Notice Information
Notice Title
NP605223 SMS Smart Messaging Service
Notice Description
The service is currently made available to all NHS Boards and its primary uses are to remind NHS patients via text message to attend clinical appointments and to communicate staff rotas to NHSS employees. NHS Boards collectively sent an average of 4,805,793 fragments per month over the period April 2021 to March 2022. For the corresponding period 2022 / 2023 the average monthly fragment volume increased to 6,870,128.
Lot Information
Lot 1
The service is currently made available to all NHS Boards and its primary uses are to remind NHS patients via text message to attend clinical appointments and to communicate staff rotas to NHSS employees. NHS Boards collectively sent an average of 4,805,793 fragments per month over the period April 2021 to March 2022. For the corresponding period 2022 / 2023 the average monthly fragment volume increased to 6,870,128. All figures quoted are based on a fragment containing 160 characters. 20 NHSS Health Boards currently rely on the SMS service for various business/clinical purposes. NSS Procurement, Commissioning & Facilities conducted a full procurement to establish a single supplier Agreement for the provision of SMS Services. A mini-competition for the requirement was published via CSS Framework RM6261 Lot2 (Network Services). 8 suppliers are included in this framework but only 1 BT, submitted a bid. This bid was evaluated by the project team and are now seeking approval to renew this contract starting on 15th May 2023. Due to market instability, the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have significantly increased pricing over the past 6 months (all the major UK MNOs are investing in solutions to tackle spam/smishing in order to maintain trust in SMS as a communication channel. The UK MNOs are all focused on closing SIM farms and ensuring the protection of all consumers through activities such as the addition of network firewalls and Spam shields) and as a result this will result in an 11.3% price increase compared to the price paid in the previous 12 months. However, prior to running the mini-competition a PIN was published in October of 2022 and the new price offered by BT (1.79p per fragment) is very competitive when compared to other pricing offered by other suppliers via the PIN. 8 suppliers responded to the PIN including BT. BT also offered the cheapest prices with the closest supplier (Reach Data) at 3% more expensive. Having been offered a final price by BT the recommendation is to award a 3-year contract.
Procurement Information
A mini-competition for the requirement was published via CCS Framework RM6261 Lot2 (Network Services). 8 suppliers are included in this framework but only 1 BT, submitted a bid.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-03d6f8
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/017165-2023
- Current Stage
- Award
- All Stages
- Award
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- Award Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Limited
- Procurement Method Details
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- Large
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
-
- CPV Codes
64212100 - Short Message Service (SMS) services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- Not specified
- Lots Value
- Not specified
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- £4,320,000 £1M-£10M
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 16 Jun 20233 years ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- Not specified
- Award Date
- 1 Jun 20233 years ago
- 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
- The Common Services Agency (more commonly known as NHS National Services Scotland) ("NSS")
- Contact Name
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
- Contact Email
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
- Contact Phone
- Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Buyer Location
- Locality
- EDINBURGH
- Postcode
- EH12 9EB
- Postcode Area
- Edinburgh
- Country
- Scotland
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLM Scotland
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLM1 East Central Scotland
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLM13 City of Edinburgh
- Delivery Location
- TLM Scotland
-
- Local Authority
- City of Edinburgh
- Electoral Ward
- Drum Brae/Gyle
- Westminster Constituency
- Edinburgh South West
Further Information
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
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.