DHSC Laboratory Testing Services

CPV: Services provided by medical laboratories

Procedure method

Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Legal basis

CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded without competition

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Direct award (no call for competition)

GPA / WTO covered

Yes (GPA)

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

28 Jan 2021, 14:46 GMT

Last source update

28 Jan 2021, 14:46 GMT

FTS notice number

2021/S 000-001750

Classification (CPV)

Services provided by medical laboratories

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-028e2c Find a Tender

Why no open competition

Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority/entity and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the directive

Published justification

Negotiated procedure without prior publication1. The COVID-19 outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised COVID-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020.2. A key element of ensuring an effective response to the pandemic is ensuring that there is adequate testing. Subsequently securing sufficient lab capacity in order to process test results is crucial.3. DHSC is satisfied the tests permitting use of the Negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met:A. As far as is strictly necessary: Increased lab capacity to increase the amount and fast turnaround of tests processed was identified as strictly necessary to meet the demand to scale up the testing programme in the UK.B. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: It is responding to COVID-19 immediately because of public health risks presenting a genuine emergency.C. The events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: The Commission itself confirmed: “The current coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency – precisely for such a situation our European rules enable public buyers to buy within a matter of days, even hours, if necessary.” (Commissioner Breton, Internal Market, 01.04.2020).D. It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: It is not possible to comply with the timescales of another procedure due to the urgent requirement to ensure the amount of tests processed increases with the necessary demand. E. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority – DHSC has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency

• King's College LondonAwarded supplierRC000297 Strand,, London, UK, WC2R 2LS

No document links were published on the notice.