This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

AwardUpdate

08 Oct 2026 at 14:27

Award

15 Nov 2022 at 19:28

TenderUpdate

15 Aug 2022 at 15:42

Tender

14 Jul 2022 at 16:11

Summary of the contracting process

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s Commercial Procurement Service established a UK-wide framework for public sector bodies to buy financial and related review services. Its seven areas covered outsourced financial services; accounts payable reviews to identify and recover savings; VAT reviews to identify recoverable or incorrectly declared tax; analysis of non-pay spending; continuing healthcare invoice validation to identify overcharges and overpayments; private patient income optimisation through data validation, consultancy, clinical coding and commercial support; and telecommunications spending reviews and savings advice. The work combines financial analysis and recovery with specialist healthcare and telecoms expertise. Services were intended for use by eligible public sector organisations across the UK.

The procurement has been awarded. The framework used an open procedure, with bids permitted for one or more areas. The stated estimated framework value was £50 million. Awards were made to ELFS Shared Services and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP for outsourced financial services; Liaison Financial Services Ltd and PwC for accounts payable review; Liaison for VAT review; Liaison and PwC for total spend analysis; Liaison and PwC for continuing healthcare invoice validation; Liaison for private patient optimisation; and Liaison and PwC for telecommunications review. Contracts were signed on 15 November 2022. The planned term was two years, with two possible one-year extensions, up to four years overall; a later amendment extended the framework by six months, and PwC withdrew. Evaluation weighted service-specific quality at 30%, price at 20%, and other quality factors including general requirements, security, support, innovation and social value.

This framework demonstrates demand from the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust’s procurement service for practical financial recovery and analysis across public sector organisations. Suppliers best placed to compete in a future requirement would have demonstrable capability in the specific service area: transactional accounts payable analysis and recovery; VAT compliance and recovery; non-pay expenditure analytics; continuing healthcare invoice checking; private patient data validation, clinical coding and commercial improvement; or telecoms cost review and implementation advice. The awards show competition from both specialist suppliers and a large professional services firm, with a smaller supplier also selected across several areas. Credible providers would need to evidence service quality alongside secure and dependable delivery, effective contract management or relevant technical support, innovation where applicable, and meaningful social value. Financial competitiveness also formed a significant part of the evaluation.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

National Framework Agreement for Financial Services

Notice Description

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust's Commercial Procurement Service seeks to introduce a Framework Agreement which will allow UK public sector bodies to procure a range of financial services. Proposed framework: Lot 1 - Outsourced Financial Services Lot 2 - Accounts Payable Review Service Lot 3 - VAT Review Service Lot 4 - Total Spend Analysis Lot 5 - Continuing Healthcare Invoice Validation Lot 6 - Private Patients Optimisation Service Lot 7 - Telecommunications Review Service Tenders may be submitted for one or more Lots.

Lot Information

Outsourced Financial Services

The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust's CommercialProcurement Service seeks to introduce a Framework Agreement which will allowUK public sector bodies to procure a range of financial services. Proposed framework: Lot 1 - Outsourced Financial Services Lot 2 - Accounts Payable Review Service Lot 3 - VAT Review Service Lot 4 - Total Spend Analysis Lot 5 - Continuing Healthcare Invoice Validation Lot 6 - Private Patients Optimisation Service Lot 7 - Telecommunications Review Service Tenders may be submitted for one or more Lots.

Options: The term of this framework agreement will be two years (24 months) from the commencement date with an option to extend twice for a further one year (12months) on each occasion. The maximum duration of this framework agreement will be four years (48 months).

Accounts Payable Review Service

Lot 2 concerns the provision of an Accounts Payable Review Service. Suppliers will offer an end to end service to identify and recover savings by interrogating Accounts Payable related transactional information.

Options: The term of this framework agreement will be two years (24 months) from the commencement date with an option to extend twice for a further one year (12 months) on each occasion. The maximum duration of this framework agreement will be four years (48 months).

VAT Review Service

Lot 3 concerns the provision of a VAT Review Service, on either an annual, or ongoing monthly or quarterly basis. Suppliers will identify additional VAT recovery and check over paid/under declared VAT, prior to the annual HMRC deadline, to avoid legitimate VAT recovery being lost.

Options: The term of this framework agreement will be two years (24 months) from the commencement date with an option to extend twice for a further one year (12 months) on each occasion. The maximum duration of this framework agreement will be four years (48 months).

Total Spend Analysis

Lot 4 concerns the provision of a Total Spend Analysis service, providing a comprehensive analysis of non-pay spend and analysis of transactions from financial and other systems.

Options: The term of this framework agreement will be two years (24 months) from the commencement date with an option to extend twice for a further one year (12 months) on each occasion. The maximum duration of this framework agreement will be four years (48 months).

Continuing Healthcare Invoice Validation

Lot 5 concerns the provision of a Continuing Healthcare Invoice Validation service, identifying and recovering overcharges and overpayments from Continuing Healthcare (CHC) suppliers.

Options: The term of this framework agreement will be two years (24 months) from the commencement date with an option to extend twice for a further one year (12 months) on each occasion. The maximum duration of this framework agreement will be four years (48 months).

Privtae Patients Optimisation Service

Lot 6 concerns the provision of a Private Patients Optimisation Service, including data validation, consultancy services, clinical coding support and commercial support to create a robust private patient unit.

Options: The term of this framework agreement will be two years (24 months) from the commencement date with an option to extend twice for a further one year (12 months) on each occasion. The maximum duration of this framework agreement will be four years (48 months).

Telecommunications Review Service

Lot 7 concerns the provision of a Telecommunications Review Service. Suppliers will review spend on telecommunications in detail and provide advice on implementing new strategies in order to reduce spend, increase value for money on existing contracts and support with the delivery of savings.

Options: The term of this framework agreement will be two years (24 months) from the commencement date with an option to extend twice for a further one year (12 months) on each occasion. The maximum duration of this framework agreement will be four years (48 months).

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-03521f
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095263-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

66 - Financial and insurance services

71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

75 - Administration, defence and social security services


CPV Codes

66000000 - Financial and insurance services

71316000 - Telecommunication consultancy services

75122000 - Administrative healthcare services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£50,000,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£50,000,001 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
8 Oct 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
18 Aug 2022Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Cancelled
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
COUNTESS OF CHESTER HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Additional Buyers

See www.nhssourcing.co.uk for eligible users

Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
CHESTER
Postcode
CH2 1UL
Postcode Area
Chester
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLD North West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLD6 Cheshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLD63 Cheshire West and Chester
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Cheshire West and Chester
Electoral Ward
Upton
Westminster Constituency
Chester North and Neston

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
4
Supplier Names

ELFS Shared Services

PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

Liaison Financial Services Ltd

Awarded suppliers are stated in the original F03 notice 2022/S 000-032443

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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