Department of Health and Social Care

39 Victoria Street

London

SW1H 0EU

UK

E-mail: procurement.opreations@dhsc.gov.uk

NUTS: UKI32

Internet address(es)

Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care

Address of the buyer profile: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care

II.1.1) Title

II.1.2) Main CPV code

33124000

II.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

II.1.4) Short description

Provision of goods and services to support the UK Covid-19 testing strategy. These test kits allow for field use in hospitals enabling the rapid on-site point of care (POC) testing for C-19 and have significant operational advantages over off-site laboratory testing as they allow for virtually immediate test results without the delay of sending them to testing laboratories, thereby allowing for the safe reopening of vital services and reducing the economic damage being caused by the lockdown by allowing people to return to work confident in knowing that they are not carriers.

II.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

II.1.7) Total value of the procurement

Value excluding VAT: 20 368 060.00  GBP

IV.1.1) Type of procedure

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition

Justification for selected award procedure:

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

Explanation

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: the test kits were identified as strictly necessary to meet the demand to scale up the testing programme in the UK. There is evidence of exceptionally high demand for these rapid POC Covid-19 test kits (for instance, foreign governments, private healthcare organisations, corporations and airports) and demand far exceeds the limited supply.

B. There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: DHSC are 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: as 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, 1 April 2020).

D. It is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: due to the urgency of the situation there was no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive procedures with negotiation that would allow DHSC to secure delivery of products, particularly in light of the corresponding delays to timelines associated with securing supply of the test kits. Accordingly, any delay in procuring would have led to a significant and real risk that a competing purchaser would have secured them, leaving the Department without provision and severely undermining its ability to offer immediate POC testing and protect frontline workers and the public. It is imperative that security of supply is maintained. Demand for POC test kits is high and there is little/no incentive for suppliers to participate in competitive procurement procedures.

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.

IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

Diagnostics for the Real World Ltd

Essex

UK

NUTS: UK

The contractor is an SME: Yes

VI.4.1) Review body