Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) strapped for cash continue to see time and money disappear on lengthy procurement processes open to private companies and legal challenges. In recent weeks, two large-scale procurement processes have hit the buffers.
In North West England, a group of ICBs halted the procurement of non-emergency patient transport (NEPTS) due to legal challenges and also in the North West, an independent panel told NHS England North West to either re-run or scrap entirely a contract award process for services providing healthcare in the criminal justice system after it was found to have breached procurement rules.
In both cases, the NHS organisations will have spent considerable time and money running the procurement processes, and they now face the prospect of spending more to begin the process again.
The Provider Selection Regime (PSR), introduced in January 2024, was designed to reduce the need for so many contract tenders, with a new framework for the procurement of health services and the introduction of ‘direct award’ options. But it appears that legal challenges and claims of unfairness in the system are not going away.
Full article on The Lowdown, 17th March 2025
