New Zealand has a long history of providing a range of medical treatment and health specialty services to the Pacific and its people. It recognises that economies of scale in small-island states, simply mean that many countries are not able to provide a full range of health treatment services and that many local health professionals and organisations would benefit from additional training and other capacity building to upskill and make improvements to the services they do deliver.
What we did
Being a large district health board serving a significant Pasifika population, and having other New Zealand Ministry of Health contracts to serve the Pacific, Counties Manukau Health (CMH) was well-positioned to tender for the New Zealand Medical Treatment Scheme (NZMTS) programme in Kiribati, Fiji, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. But the Pacific Health Department team didn’t have experience in responding to Requests for Propsoal (RFP). So when New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) issued the RFP, CMH engaged Kirsty Burnett and Dr Junior Ulu to support the development of the response because we had expertise from preparing successful tenders for other organisations.
How we did it
Working as a team, Kirsty pulled together the necessary technical inputs, and evidence to demonstrate capacity and capability, and identified human resource requirements, technical inputs and costings. Tender assessments have set criteria and funders must have clear and relevant information on which to assess responses. Having worked at MFAT and for the United Nations, Kirsty has sat on many panels considering applications and tender responses and so her expertise is much sought-after in preparing successful tender bids.
Benefits for the client
CMH was awarded a multi-year contract, worth NZD15 million, that provides for overseas referrals of patients, visiting health specialists and strengthening in-country capacity and is funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
MFAT received a well-prepared RFP response ensuring a transparent and competitive process, and the ability to award a contract without protracted negotiation.
What CMH had to say
Kirsty and Junior were hard task masters, thus ensuring that we gave the RFP our best shot. They’ve worked in the Pacific, and know their stuff. They know how to combine development-speak and practical on-the-ground reality. They are a safe pair of hands and working with them is also great fun, so we had some good laughs in the process as well.
Elizabeth Powell, former General Manager of Pacific Health.
Counties Manukau Health: NZ Medical Treatment Scheme, 2016/17