Pathology services

Tender description

The Lord Advocate, through the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has responsibility in Scotland for the prosecution of crime and the investigation of sudden or suspicious deaths which require further investigation. As part of the process of investigating deaths, the Procurator Fiscal may, in order to establish the cause and mechanism of death, instruct post-mortem examinations at specified mortuaries. The current contracts are due to expire in 2021 and as a result COPFS is looking to procure the provision of pathology and mortuary services required across the whole of Scotland (mainland and the Scottish islands). The services required for the North region are all services necessary for the determination of death including as follows: — post mortem examinations (one and two doctor post mortems examinations), — minimally invasive post mortems, — histopathology, — toxicology and microbiology for the areas of Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Shetland, Highlands and Islands and the Orkney Islands or such other areas within the North region as may be specified by COPFS, — virology, — bacteriology, — radiology, — mortuary services; and — the provision of body storage. These services will be required for adult pathology. In addition, the Contractor will perform the forensic element of paediatric post mortems as and when required. The contractor may be required from time to time to perform the services in respect of deaths outwith the North region. COPFS is procuring the separate provision of certain paediatric pathology, neuropathology and certain toxicology services. The Contractor will be obliged to liaise directly with COPFS’s other service providers. The West region covers the following local authority areas: Argyll and Bute; Dumfries and Galloway; East Ayrshire; East Dunbartonshire; East Renfrewshire; Comhairle nan Eilean Siar; Glasgow City; Inverclyde; North Ayrshire; North Lanarkshire; Renfrewshire; South Ayrshire; South Lanarkshire; and West Dunbartonshire. The services required for the West region are all services necessary for the determination of death including as follows: — post mortem examinations (one and two doctor post mortems examinations), — minimally invasive post mortems, — histopathology, — microbiology, — virology, — bacteriology, — radiology, — mortuary services; and — the provision of body storage. These services will be required for adult pathology. In addition, the Contractor will perform the forensic element of paediatric post mortems as and when required. The contractor may be required from time to time to perform the services in respect of deaths outwith the West region. COPFS is procuring the separate provision of paediatric pathology, neuropathology and certain toxicology services. The contractor will be obliged to liaise directly with COPFS’s other service providers. The East region covers the following local authority areas: Clackmannanshire; City of Edinburgh; East Lothian; Falkirk; Fife; Midlothian; Scottish Borders; Stirling and West Lothian. The services required for the East region are all services necessary for the determination of death including as follows: — post mortem examinations (one and two doctor post mortems examinations), — minimally invasive post mortems, — histopathology, — microbiology, — virology, — bacteriology, — radiology, — mortuary services; and — the provision of body storage. These services will be required for adult pathology. In addition, the contractor will perform the forensic element of paediatric post mortems as and when required. The contractor may be required from time to time to perform the services in respect of deaths outwith the East region. COPFS is procuring the separate provision of paediatric pathology, neuropathology and certain toxicology services. The contractor will be obliged to liaise directly with COPFS’s other service providers.