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HPV Primary Cervical Screening Laboratory Service in the South East

NHS England South East

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Award

17 Jun 2026 at 16:06

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

NHS England South East is procuring a HPV primary cervical screening laboratory service for the South East. The service covers receiving and processing cervical screening samples from primary care and other relevant settings, sending results to the Cervical Screening Administration Service, and referring women requiring treatment to local colposcopy clinics. It also includes distributing sample-taking kits and bags, arranging sample transport, maintaining sample-taker training records, supporting electronic test requests, accessing related histology results, contributing to multidisciplinary meetings and cancer audits, participating in programme boards, and training specialist staff. The laboratory must operate across a complex network spanning multiple integrated care board geographies, with effective logistics, data sharing and clinical relationships. NHS England South East is the commissioner, with NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit carrying out the procurement.

The process used Direct Award Process C under the Provider Selection Regime, without a prior call for competition. It was assessed as an intention to award to BSPS (Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services), the existing provider, on the basis that it passed all basic selection criteria and was assured against five equally weighted key criteria. Quality carried 100% of the evaluation and price 0%. The proposed service is for an initial 21 months from 1 July 2026, with an option for a further one-year extension. Its value is £20,333,565 for the initial term and a maximum £30,531,342 including extensions. The award is recorded as active and the contract was signed on 16 June 2026, although the notice says formal award remained subject to the standstill period, with representations due by midnight on 30 June 2026.

This requirement indicates sustained demand for large-scale NHS cervical screening laboratory operations across the South East. A credible future competitor would need a laboratory capable of high-volume HPV sample receipt and processing, reliable reporting to the Cervical Screening Administration Service, and robust referral links with local colposcopy clinics. It would also need the operational capacity to manage sample-taking kits, packaging and transport across wide geographies, while supporting electronic test ordering and access to associated histology information. Clinical governance capability is important, including multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment planning, invasive cancer audits, programme-board participation and continuous quality improvement. Relevant specialist workforce capacity, training arrangements for cyto-histopathologists and other staff, secure data sharing, and established relationships across multiple integrated care board areas would be central to competing for this type of service.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

HPV Primary Cervical Screening Laboratory Service in the South East

Notice Description

NHS England South East are seeking to award a new contract for the provision of a HPV Primary Cervical Screening Laboratory Service to the existing provider, BSPS (Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services). The existing contract for the provision of a HPV Primary Cervical Screening Laboratory services in the South East is due to expire on 30th June 2026 and NHS England South East have proposed that a new contract should replace the existing contract at the end of its term. All requirements outlined in Regulation 6(5) of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 have been met, including not breaching the considerable change threshold, and therefore direct award process C has been deemed the appropriate provider selection process. After conducting an assessment, taking into account the key criteria and applying the basic selection criteria, NHS England South East is content that the existing provider is satisfying the original contract and will likely satisfy the proposed contract to a sufficient standard. The service is anticipated to commence on the 1st July 2026 for an initial contract duration of 21 months, with an option to extend for a further 1 year. The total contract lifecycle value is PS20,333,565 over the initial 21 months, and a maximum possible contract value of PS30,531,342 including extensions. This notice serves as an intention to award the contract to the existing provider under Direct Award Process C of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR).

Lot Information

Lot 1

NHS England South East are looking to award a new contract for the provision of a HPV Primary Cervical Screening Laboratory Service to the existing provider, BSPS (Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services). The cervical screening laboratory is an essential component of the cervical screening programme pathway. The primary purpose of the cervical laboratory is to: * receive and process samples taken for the purposes of the cervical screening programme in primary care and any other relevant setting across their designated geographies. * send the results to the Cervical Screening Administration Service. * refer women who require treatment to their local colposcopy clinic. In addition, the laboratory has to: * arrange the distribution of sample taking kits to all sample taking locations. * maintain a database of sample takers, ensuring their training is up to date. * distribute sample bags and arrange for samples to be transported to the laboratory - which may be using its own transport service, or by making use of local transport and 'spoke' arrangements in laboratories on multiple other acute sites across large geographical areas. * ensure sample takers have a means of requesting tests electronically - typically a separate system from other 'order comms'. * put in place arrangements to access histology results from associated colposcopy activity. * support multi-disciplinary team meetings in each of the associated gynaecology services in order to arrive at a diagnosis/develop treatment plans. * support invasive cancer audits in each of the associated gynaecology services. * participation in local programme boards to support continuous quality improvement across the whole pathway. * support the training of cyto-histopathologist and other specialist staff across the whole network. This requires the laboratory to be at the heart of a complex network of services and relationships, with data sharing and logistics in place across multiple ICB geographies. The existing contract for the provision of a HPV Primary Cervical Screening Laboratory services in the South East is due to expire on 30th June 2026 and NHS England South East have proposed that a new contract should replace the existing contract at the end of its term. All requirements outlined in Regulation 6(5) of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 have been met, including not breaching the considerable change threshold, and therefore direct award process C has been deemed the appropriate provider selection process. After conducting an assessment, taking into account the key criteria and applying the basic selection criteria, NHS England South East is content that the existing provider is satisfying the original contract and will likely satisfy the proposed contract to a sufficient standard. The service is anticipated to commence on the 1st July 2026 for an initial contract duration of 21 months, with an option to extend for a further 1 year. The total contract lifecycle value is PS20,333,565 over the initial 21 months, and a maximum possible contract value of PS30,531,342 including extensions. The Commissioner will be contracting for the services using the Full-Length NHS Standard Contract. This notice serves as an intention to award the contract to the existing provider under Direct Award Process C of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR). During the life of the proposed new contract, NHS England South East intend to consider a longer term commissioning strategy for the service. This procurement has been carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners.

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 on 30th June 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06b766
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/057285-2026
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

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

85145000 - Services provided by medical laboratories

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
£30,531,342 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
17 Jun 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
16 Jun 20262 months 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
NHS England South East
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
READING
Postcode
Not specified
Postcode Area
Not specified
Country
Not specified
Major Region (ITL 1)
Not specified
Basic Region (ITL 2)
Not specified
Small Region (ITL 3)
Not specified
Delivery Location
TLJ South East (England)
Local Authority
Not specified
Electoral Ward
Not specified
Westminster Constituency
Not specified

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

BSPS (Berkshire and Surrey Pathology Services)

Further Information

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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