The HSE procured, under the provisions of Article 32.2.(c) of the EU Procurement Directive (2014), an electronic appointment scheduling service in 2020 to deliver the integrated processes across referral to appointment management to support public health services in the context of the Covid 19 pandemic.
The procured solution (Swiftqueue) is used to manage appointment booking, cancellations and rebooking across all Health Care settings and the ability for citizens and healthcare workers to self-refer on-line. The solution was also used to address the increased demand for appointments arising from social distancing requirements.
A single national solution was essential to ensure standard data capture and quick reliable reporting for the scheduling and uptake of pandemic related appointments. This enabled the HSE to have early access to uptake levels etc and to support target programmes to increase uptake in poor performing geographic locations. The Swiftque application was extended to include the following campaigns: Covid -19 vaccination/booster, Civil Registration Service, Flu, Mpox and HPV vaccinations.
The SwiftQueue appointment scheduling service includes the supporting technologies and integration platforms, delivered as a fully managed service. The HSE wishes to extend the current contract and potentially extend its scope to allow for continuity of safe delivery of public health services for an interim period of up to 3 years.
The HSE is currently finalising a business case for the procurement of an Enterprise Appointment Scheduling System. Subject to the completion of the relevant DGOU approvals process, we aim to commence a new competitive tendering process for an Enterprise Appointment Scheduling System. The HSE will take appropriate measures in the new procurement process to ensure the method used for the assessment of tenders is based on objectively verifiable and non-discriminatory criteria which shall not unduly favour or disadvantage qualifying economic operators.
Indicative annual costs for the service are as follows:
2023 Indicative Annual Costs
Prof Services SaaS License SMS Total
€271,449 €1,544,202 €1,409,349 €3,225,000