Declared void the award of the Basque OSATEK Telecare Service

Bilbao, 2011-September the administrative body of contractual resources of the autonomous community of Basque has declared void the award of the service from Teleassistance and center of attentiondoes public health awarded on 8 June by the public company OSATEK in favour of the joint venture formed by the Madrid company Televida and GSR (residential services management), cooperative management of residences belonging to the Mondragón group. The estimated budget of the contract amounts to EUR 5.6 million in the first year, to provide service from Teleassistance to 25,000 people in the Basque country.

With this resolution dated August 24, 2011, the owner of the administrative organ that gives reason to IGON special centre of employment, which lodged a special against this award to detect serious irregularities. IGON came to provide service from Teleassistance for Diputación Foral de Bizkaia since 2005 and had a contract in force until the year 2013.

The Special Center of employment IGON rose on June 24 a recourse to the award by the public company OSATEK from Teleassistance and health in the Basque country UTE Televida-GSR service by serious formal and substantive offences which should lead to the annulment of the award ”. In his letter, IGON manifiestaba as grounds for challenge, among others, the lack of capacity and solvency accredited by awarded, the lack of publicity and transparency in the assessment of the results and the inconsistency and lack of experience required for the members of the Committee of experts.

In his appeal, IGON alleged that there had been a series of infringements affecting general aspects of the procedure and the award, as well as to the documentation submitted by the successful tenderer to demonstrate their capacity and solvency and the evaluation of bids. Violations in the handling of the procedure and award are based on that award does not have mandatory motivation, while the members of the Committee of experts, who have appreciated the different proposals, not have been appointed formally, two of them are in a cause of incompatibility and lacking the required experience.

IGON raised the resource that was recorded with JCI award ceremony, processing the case of recruitment should be suspended until its resolution, and that should require is OSATEK to refrain from entering into the contract and from allow or instruct the UTE to carry out tasks for the implementation of the same.

However, on 30 June OSATEK informed IGON the decision hire urgent and provisionally interim service of tele-assistance to the joint venture formed by the Madrid company Televida and Guipuzcoa cooperative management of residential services (GSR) until the resolution of the special remedy or the lifting of the measures.

Such a decision constitutes a flagrant violation of article 315 of the LCSP, remain undisputed that OSATEK has been used with precipitation mechanism of the direct award to evade its obligation to suspend the processing of the contract and to allow the UTE to start the execution of a contract which is expressly forbidden ”, said Fidel Alvarez, managing director of IGON, who has introduced this provision an allegation about existing hiring.

Despite the above and in order to facilitate the continuity of the service users, IGON EEC ceded to OSATEK free telephone numbers on which hung over 12,000 users of the service, a company asset that the contest had not taken into account and thathave not been granted, would have forced to reschedule the 12,000 teams with the consequent risk for all users.

In the competition from Teleassistance submitted their proposals the companies Red Cross in the Basque country, telecare services, health services Eulen, IGON C.E.E and UTE formed by Televida services social and GSR, which were excluded the first two companies to not reach the minimum threshold of 25 points.

About IGON

In 1989, the IGON Association, which brings together people with physical and sensory disabilities in Biscay, decided that the best way to achieve the full integration of its partners was to have a job. With this objective, in 1990 he created the Special Center of employment of the same name, with activities in various areas. Since the year 2000, IGON works in activities from Teleassistance, and in 2002 began his activity as a technical service of the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia TeleAlarm, later since 2005 into the lending company from Teleassistance of such entity.

IGON boasts a high experience in this field. Until June 30 and for eleven years, IGON has provided service from Teleassistance in Bizkaia to a group of more than 13,000 people, with a high degree of user satisfaction, established at 98%, according to studies carried out by external consultants.

According to those responsible for IGON, resolution of the competition has not considered the nature of business of laboral insertion of the Association, while from the own Basque Government has urged the different departments that make it up to take account of the compromise adopted in the field of socio-labour insertionwith the aim that they always need to outsource services, hire them well with companies of socio-labour insertion, special centres of employment or within the framework of social employment.

IGON gave work to a group of 130 workers, composed of operators, technical mobile unit, supervisors, computer, administrative personnel, social workers, coordinators and management teams. In recent years has invested more than three million euros in tasks of training, technology, infrastructure…

Telecare Service is a health care and preventive benefit everyday situations or emergencies 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. IGON has been dealing offer information, support and assistance through a comprehensive and personalised attention through the line of telephone and computer and communication equipment specific located at home and in the center of attention, supplemented by mobile units of direct and on-site assistance in situations of emergency personal and/or domestic and technical personnel for installation and maintenance of tele-assistance device.

During the year 2010, IGON EEC handled a total of 239.299 alarms, which represents an average of 19,36 per person user and year. Of these, 94.962 were alarms generated by the individual user. Within this classification are alarms by request of aid, with a total of 14.124, of which 5.993 were valued as urgent, and therefore transferred to the health or social emergency services. The pressing, 899 (0.38% of the total) were valued as vital urgency immediate, i.e. situations in which there is a vital risk to the individual user.