or substitute exists and the absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement.  

3. The MOPAC Scheme of Delegation and Consent provides the Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime (“DMPC”) has delegated authority to approve:  

• Business cases for revenue or capital expenditure of £500,000 and above (paragraph 4.8); and 

• All contract exemptions valued at £100,000 or above (paragraph 4.13).  

4. Paragraph 7.23 of the Scheme provides that the Director of Strategic Procurement has consent for the approval of the award of all contracts, with the exception of those called in through the agreed call in procedure.  Paragraph 4.14 of the Scheme provides the DMPC reserves the right to call in any MPS proposal to award a contract for £500,000 or above. 

5. Commercial Issues  

1. The proposed procurement is for the continued supply of streamlined medical reports to support investigative and judicial processes. The existing contract commenced in July 2022 and was for an initial of 2 years with a further option to extend for up to 12 months. The 3-year contract value was £900,000. 

2. The current monthly spend is c£60,000 indicating a annual spend of £720,000.  The proposal is for a upto 4-year contract awarded without competition (single tender action) with a estimated value of £2,880,000, £720,000 per annum. The initial term will be for 3 years with an optional 1 year extension. 

3. MPS assure that there is no other provider who is able to supply this service.  

4. The supplier provides free of charge reports where the victim is an emergency worker, whether on or off duty. This includes police, NHS, fire service, Crown Prosecution Service, London Ambulance Service and more recently, Transport for London employees. 

5. The continued engagement of SFR Medical, who are an SME organisation based in London, also supports the Met’s commitment as an Anchor Institution to direct 10% of its annual spend to local micro, small, diverse and VCSE businesses based in London 

6. GDPR and Data Privacy  

1. MOPAC will adhere to the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and ensure that any organisations who are commissioned to do work with or on behalf of MOPAC are fully compliant with the policy and understand their GDPR responsibilities.   

2. The MPS assure that a DPIA has been undertaken and that the security of the portal used is robust and tested, and the supplier has data sharing agreements in place with the NHS where required. 

7. Equality Comments  

1. MOPAC is required to comply with the public sector equality duty set out in section 149(1) of the Equality Act 2010. This requires MOPAC to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity and foster good relations by reference to people with protected characteristics. The protected characteristics are: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. 

2. As this is an extension of a previously awarded contract there is no change to the equality and diversity implications which were that the MPS has completed the requirement under their Public Sector Equality Duty and as part of the Equality Act 2010, and that where appropriate, negative impact has been assessed, reviewed and plans (both pre-existing and new) have been introduced to this assessment to provide mitigation to the impact, perceived and real. 

8. Background/supporting papers 

• Appendix 1 MPS Report - Medical - Streamline Forensic Reporting (SFR)