Published date: 21 August 2020

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 22 September 2020, 12pm

Contract summary

Industry

  • Medical practice services - 85121000

Location of contract

DN4 5HZ

Value of contract

£67,000

Procurement reference

tender_247095/881915

Published date

21 August 2020

Closing date

22 September 2020

Closing time

12pm

Contract start date

1 December 2020

Contract end date

30 November 2022

Contract type

Service contract

Procedure type

Open procedure (above threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements above the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Description

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is caused when the median nerve, which runs through a tunnel in the palm of the hand called the carpal tunnel, is compressed. CTS decompression surgery is performed by cutting across the roof of the carpal tunnel to release pressure on the median nerve inside.

The surgical decompression of the carpal tunnel is labelled as a procedure within the South Yorkshire and Bassetlaw (SYB) Commissioning for Outcomes (CFO) Policy (including National Evidence Based Interventions) and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) recommend that it is more cost effect to offer this service within primary care.
CTS is the most common form of nerve entrapment, nationally affecting 7-16% of the UK population and currently a third of UK patients diagnosed with CTS require surgery. It is most common in women, with a UK General Practice research database finding that 88 men and 193 women presented with new CTS cases per 100,000 population, per year.
(RCS Commissioning Guide, 2017)

Most cases of carpal tunnel syndrome are idiopathic. The symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome have been estimated to be bilateral in up to 73% of cases, although they may not manifest concurrently. Other causes or associations have been identified with pregnancy, overuse of the hand or wrist, wrist trauma, obesity, hypothyroidism, renal failure, diabetes, and inflammatory arthropathy. Evidence also suggests a genetic component for carpal tunnel syndrome, although the exact basis of this has not yet been established. (The British Medical Journal (BMJ), 06 November 2014)

The British Society for Surgery of the Hand (BSSH) state that surgery is an effective treatment for patients with severe persistent carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms and provides a permanent and complete cure in 80 - 90% of patients.

We know that there are approximately 100 open release Carpal Tunnel procedures per 100,000 UK population currently, per annum as evidenced by the RCS (2017). Locally in Doncaster we fund approximately 260 procedures per year.

About the buyer

Contact name

Neill Scott

Address

722 Prince of Wales Road
Sheffield
S9 4EU
England

Email

neill.scott@nhs.net