Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Department of Health and Social Care
39 Victoria Street
London
SW1H 0EU
UK
Telephone: +44 2072104850
E-mail: Procurement.Operations@dhsc.gov.uk
NUTS: UK
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5) Main activity
Health
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Radox Laboratories Ltd Testing Services
II.1.2) Main CPV code
85145000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
Provision of goods and services to support the UK Covid-19 Testing Strategy
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
133 000 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UK
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Through this contract, Randox Laboratories Ltd will build on their track record and experience of providing clinical diagnostic solutions to provide DHSC with a turnkey service for laboratory testing out of its facility in Northern Ireland. This service includes the supply of swab test kits delivered to subjects for use at home or NHS/PHE testing centres. Through the services under this contract, operations will be scaled significantly to support and contribute to the end of April national target of 100 000 tests per day. This scale is specific to Covid-19 testing and will increase capacity substantially.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Price
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
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
Negotiated procedure without prior publication:
The Government must protect the health and well-being of UK citizens. The Covid-19 outbreak is a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020.
A key element of ensuring an effective response to the pandemic is ensuring that there are sufficient NHS key workers available to deliver frontline NHS services. Public Health England guidance (based on expert medical opinion) states that if an individual has Covid-19 they must self-isolate for seven days; or if a member of their household has Covid-19 they must self-isolate for 14 days.
In practice, these rules mean that on a day-to-day basis, many frontline staff, including in the NHS and carers, are unable to work due to needing to self-isolate – despite the possibility that they are not infected with Covid-19.
This is why on 27 March 2020, the Government announced major plans to rapidly expand the volume of Covid-19 testing available for NHS and other Key Workers outside of the NHS system – with the aim of getting as many non-infected staff back to work as soon as they are able. A key element of these plans is testing of key workers in the first instance before rolling out more widely. This represents pillar 2 of the testing strategy communicated and implemented by the Government.
Covid-19 is serious and its consequences pose a risk to life. Cabinet Office published PPN 01/20: Responding to Covid-19 on procuring with extreme urgency which states that contracting authorities may enter into contracts without competing or advertising the requirement where certain tests are met, as follows:
1) There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency as there is a significant public health risk requiring immediate action as a result of Covid-19;
2) The Covid-19 outbreak and its consequences are unprecedented and the contracting authority could not have reasonably foreseen either of these;
3) It is not possible to comply with the timescales of another procedure due to the urgent requirement to obtain the testing kits and associated services being contracted for. It is imperative that testing is quickly and securely mobilised and for the service to be provided on a nationwide scale for Key Workers rapidly.
4) The Covid-19 pandemic and its consequences are not attributable to the contracting authority.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: Project 1545
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
30/03/2020
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Randox Laboratories Ltd
55 Diamond Road, Crumlin, County Antrim BT29 4QY
UK
NUTS: UK
The contractor is an SME:
No
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 133 000 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
01/05/2020