Contract

EPES CFU and Ophthalmic Applications Support

  • Business Services Organisation I T S

F03: Contract award notice

Notice identifier: 2022/S 000-035217

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-037d6c

Published 13 December 2022, 12:46pm



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

Business Services Organisation I T S

12-14 Great Victoria Street

BELFAST

BT2 7BA

Contact

Catherine Fegan

Email

cathy.fegan@hscni.net

Telephone

+44 2895362561

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UKN06 - Belfast

Justification for not providing organisation identifier

Not on any register

Internet address(es)

Main address

www.hscbusiness.hscni.net

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

EPES CFU and Ophthalmic Applications Support

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

In June 2008, the Electronic Prescribing and Eligibility System (EPES) went live. The objective of the project was to capture prescription information from Community Pharmacies into a central EPES Database. This system was introduced to speed up pharmacy re-payments, allow for closer scrutiny of the prescribing and dispensing process, and reduce lost income through patients falsely claiming to be in receipt of a qualifying Social Security benefit.

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: £915,186.27

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
  • UKN - Northern Ireland

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

In June 2008, the Electronic Prescribing and Eligibility System (EPES) went live. The objective of the project was to capture prescription information from Community Pharmacies into a central EPES Database. This system was introduced to speed up pharmacy re-payments, allow for closer scrutiny of the prescribing and dispensing process, and reduce lost income through patients falsely claiming to be in receipt of a qualifying Social Security benefit.

Failure to provision the extended support places BSO at serious risk of an application failure from which we would be unable to recover from. Contractor payments of approximately £576m per annum would be defaulted on and there would also be a risk of fraud as it would be impossible to process prescriptions and estimate payments manually.

Considerable reputational damage to BSO and the wider DoH would be incurred with also a rick of legal action from contractors who have not had payments made to them.

DXC are the incumbent contractors and own the Intellectual Property Rights on the software.

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:
    • protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights

Explanation:

In June 2008, the Electronic Prescribing and Eligibility System (EPES) went live. The objective of the project was to capture prescription information from Community Pharmacies into a central EPES Database. This system was introduced to speed up pharmacy re-payments, allow for closer scrutiny of the prescribing and dispensing process, and reduce lost income through patients falsely claiming to be in receipt of a qualifying Social Security benefit.

Failure to provision the extended support places BSO at serious risk of an application failure from which we would be unable to recover from. Contractor payments of approximately £576m per annum would be defaulted on and there would also be a risk of fraud as it would be impossible to process prescriptions and estimate payments manually.

Considerable reputational damage to BSO and the wider DoH would be incurred with also a rick of legal action from contractors who have not had payments made to them.

DXC are the incumbent contractors and own the Intellectual Property Rights on the software.

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: 2022/S 000-030570


Section five. Award of contract

Title

EPES CFU and Ophthalmic applications Support

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

13 December 2022

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 Technology

Belfast

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code
  • UKN - Northern Ireland
Companies House

07073335

The contractor is an SME

No

five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)

Total value of the contract/lot: £915,186.27


Section six. Complementary information

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

Business Services Organisation

Belfast

Country

United Kingdom