Official UK procurement notice
GP Clinical Assessment Service - Cat 3 & 4
Authority: South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionIntention to award a Contract under THE HEALTH CARE SERVICES (PROVIDER SELECTION REGIME)
REGULATIONS 2023 - Direct Award Process C for the provision of a GP Lead Clinical Assessment Service for Category 3 & 4 - to allow for calls to the Urgent Care phone line to be assessed by GPs over the telephone, reducing the need for dispatching ambulances in cases where the medical need
would be better served by a different clinical solution. Achieving an 80% downgrade rate.
CPV: General-practitioner services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1As part of the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) remit to…
As part of the South Central Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SCAS) remit to operate the 999 call service, it was identified that ambulances were being sent to patients
that didn't need them, which otherwise could have been downgraded over the phone, reducing the need to dispatch an ambulance unnecessarily, and reducing the pressure and
demand on the use of ambulances.
A subcontract was set up between SCAS and their subcontractor to provide a GP Clinical Assessment Service to support this.
The existing contract is due to expire on 31st March 2025.
The contract has shown a huge benefit to SCAS - downgrade rates of 80%.
As a result of the success of the contract, an additional one year contract is required from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026, with an option to extend for a further additional year. to 31st March 2027.
If the contract expires with no replacement, SCAS and the public would experience a huge drop in service level, and an unnecessary dispatching of ambulances, putting further pressure on ambulance resources.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- 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
- 7 Feb 2025, 14:44 GMT
- Last source update
- 7 Feb 2025, 14:44 GMT
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-004198- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04dcd6Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
The contract falls under the THE HEALTH CARE SERVICES (PROVIDER SELECTION REGIME)
REGULATIONS 2023.
Publisher note: This notice is to publish our intention to award a contract using THE HEALTH CARE SERVICES (PROVIDER SELECTION REGIME) REGULATIONS 2023 - Direct Award Process C. A mandatory 8 working day standstill period will be observed, until 19th February 2025. A subsequent award notice will be published in due course
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Berkshire Primary Care | £2,733,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
GP Clinical Assessment Service - Cat 3 & 4 · East Berkshire Primary Care
- Signed
- 6 Feb 2025
- Value
- £2,733,000
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- East Berkshire Primary Care Out of HoursAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.