At Bidding Ltd we have plenty of experience in writing and reviewing APMS bids for our clients. With a large number of GPs operating under this type of arrangement, it is vital that primary care organisations understand how to write a great bid to either retain their current contract or look to expand into a new practice. Here are Bidding Ltd.’s three top tips for winning this type of work.
The number one issue we see with losing bids is that the bidding organisation was not organised. Organisation is not just a question of getting the bid in on time – although of course, this is important – it is also good preparation and giving the bid enough time to be reviewed and refined. Therefore, there are some key dates to consider:
Commissioners are always looking for interesting ideas, and bids are often be won or lost based on the score on innovation questions. Be bold – the contract will be for many years, and you don’t want to look like you are standing still.
There are lots of great resources describing primary care innovations online – this document from NHS England shows some of the great work that is out there in practice, practice-based examples – www.england.nhs.uk/south/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2015/12/examples-innovation-gp.pdf
Whenever we write a bid for a client, we always assume we are up against multiple, well organised, innovative competitors. Why? Because it keeps us on our toes! We advise you to do the same. You may know that your competitors run poor services, or that they do not have a good reputation for innovation. However, the commissioners do not necessarily know this, and your competitors certainly won’t be telling them! By assuming you are up against a strong bidder, it will help you to keep your bid sharp and focused.
We’ve pulled together a selection of resources that will help you ready yourself to bid on our downloads page, including a selection of technical APMS ITT questions and a sample specification document from an APMS bid we recently worked on. Check them out here.
If you need a bit more help, then get in touch with us here at Bidding Ltd. We have a dedicated in-house health team with lots of APMS experience. Get in touch today.
Bidding Ltd © 2023