Official UK procurement notice
Sight Testing for Children and Young People in Special Educational Settings
Authority: NHS BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET, SWINDON AND WILTSHIRE INTEGRATED CARE BOARD (NHS & healthcare)·Consortium: 5 public authorities
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) Integrated Care Board, NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board and NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board ("the Commissioners") are currently working together in a formal "clustering" arrangement to prepare for their merger into a single, new organisation (name to be confirmed), effective from 1st April 2027.
The Commissioners sought to appoint a provider or consortium of providers to deliver sight testing to children and young people in special educational settings (SES) across the BSW, Somerset and Dorset footprints in line with the specified requirements.
The service will provide routine appointments, triage and treatment to all children and young people with SEND needs in residential and day SES within BSW, Somerset and Dorset (including Bournemouth and Poole) with onward referral where appropriate.
Key Service Objectives:
- Providing annual sight tests in the school setting (unless a more frequent interval is clinically indicated).
- Close collaboration with school staff, parents, and carers
- Provide guidance and support based on individual specific needs and their medical history.
- Obtain written consent from pupils/parents/carers/guardians.
- Enable attendance from parents/carers/guardians to the sight test and selection of frames.
- Offer a range of suitable frames or NHS optical voucher for high street use.
- Provide an eye health outcome and vision report.
- Appropriate onward referral.
The contract will be for an initial 3 year term with an optional extension of any period up to 2 years.
The new service will commence on the 1st April 2027.
This procurement was managed by NHS South, Central & West (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners. SCW is currently subject to restructuring, and the management of this award may therefore move to a successor at some point during the procurement process. Bidders will be informed of any such change, and any administrative changes because of it.
CPV: ENT or audiologist services · Health services · Ophthalmologist services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1This is an intention to award notice to a contract under the competitive process for a…AwardedPublished value£2,495,000
This is an intention to award notice to a contract under the competitive process for a new service to a new provider.
NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) Integrated Care Board, NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board and NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board ("the Commissioners") are currently working together in a formal "clustering" arrangement to prepare for their merger into a single, new organisation (name to be confirmed), effective from 1st April 2027.
The Commissioners sought to appoint a provider or consortium of providers to deliver sight testing to children and young people in special educational settings (SES) across the BSW, Somerset and Dorset footprints in line with the specified requirements.
The service will provide routine appointments, triage and treatment to all children and young people with SEND needs in residential and day SES within BSW, Somerset and Dorset (including Bournemouth and Poole) with onward referral where appropriate.
Key Service Objectives:
- Providing annual sight tests in the school setting (unless a more frequent interval is clinically indicated).
- Close collaboration with school staff, parents, and carers
- Provide guidance and support based on individual specific needs and their medical history.
- Obtain written consent from pupils/parents/carers/guardians.
- Enable attendance from parents/carers/guardians to the sight test and selection of frames.
- Offer a range of suitable frames or NHS optical voucher for high street use.
- Provide an eye health outcome and vision report.
- Appropriate onward referral.
The contract will be for an initial 3 year term with an optional extension of any period up to 2 years.
The contract will be tariff based with an anticipated value per ICB of:
BSW ICB £177,000 per annum.
Somerset ICB £135,000 per annum.
Dorset ICB £187,000 per annum.
The total contract value is £499,000 per annum, giving a contract value of £1,497,000 for the initial 3 year term and £2,495,000 if the full extension period is adopted. All values provided are inclusive of any non-recoverable VAT. A full breakdown of costs is provided in the tender documentation.
Additional monies of up to a maximum of £60,000 is available for mobilisation as detailed within the tender documentation. The total costs awarded for this support will be agreed at the discretion of the commissioners.
The initial contract term will commence on the 1st April 2027 until the 31st March 2030.
This procurement was managed by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners.
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 (1)
- The contract award criteria are specified in the procurement documents: 93%
Published award criteria (2)
- The contract award criteria are specified in the procurement documents: 93%
- Price: 0
- Suitability
See procurement documentation for full details.
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
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 30 Jan 2026, 10:41 GMT
- Last source update
- 23 Oct 2026, 11:02 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 6 Jul 2026 – …
- Authority reference
C391213- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-100329- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0612b3Find a Tender
Publisher note: The awarding decision was approved by the Procurement and Contracts Group No conflicts or potential conflicts of interest of individuals making the decision were identified. The winning bidder was chosen in line with the key criteria published within the tender documentation. This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and The Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by 4th November 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award a contract under the competitive process of the PSR. Written representations should be sent to [email protected]
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 6 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bids opened
- 6 Jul 2026, 13:00 BST
Timeline
18 Mar 2026 → 23 Oct 2026 · 4 dates- Next notice expected221 days ago18 Mar 2026
- Submission deadline111 days ago6 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST
- Bids opened111 days ago6 Jul 2026, 13:00 BST
- Notice published2 days ago23 Oct 2026, 11:02 BST
Notice history
5 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 2 Jun 2026- Published value published: £2,079,1672 Jun 2026, 13:14 BST
- Status changed to active2 Jun 2026, 13:14 BST
- Procurement method changed2 Jun 2026, 13:14 BST
- Deadline published: 6 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST2 Jun 2026, 13:14 BST
- Status changed to complete23 Oct 2026, 11:02 BST
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Primary Eyecare Services | £2,079,167 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 100329-2026-1 · Primary Eyecare Services
- Signed
- 19 Oct 2026
- Value
- £2,079,167
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeConsortium members and other public bodies
- NHS Dorset Integrated Care BoardContracting authority
- NHS Somerset Integrated Care BoardContracting authority
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICBReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Primary Eyecare Services LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria