FOI 2026/1930

I write under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to request the following information relating to your processes for assessing providers under Regulation 42B of the National Health Service Commissioning Board and Clinical Commissioning Groups (Responsibilities and Standing Rules) Regulations 2012 (the Standing Rules).

1. Please provide a copy of the assessment pack, questionnaire, application form, or criteria document currently used by the ICB when assessing providers for Choice Provider qualification under Regulation 42B of the Standing Rules. If more than one version has been in use since 1st January 2024, please provide the version currently in force and confirm the date from which it has applied.
2. Please confirm whether the ICB requests Healthcare Resource Group (HRG) codes or HRG ranges from providers as part of the Choice Provider assessment process. If so, please confirm:
   1. at what stage of the process HRG information is requested (for example, as part of the initial application or after submission);
   2. whether HRG breadth or coverage forms part of the pass/fail assessment criteria applied to applications; and
   3. whether HRG information is used as a qualification criterion or for information and planning purposes only.
3. Please provide a copy of any scoring matrix, evaluation rubric, decision template, or panel briefing document used to assess Choice Provider applications. If no such document exists, please confirm this in writing.
4. Please confirm whether the ICB holds documented service specifications or pathway documents for each specialty in respect of which providers may apply for Choice Provider qualification, and if so, whether those documents are provided to applicants before or during the assessment process.

If you consider that any part of this request engages an exemption or that compliance would exceed the appropriate limit under section 12 of the Act, please contact me before issuing a refusal so that the request can be refined in line with the duty to provide advice and assistance under section 16. I am content to receive the information electronically and, if it would assist, in instalments.

1. We send providers who express an interest in being accredited to deliver Elective Consultant Led services the attached Due Diligence Questionnaire.
2. We do not request HRG codes or ranges from Providers as the ICB discusses these as part of the finance discussions during contract award.
3. This is the DDQ attached above.
4. Yes we do and will provide when requested by the provider either prior, during or after the DDQ submission. We do have service specifications for all specialities we commission, however if a service specification is under review we may not share until ratified.

**A word document was sent to the requester with this response.  If you require a copy of the full response, together with the attachments, please contact NHS GM’s FOI team – nhsgm.foi@nhs.net **