Official UK procurement notice
NHSE440 – Invitation to Tender - Dental Call Handling Service - Lancashire & South Cumbria
Authority: NHS England and NHS Improvement North West – Lancashire and South Cumbria (NHS & healthcare)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNorth of England Commissioning Support (NECS) is a commissioning support service hosted by NHS England and is managing this procurement process for the provision of a Dental Call Handling Service across Lancashire and South Cumbria for NHS England and NHS Improvement - North West (Lancashire & South Cumbria) (the Contracting Authority).
- Recurrence: March 2026
CPV: Call centre
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1The Contracting Authority has procured a Dental Call Handling Service (DCHS) across…AwardedPublished value£2,889,000
The Contracting Authority has procured a Dental Call Handling Service (DCHS) across Lancashire and South Cumbria to deliver a comprehensive service for patients to have a single point of access into NHS Dental Services and ensure that patients are appropriately signposted to NHS Primary Dental Care Services. The Contract is to commence 01 April 2022 for a contract term of 5 years.
The annual financial threshold for this procurement is 577800 GBP and is based on a calls answered volume of 180,000 per annum. The total contract value is 2889000 GBP for the 5-year contract term.
The Open Procedure was followed for this procurement to test the capacity, capability, and technical competence of bidders in accordance with Regulation 27 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended).
Tender documentation was available from 12:00 noon on 26 August 2021 and the closing time and date for tender returns was 12:00 noon on 27 September 2021.
The subject matter of the contract was scoped to take into account the priorities of the Contracting Authority relating to “economic, social, and environmental well-being” by utilising the UK Governments Social Value Model.
This procurement was conducted using an e-tendering portal (In-Tend). in-tendhost.co.uk/nhsnecsu/aspx/Home ↗
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (as amended) did apply. Bidders were advised to obtain their own legal advice and carry out due diligence including the New Fair Deal non-statutory policy setting out how pensions issues are to be dealt with when staff are compulsorily transferred from the public sector to independent providers delivering public services.
The Contracting Authority and NECS reserved the right to cancel the tender process at any point and will not be held liable for any costs resulting from any cancellation of the tender process or for any other costs incurred by those tendering for the contract.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published sub-criteria (3)
- Quality: 80
- Price: 20
- price: 20
Published award criteria (3)
- Quality: 80
- Price: 20
- Price: 20
- Suitability
As listed in the ITT Documentation
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- Price carries 40 of 120 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · March 2026
- First published
- 10 May 2021, 14:54 BST
- Last source update
- 18 Mar 2022, 12:14 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- 27 Sept 2021 – …
- Authority reference
NHSE440- FTS notice number
2022/S 000-007409- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-02af0aFind a Tender
- Performance terms
As listed in the ITT Documentation
- Review procedure
The Contracting Authority acted in accordance with Part 3 Chapter 5 Regulation 85 to 87 and Part 3 Chapter 6 Regulation 88 to 104 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (as amended) (PCR 2015). Part 3 of the PCR 2015 provides for appeals to be made to the High Court subject to time limitations and other required procedural steps. The rules relating to appeal are complex and a dissatisfied bidders were advised to take their own prompt legal advice.
Publisher note: On viewing the tender documents for the first time, bidders were advised to check the clarifications section to ensure they have not missed any additional information that may have been issued prior to their expression of interest in this tender. It was also advisable to continue to check the clarifications section throughout the tender process. The Contracting Authority only accepted documents for tenders or quotations placed on the e-Tendering portal to be received electronically unless explicitly stated otherwise in the bidder’s instructions. Tenders submitted via the e-Tendering portal were to be received in full prior to the closing time for receipt of tenders. Bidders were advised that uploading of large electronic files may take some time and as such bidders must allow sufficient time to fully transmit all files prior to the closing time for receipt of tenders. The server clock displayed within the e-Tendering governed the time for close of tender returns. (MT Ref:225750)
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 27 Sept 2021, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 90 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 27 Sept 2021, 12:30 BST
Timeline
11 May 2021 → 18 Mar 2022 · 4 dates- Next notice expected11 May 2021, 00:00 BST
- Submission deadline27 Sept 2021, 12:00 BST
- Bids opened27 Sept 2021, 12:30 BST
- Notice published18 Mar 2022, 12:14 GMT
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 25 Aug 2021- Published value updated to £2,889,00025 Aug 2021, 12:55 BSTwas £1,950,000
- Status changed to active25 Aug 2021, 12:55 BST
- Procurement method changed25 Aug 2021, 12:55 BST
- Deadline published: 27 Sept 2021, 12:00 BST25 Aug 2021, 12:55 BST
- Status changed to complete18 Mar 2022, 12:14 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| FCMS (NW) LtdSME | £2,889,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 007409-2022-NHSE440 - Dental Call Handling Service - Lancashire & South Cumbria-1 · FCMS (NW) LtdSME
- Signed
- 6 Dec 2021
- Value
- £2,889,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids · 1 electronic · 1 from abroad | 1 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Public Procurement Review ServiceReview body
- Royal Courts of JusticeReview contact point
Process and specification contact points (1)
- NHS NORTH OF ENGLAND COMMISSIONING SUPPORT UNITProcess contact point
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- FCMS (NW) LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria