Health services

Tender description

This contract award notice follows the publication of a voluntary ex ante transparency Notice published in OJEU (2020/S 048-114896). It should be noted that the scope of the original voluntary ex ante transparency notice has been extended. Further details are provided within the main description of this contract award notice. The Voluntary Ex-Ante Transparency Notice (VEAT) published in OJEU (reference 2020/S 048-114896) set out the intention of the commissioning authority to extend the current IAPT contract with its incumbent provider for a 5 month period in order to allow time for a robust procurement process to take place to compete the long term contract for this service. since this notice was published the required extension period has been extended in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is due to the key resources who would be required to deliver the procurement process being diverted into dealing with the response, which means that a longer extension period to the existing contract is being awarded to allow for the delay. The extension will be for a period of 9 months, starting on 1 July 2020 and finishing on 31 March 2021. This extension is covered by the Public Contract Regulations 2015, Regulation 32 (2) (c) which can be used in exceptional circumstances and where there is an extreme urgency. The value of the extension is an approximate maximum value, which allows for the scope of the current contract to be increased in order to respond to the patient needs arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.