Urgent Treatment Centre & Integrated Urgent Care Clinical Assessment Service

NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

TenderUpdate

26 Aug 2026 at 10:54

Award

25 Oct 2024 at 15:04

Summary of the contracting process

NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board commissioned integrated urgent care and urgent treatment services, classified as health services (CPV 85100000). The requirement combines a Clinical Assessment Service, GP out-of-hours provision and Urgent Treatment Centre services across the BLMK area. The Clinical Assessment Service provides round-the-clock multidisciplinary telephone assessment, using clinical decision-support software or agreed protocols, with senior GPs and other clinicians including advanced nurse practitioners, pharmacists, dental nurses, mental health nurses and palliative care nurses. GP out-of-hours provision manages NHS 111 primary-care dispositions during weekday nights, weekends and bank holidays, through telephone, video, treatment-centre and home visits. Providers must record care on a clinical system and access patient GP records.

The procurement has been awarded under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 using direct award process C, without a prior call for competition. DHU Healthcare CIC was selected on the basis of quality: the existing provider was considered likely to satisfy the proposed contract to a sufficient standard. Price carried no weighting. The award date was 27 September 2024, and the contract was formally signed on that date. The three-year contract runs from 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2028. Its stated value is £17,178,291 over the term, with activity growth, cost inflation and efficiencies also referenced. The requirement was structured as one service lot. The earlier intention-to-award stage included a standstill and representation deadline of midnight on 6 November 2024.

This award indicates sustained demand for a joined-up urgent care model across Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes, rather than a standalone clinical service. Suppliers competing for a future requirement would need to demonstrate credible 24/7 clinical assessment capacity, with senior GP leadership and a multidisciplinary workforce matched to demand. Relevant capability includes telephone and online NHS 111 pathways, clinical decision-support systems or approved protocols, primary-care triage, remote and face-to-face consultations, treatment-centre operations and home visits. Providers would also need the systems and governance to document episodes of care and use patient GP records appropriately. Experience of integrating urgent care with general practice, urgent treatment centres and national NHS service specifications would be important, alongside the operational scale to cover nights, weekends and bank holidays.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Title

Urgent Treatment Centre & Integrated Urgent Care Clinical Assessment Service

Notice Description

Urgent Treatment Centre & Integrated Urgent Care Clinical Assessment Service: Integrated Urgent Care Services are inextricably linked to delegated primary care commissioned services and have been considered together when determining a sustainable approach for provision within BLMK.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Integrated Urgent Care (Clinical Assessment Service, GP OoH's) and Urgent Treatment Centre services. Integrated Urgent Care Services are inextricably linked to delegated primary care commissioned services and have been considered together when determining a sustainable approach for provision within BLMK. The transformation of IUC directly impacts core general practice and primary services, specifically same day and urgent general practice and vice versa. National policy developments including the development of unscheduled care coordination hubs has been an important consideration as the services are delivered against a national NHSE Service Specification as follows: The Clinical Assessment Service (CAS) contains an MDT, with at least one senior responsible GP available 24/7 with additional GPs rostered according to demand. Working with them, also rostered according to demand and local need are specialists such as advanced nurse practitioners, pharmacists, dental nurses, mental health nurses and palliative care nurses. During consultations, CAS clinicians will use a Clinical Decision Support System (CDSS) or an agreed clinical protocol to complete the episode on the telephone where possible. The GP OoH's service manages all Primary Care Dispositions that have resulted from the NHS111 process during the GP Practice out of hours periods (18:30 to 08:00 weekdays and all day at weekends and Bank Holidays). This is for both NHS111 telephony and NHS111 Online outcomes. The service is delivered both remotely and face to face. Remote assessment will be by telephone and video if available (GP Triage). Face to face services will be delivered from bases known as IUC Treatment Centres (Base Visit) and in patients' homes (Home Visit). GP OoH's services will use a Clinical System to record all episodes of care and will have access to Patient GP Records. The ICB are intending to award a contract an existing provider following direct award process C and the approximate lifetime value of the contract is PS15.5m plus activity growth, cost inflation and efficiencies. The services are intended to be provided for a period of three years from 01st October 2025 to 30th September 2028.

Procurement Information

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to 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 publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by midnight of 06th November 2024. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR'.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04b174
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/081137-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Tender 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

85 - Health and social work services


CPV Codes

85100000 - Health services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£15,500,000 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
26 Aug 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
27 Sep 20241 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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BEDFORDSHIRE
Postcode
SG17 5TQ
Postcode Area
Stevenage
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLH East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLH25 Central Bedfordshire
Delivery Location
TLH2 Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire

Local Authority
Central Bedfordshire
Electoral Ward
Shefford
Westminster Constituency
Hitchin

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

DHU Healthcare CIC

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

JSON Markdown

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.

Loading OCDS record...