Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Business Services Organisation I T S
James House 2-4 Cromac Avenue
BELFAST
BT7 2JD
Contact
Catherine Fegan
Telephone
+44 2895362561
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKN06 - Belfast
NHS Organisation Data Service
Business Services Organisation Information Technology Services
Internet address(es)
Main address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Health
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
GP Out of Hours ICT Management, Maintenance and Support
Reference number
DAC10989
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
BSO require a managed service to cover management, maintenance, and support of the Regional GP OOH IT Service environment. The system is hosted in the BSO Datacentres and is supported via a managed service with DXC.
The services are required to provide continued management maintenance and support of the Regional GP Out Of Hours Clinical information system and the supporting IT services that
enables its operation. The Regional GP Out of Hours (GP OOH) Service provides for urgent conditions, a comprehensive, safe and efficient Out of Hours Service to the Northern Ireland
population, who are also entitled to General Medical Services (GMS) until the patients own GP surgery is next open.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
Value excluding VAT: £807,009.35
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- IE - Ireland
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
BSO require a managed service to cover management, maintenance, and support of the
Regional GP OOH IT Service environment. The system is hosted in the BSO Datacentres and is supported via a managed service with DXC.
The services are required to provide continued management maintenance and support of the Regional GP Out Of Hours Clinical information system and the supporting IT services that
enables its operation. The Regional GP Out of Hours (GP OOH) Service provides for urgent conditions, a comprehensive, safe and efficient Out of Hours Service to the Northern Ireland
population, who are also entitled to General Medical Services (GMS) until the patients own GP surgery is next open.
DXC as the managed service provider provide critical services ensuring the continued operation and support of the GP Out of Hours IT System. The services DXC provide are listed above. Their experience in supporting this complex technical environment has been built up over the past twelve years. They have implemented their proprietary Platform X management tool into the infrastructure to streamline software maintenance and upgrades within the IT environment.
The managed service provides contractual, reporting, and performance management of Advanced as a subcontractor. Advanced provide the software (Adastra and Odyssey) that the GP OOH service depends on to provide the Clinical System solution. The software is licensed for use by BSO via a contract with DXC. This relationship has also been in place for over 12 years.
Moving to an alternative provider incorporating all of the required managed services provided by DXC is not possible in the available timeframe. Transferring the technical support services, experience, and expertise that DXC provide to another supplier without an appropriate knowledge and skills transfer process would be extremely high risk to the continued operation of the GP Out of Hours service and could not be done safely within the time currently available. We estimate it would take at least six months to safely transfer the support of these services to another provider and this would require both DXC as the current provider and the new provider to be involved jointly in the hand over process.
Failure of the OOH service means that patients, by default, will attend the already overburdened Emergency Departments.
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- The services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
- absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
• Due to the existing DXC relationship with Advanced, the design, and support of the GP OOH system. BSO could not simply contract directly with Advanced as Advanced do not offer the required support services etc. (rather they offer only the licences to use the required software etc.)
• Moving to an alternative solution will require extensive development and configuration to meet the requirements of the GP OOH service in NI.
• We estimate it would take between three and six months to safely transfer the support of these services to another provider if one were available.
• DXC provide significant technical services to support the OOH service as part of the TPA contract. They manage the technical environment on which the solution is hosted providing technical support for Citrix, the SQL database, platform X, and the end user client device support. They also provide contract and performance management support to the existing solution. The solution will not function without the continuation of the technical and other services provided by DXC in conjunction with the licences and software from Advanced.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2023/S 000-004077
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
DAC10989
Title
GP Out of Hours ICT Management, Maintenance and Support
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
27 February 2023
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
DXC Global Entserv Solutions Ireland Limited
Leixlip Co Kildare
Country
Ireland
NUTS code
- IE - Ireland
Companies House
DXC Global Entserv Solutions Ireland Limited
The contractor is an SME
No
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot: £807,009.35
Total value of the contract/lot: £807,009.35
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
Business Services Organisation
Belfast
Country
United Kingdom