Award

EPES, CFU and Ophthalmic applications support, upgrade and hardware refresh

BUSINESS SERVICES ORGANISATION

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

24 Apr 2025 at 09:17

Award

21 Mar 2025 at 13:54

Award

21 Mar 2025 at 10:48

Summary of the contracting process

The Business Services Organisation (BSO), located in Belfast, has initiated a procurement process for the "EPES, CFU and Ophthalmic applications support, upgrade and hardware refresh" contract. This project falls under the IT services industry category and is situated in the United Kingdom. The procurement process is at the award stage, with ENTServ UK Limited being the supplier. The direct award procurement method was utilised due to the incumbent contractor, DXC Technology, holding exclusive Intellectual Property Rights on the software involved. Key dates include the contract period starting on 3rd April 2025 and ending on 31st December 2026, with potential extensions until 2030. The allocated budget for this contract is £5,500,000, exclusive of VAT.

This procurement presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in IT services, such as consulting, software development, and support, especially for those with competencies in system upgrades and hardware refresh. Firms that can offer supplementary or supportive services to DXC Technology may find avenues for growth, particularly if they can provide innovative contributions that enhance project delivery. Large organisations with the capability to manage extensive IT projects and ensure reliable system support would be well-placed to benefit from participating in similar tenders in the future.

Find more tenders on our Open Data Platform.
How relevant is this notice?

D3 Tenders Premium

Win More Public Sector Contracts

AI-powered tender discovery, pipeline management, and market intelligence — everything you need to grow your public sector business.

Notice Title

EPES, CFU and Ophthalmic applications support, upgrade and hardware refresh

Notice 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. Following its successful launch, EPES was extended to support Dental and Ophthalmic claims processing, the DOP system. This DAC will ensure continuity of services for the Family Practitioner System Team. 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 PS576m 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. DXC Technology will support the EPES systems for BSO. The scope of this Contract includes: * Planning and project management. * Procurement and support of 8 new workstations and scanners. * Assistance from DXC and Kodak Alaris to setup new workstations with the Kodak Alaris Kodak Info Input scanning software. * Health checks. * Perform renewal of the existing labor support contract. * Extension of Kodak support contract * Recompile of code to make it supportable. * Upgrade to Windows 11. PS1,080,186 has been previously directed awarded to DXC for support, maintenance, and upgrade works to support the EPES system. It is our intention to complete a further Direct Award to the value of PS5,500,000 (exclusive of VAT).

Procurement Information

DXC are the incumbent contractors and own the Intellectual Property Rights on the software. 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 PS576m 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. We wish to rely on schedule 5 section 5 (a) due to DXC having the intellectual property rights. They are the only supplier able to provide the services.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04f72a
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/016691-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£5,500,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£5,500,000 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
24 Apr 202510 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
21 Mar 202511 months ago
Contract Period
2 Apr 2025 - 31 Dec 2026 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
BUSINESS SERVICES ORGANISATION
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
itspmo@hscni.net
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
BELFAST
Postcode
BT2 8DQ
Post Town
Northern Ireland
Country
Northern Ireland

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLN Northern Ireland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLN0 Northern Ireland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLN06 Belfast
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Belfast
Electoral Ward
Central
Westminster Constituency
Belfast South and Mid Down

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

ENTSERV

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

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.

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-04f72a-2025-04-24T10:17:15+01:00",
    "date": "2025-04-24T10:17:15+01:00",
    "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-04f72a",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-PPON-PCQH-8657-NGMT",
            "name": "Business Services Organisation",
            "identifier": {
                "scheme": "GB-PPON",
                "id": "PCQH-8657-NGMT"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "2 Franklin Street",
                "locality": "Belfast",
                "postalCode": "BT2 8DQ",
                "country": "GB",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom",
                "region": "UKN06"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "email": "ITSPMO@hscni.net"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ],
            "details": {
                "classifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "UK_CA_TYPE",
                        "id": "publicAuthorityCentralGovernment",
                        "description": "Public authority - central government"
                    },
                    {
                        "scheme": "UK_CA_DEVOLVED_REGULATIONS",
                        "id": "GB-NIR",
                        "description": "Northern Irish devolved regulations apply"
                    }
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "id": "GB-COH-00053419",
            "name": "ENTSERV UK LIMITED",
            "identifier": {
                "scheme": "GB-COH",
                "id": "00053419"
            },
            "additionalIdentifiers": [
                {
                    "scheme": "GB-PPON",
                    "id": "PGCJ-9313-QJLY"
                }
            ],
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "Royal Pavilion",
                "locality": "Aldershot",
                "postalCode": "GU11 1PZ",
                "country": "GB",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom",
                "region": "UKJ37"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "email": "ukitenders@dxc.com"
            },
            "roles": [
                "supplier"
            ],
            "details": {
                "url": "http://dxc.com",
                "scale": "large",
                "vcse": false,
                "publicServiceMissionOrganization": false,
                "shelteredWorkshop": false
            }
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-PPON-PCQH-8657-NGMT",
        "name": "Business Services Organisation"
    },
    "tender": {
        "id": "DAC20001",
        "legalBasis": {
            "id": "2023/54",
            "scheme": "UKPGA",
            "uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents"
        },
        "title": "EPES, CFU and Ophthalmic applications support, upgrade and hardware refresh",
        "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. Following its successful launch, EPES was extended to support Dental and Ophthalmic claims processing, the DOP system. This DAC will ensure continuity of services for the Family Practitioner System Team. 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 PS576m 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. DXC Technology will support the EPES systems for BSO. The scope of this Contract includes: * Planning and project management. * Procurement and support of 8 new workstations and scanners. * Assistance from DXC and Kodak Alaris to setup new workstations with the Kodak Alaris Kodak Info Input scanning software. * Health checks. * Perform renewal of the existing labor support contract. * Extension of Kodak support contract * Recompile of code to make it supportable. * Upgrade to Windows 11. PS1,080,186 has been previously directed awarded to DXC for support, maintenance, and upgrade works to support the EPES system. It is our intention to complete a further Direct Award to the value of PS5,500,000 (exclusive of VAT).",
        "status": "complete",
        "procurementMethod": "direct",
        "procurementMethodDetails": "Direct award",
        "procurementMethodRationale": "DXC are the incumbent contractors and own the Intellectual Property Rights on the software. 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 PS576m 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. We wish to rely on schedule 5 section 5 (a) due to DXC having the intellectual property rights. They are the only supplier able to provide the services.",
        "lots": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "status": "complete"
            }
        ],
        "documents": [
            {
                "id": "conflictOfInterest",
                "documentType": "conflictOfInterest",
                "description": "Not published"
            }
        ],
        "procurementMethodRationaleClassifications": [
            {
                "id": "singleSuppliersIntellectualPropertyExclusiveRights"
            }
        ]
    },
    "awards": [
        {
            "id": "1",
            "title": "EPES, CFU and Ophthalmic applications Support, Upgrade and Hardware Refresh",
            "status": "active",
            "value": {
                "amountGross": 6600000,
                "amount": 5500000,
                "currency": "GBP"
            },
            "mainProcurementCategory": "services",
            "aboveThreshold": true,
            "suppliers": [
                {
                    "id": "GB-COH-00053419",
                    "name": "ENTSERV UK LIMITED"
                }
            ],
            "items": [
                {
                    "id": "1",
                    "additionalClassifications": [
                        {
                            "scheme": "CPV",
                            "id": "72000000",
                            "description": "IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support"
                        }
                    ],
                    "deliveryAddresses": [
                        {
                            "region": "UKN",
                            "country": "GB",
                            "countryName": "United Kingdom"
                        },
                        {
                            "region": "UKN",
                            "country": "GB",
                            "countryName": "United Kingdom"
                        },
                        {
                            "region": "UKN",
                            "country": "GB",
                            "countryName": "United Kingdom"
                        }
                    ],
                    "relatedLot": "1"
                }
            ],
            "contractPeriod": {
                "startDate": "2025-04-03T00:00:00+01:00",
                "endDate": "2026-12-31T23:59:59Z",
                "maxExtentDate": "2030-12-31T23:59:59Z"
            },
            "hasRenewal": true,
            "renewal": {
                "description": "This DAC is to allow support to be provided until systems can be replaced. This support cannot be provided by any other supplier as DXC have the exclusive rights to the software. BSO ITS wish to enter into a one year Contract with the option to extend for a further four x one year extensions. The ePharmacy Programme was supposed to provide replacement systems for EPES, but this has been significantly delayed due to budgetary restrictions. The procurement of replacement systems is likely to be begin in 2026 with a proposed implementation date of quarter three in the Financial Year of 2030."
            },
            "relatedLots": [
                "1"
            ],
            "documents": [
                {
                    "id": "010600-2025",
                    "documentType": "awardNotice",
                    "noticeType": "UK5",
                    "description": "Transparency notice on Find a Tender",
                    "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010600-2025",
                    "datePublished": "2025-03-21T10:48:25Z",
                    "format": "text/html"
                },
                {
                    "id": "010704-2025",
                    "documentType": "awardNotice",
                    "noticeType": "UK6",
                    "description": "Contract award notice on Find a Tender",
                    "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010704-2025",
                    "datePublished": "2025-03-21T13:54:07Z",
                    "format": "text/html"
                }
            ],
            "milestones": [
                {
                    "id": "1",
                    "type": "futureSignatureDate",
                    "dueDate": "2025-04-02T23:59:59+01:00",
                    "status": "scheduled"
                }
            ],
            "date": "2025-03-21T00:00:00Z",
            "standstillPeriod": {
                "endDate": "2025-04-01T23:59:59+01:00"
            }
        }
    ],
    "language": "en",
    "contracts": [
        {
            "id": "1",
            "awardID": "1",
            "title": "EPES, CFU and Ophthalmic applications Support, Upgrade and Hardware Refresh",
            "status": "active",
            "period": {
                "startDate": "2025-04-03T00:00:00+01:00",
                "endDate": "2026-12-31T23:59:59Z",
                "maxExtentDate": "2030-12-31T23:59:59Z"
            },
            "hasRenewal": true,
            "renewal": {
                "description": "This DAC is to allow support to be provided until systems can be replaced. This support cannot be provided by any other supplier as DXC have the exclusive rights to the software. BSO ITS wish to enter into a one year Contract with the option to extend for a further four x one year extensions. The ePharmacy Programme was supposed to provide replacement systems for EPES, but this has been significantly delayed due to budgetary restrictions. The procurement of replacement systems is likely to be begin in 2026 with a proposed implementation date of quarter three in the Financial Year of 2030"
            },
            "value": {
                "amountGross": 6600000,
                "amount": 5500000,
                "currency": "GBP"
            },
            "aboveThreshold": true,
            "dateSigned": "2025-04-02T00:00:00+01:00",
            "agreedMetrics": [
                {
                    "id": "1",
                    "title": "Monitoring Issue Resolution",
                    "description": "A key objective for all the FPS teams is resolving contractor issues quickly and effectively. The speed and quality of resolution impacts contractor satisfaction. Monitoring issue resolution quantifies performance levels and highlight areas needing improvement. The metrics that will be tracked for issue resolution are: * First contact resolution (FCR) rate. * The average time taken to resolve contractor issues of varying types and severity this will include the total time an issue is open. * Backlog/Pending tickets - Volume of open tickets that are past resolution time SLAs. * Resolution paths/channels - The channels used to ultimately resolve issues like email, phone, chat, self-service etc. * Reopened ticket rate - What % of closed tickets have to be reopened due to incomplete resolution. * Issue escalation rate - How often complex issues have to be escalated to higher tiers like supervisors or managers."
                },
                {
                    "id": "2",
                    "title": "Monitoring IT Performance",
                    "description": "In order to provide an efficient operational service to contractors it is important that the underlying infrastructure is available during key periods as identified by the business and contractors. The metrics that will be tracked for IT performance are: * Server uptime/availability - Percentage of time servers are operational. * Problem resolution time - The time required to resolve system issues. * Change implementation time - How long it takes to roll out new systems and changes."
                },
                {
                    "id": "3",
                    "title": "Monitoring Process Performance",
                    "description": "When running an operational service it is important to ensure that, if required, appropriate steps are taken to ensure the processes being used are as efficient as possible. The metrics that will be tracked for process performance are: * Production efficiency: How long are claims, prescriptions and payments taking on average to complete. Increased processing times may indicate a requirement to adjust processes. * Total cycle time: The total amount of time needed to complete a process from start to finish including claims and prescription runs. * Throughput: The number of items produced divided by the production time per month. * Error rate: The total number of errors divided by the total number of units produced. * Quality rate: A measure of the items produced that pass quality control checks. Sampling will be completed to ensure items processed meet the necessary statutory and legislative standards"
                }
            ],
            "documents": [
                {
                    "id": "016691-2025",
                    "documentType": "contractNotice",
                    "noticeType": "UK7",
                    "description": "Contract details notice on Find a Tender",
                    "url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/016691-2025",
                    "datePublished": "2025-04-24T10:17:15+01:00",
                    "format": "text/html"
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}