Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board
Level 3, Christ Church Precinct, County Hall, Fishergate Hill
Preston
PR18XB
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKD4 - Lancashire
NHS Organisation Data Service
QE1
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.lancashireandsouthcumbria.icb.nhs.uk
Buyer's address
https://www.lancashireandsouthcumbria.icb.nhs.uk
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
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) Service
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 85100000 - Health services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The provision of an Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) Service.
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: £0.01
two.2) Description
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKD4 - Lancashire
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The provision of an Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) Service.
This notice is confirmation of an award having been made due to urgent circumstances.
This contract is an activity based contract and activity would be agreed on a case by case basis, therefore the contract value in this notice has been entered as 0.01.
Contract Start Date: 01/10/2024
Contract End Date: 31/08/2025
two.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion - Name: To address immediate risks to safety and quality of care / Weighting: 100
Price - Weighting: 0
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 procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations
Explanation:
This contract has been awarded under the urgent circumstances provision of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR). This contract has been awarded under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section five. Award of contract
Title
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Service
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
11 September 2024
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
Wren Psychology Ltd
4 Maltings Court, Castlethorpe
Milton Keynes
MK19 7AZ
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKD4 - Lancashire
Companies House
13481337
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £0.01
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
This contract has been awarded under the urgent circumstances provision of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR). This contract has been awarded under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award.
The contract award was urgent due to meeting identified patient need. There are a number of cases in the ICB area of children and adults who have ARFID, which have been escalated to the ICB via Tribunals, IFR'S, complaints and from clinicians directly. The basis of these escalations is due to an increase in risk and concerns for patient safety as a result of the untreated ARFID presentations.
ARFID is now a recognised Eating Disorder, but the assessment and treatment pathway requires a different approach and skillset to that of Anorexia and Bulimia, which our current commissioned Eating Disorder Service provides for.
The ICB has approached national and neighbouring NHS organisations to try and seek support for these cases, however services across the country are either not in place or all in their infancy and unable to meet our local needs and those of their populations.
There is an urgent need to secure specialist dietetic and psychological expertise to undertake assessments and provide interventions which are only currently available from the private sector. An organisation has been identified who provide this specialist expertise and offer the required interventions either face to face or remotely. It is proposed to award a contract to this organisation to provide individual packages of support, for cases that are identified as at risk or high risk via a bespoke ARFID individual funding pathway and panel.
The reason for this urgency was not foreseeable by and not attributable to the ICB because although ARFID is now recognised as an Eating Disorder, national commissioning guidance and NICE guidance for eating disorders has not yet been updated to include ARFID.
Delaying an award of contract to conduct a full application of the PSR would result in those with unmet and escalating needs to continue to escalate and place a risk on theirs and their families safety. Specifically for the cases where the ARFID needs continue not to be addressed this includes:
- Significant impact on weight growth and physical development
- Nutritional inadequacy of diet leading to severe malnutrition, enteral feeding and admission to paediatric wards.
- Impact of young peoples social and emotional development-leading to educational attendance not being possible
The ICB's CFO approved this urgent award on the 11/09/2024.
No conflicts were declared.
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
NHS Lancashire and South Cumbria Integrated Care Board
Preston
Country
United Kingdom