NHS England

Wellington House, 133-135 Waterloo Rd

London

SE1 8UG

UK

Contact person: NHSE DDAT Contract Management Team

E-mail: england.commercialqueries@nhs.net

NUTS: UKJ1

Internet address(es)

Main address: https://www.england.nhs.uk/

Address of the buyer profile: https://www.england.nhs.uk/

II.1.1) Title

II.1.2) Main CPV code

48000000

II.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

II.1.4) Short description

Provision of a software platform for use by the Four Nations to facilitate local, regional and national recruitment across the following NHS staffing groups:<br/>- Foundation<br/>- Medical<br/>- Dental<br/>- Pharmacy<br/>- Healthcare Science

II.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

II.1.7) Total value of the procurement

Value excluding VAT: 12 360 000.00  GBP

IV.1.1) Type of procedure

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

Justification for selected award procedure:

The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons

Explanation

NHS England (NHSE) is required to maintain the provision of a National Recruitment Platform to support Local, Regional and National recruitment across the Four Nations. This platform specialises in the recruitment of the following staffing groups:<br/>- Foundation<br/>- Medical<br/>- Dental<br/>- Pharmacy<br/>- Healthcare Science<br/><br/>There is a clear clinical risk should the national recruitment platform not be maintained and service continuity is of paramount importance. A stable recruitment system is required to ensure delivery of business as usual recruitment processes across the four nations. The wider landscape across national recruitment is changing and with annual increases in application numbers this has created an administrative burden for NHSE England’s regional recruitment teams. <br/><br/>NHSE has commissioned industry leaders to undertake assessments of the market, through discovery exercises, to understand whether there is competition in the market capable of meeting NHSE’s Technical requirements. The assessments have considered product disaggregation and wider market analysis. NHSE is currently undertaking an Alpha project to assess options that might allow for the development of alternative products or pre-built systems that will meet all the technical requirements (in Lots or otherwise) that NHSE believes does not exist currently . <br/>Additionally, previously competed procurements have only resulted in one bidder or one bidder with support from a partner supplier.<br/><br/>At this stage, NHSE has concluded that competition in the market does not exist in the form of a customisable Commercial Off the Shelf product. This is primarily due to the specialist nature of the technical requirements and in particular the need for interoperable functionality with other clinical government recruitment platforms. <br/>NHSE remains committed to keeping this position under regular review to ensure that the best value for money is delivered.<br/><br/>NHS England commenced negotiations for the direct award of the services with Hicom Technology Limited in December 2024 and is satisfied that the tests permitting the use of the Negotiated Procedure without prior publication (Reg 32(2)(b)(ii) and (iii) PCR 2015) and the Government Commercial Function’s Procurement Act 2023 Guidance: Transitional and Saving Arrangements have been met.

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

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes

Hicom Technology Limited

04516040

Red House, Cemetery Pales, Brookwood, Woking,

Surrey

GU24 0BL

UK

NUTS: UK

Internet address(es)

URL: http://www.hicom.co.uk

The contractor is an SME: Yes

VI.4.1) Review body