--- title: "Award Notice for Occupational Health Services and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) Under the Occupational Health Services framework agreement Reference: PFB5072 LU using Lot 1 - Occupational Health & EAP Services National" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Award" buyer: "University of Chester" published: "2026-08-13" --- # Award Notice for Occupational Health Services and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) Under the Occupational Health Services framework agreement Reference: PFB5072 LU using Lot 1 - Occupational Health & EAP Services National Buyer: University of Chester Current stage: Award OCID: ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1.json) ## Summary The University of Chester procured occupational health services and employee assistance programmes (EAP) as services supporting the health, wellbeing and employment needs of its workforce. The requirement covers occupational health and EAP provision through Lot 1 of the UKUPC Occupational Health Services framework agreement, which is a national lot. The procurement is associated with delivery in the North West of England, with the University of Chester as the buying organisation. The service category is health services (CPV 85100000). This is a focused employee-support requirement rather than a general healthcare contract, and is relevant to providers with occupational health and employee assistance expertise. The procurement is complete and was awarded following a further competition under a selective call-off from a framework agreement. Tenders were due by 9 March 2026 at 10:00 UTC. The award was made on 2 April 2026 to Optima Health PLC for £400,000, with the award value rounded. The contract period runs from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2031. The award is active. The opportunity was identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and voluntary, community and social enterprises. It used one national framework lot, Lot 1 – Occupational Health and EAP Services National. The selected supplier is based in Sheffield, while the buying organisation is the University of Chester. For a supplier that did not win this award, the procurement demonstrates a substantial, long-term demand from the University of Chester for integrated occupational health and employee assistance services. Businesses best placed to compete when this requirement returns will be providers able to deliver both strands of the service, work through a framework call-off and support a university workforce in the North West. The requirement is also relevant to smaller businesses and voluntary, community or social enterprises, so a credible competitor need not be a large corporate provider. Strong positioning would come from demonstrable occupational health delivery, employee assistance capability, dependable service management and the capacity to support a national framework lot for one institutional buyer. ## Notice This award follows the University of Chester seeking tenders for a further competition for Occupational Health Services and Employee Assistance Programmes (EAP) under the UKUPC Occupational Health Services framework agreement Reference: PFB5072 LU. This further competition was under Lot 1 - Occupational Health & EAP Services National. The values in this award notice have been rounded. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/86d33971-5221-4cf4-b849-e27e4443677d | | Notice type | Award Notice | | Procurement type | Framework | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Selective | | Procurement method details | Call-off from a framework agreement | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Large | | All stages | Award | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 13 Aug 2026 | | Submission deadline | 9 Mar 2026 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | 2 Apr 2026 | | Contract period | 1 May 2026 - 30 Apr 2031 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £400,000 | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | £400,000 | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Complete | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Active | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | University of Chester | | Locality | CHESTER | | Postcode area | Chester | | Postcode | CH1 4BJ | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLD North West (England) | | ITL 2 | TLD6 Cheshire | | ITL 3 | TLD63 Cheshire West and Chester | | Local authority | Cheshire West and Chester | | Electoral ward | Chester City & the Garden Quarter | | Westminster constituency | Chester North and Neston | | Delivery location | TLD North West (England) | ## Supplier | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Number of suppliers | 1 | | Supplier names | Optima Health | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85100000 - Health services ## Release History - 13 Aug 2026 at 09:40 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/86d33971-5221-4cf4-b849-e27e4443677d ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/86d33971-5221-4cf4-b849-e27e4443677d 13th August 2026 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder ## Notice URLs - http://www.chester.ac.uk ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-74941029-b8cf-4795-a093-0b21ac4ebcc1.json.