---
title: "The Provision of Regulator Medical Support Services Framework"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-029970"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-029970"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029970.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029970.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL"
published: "2022-05-13"
---

# The Provision of Regulator Medical Support Services Framework

Buyer: NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-029970

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## Summary

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) is seeking providers for the "Provision of Regulator Medical Support Services Framework" across the UK. This tender falls under the health services industry category and includes several key components such as toxicology services, medical examiner services, and expert witness services, all crucial to maintaining healthcare standards. The procurement process is currently at the Award stage, with active contracts valued at over £6 million. Key deliverables include arranging drug and alcohol testing, providing expert opinions for fitness-to-practise assessments, and sourcing medical examiners with expertise in various medical fields. The tender was issued under an open procurement method, allowing broad competition among interested suppliers.

This procurement presents significant opportunities for businesses in healthcare and medical services, particularly those specialising in toxicology, medical examinations, and expert witness services. Companies capable of providing accredited testing services, maintaining compliance with GDPR, and ensuring timely delivery of reports would be well-positioned to compete for these contracts. Potential suppliers may include laboratories, healthcare providers, and expert consultancy firms that possess the necessary expertise and resources to meet the stringent requirements set forth by the NMC.

## Notice

The NMC in collaboration with the other UK healthcare regulators, wishes to appoint a provider(s) to undertake Toxicology services where there is complaint about a registrant's health or misconduct. In addition, we wish to appoint a provider(s) to undertake medical examiner services for our registration and fitness to practise proceedings. Lastly, we (the NMC) wish to appoint a provider(s) of nursing and midwifery experts who are trained and able to provide independent opinion regarding care provided by registrants who receive complaints about their fitness to practise.

### Lot Information

Toxicology Services

Blood, hair and nail samples are to be taken locally across the UK with a secure transportation service to the provider's laboratory. On request of the NMC, the provider will be responsible for arranging appointments with individuals on our register, or those applying to join our register, for samples to be taken for drug and/or alcohol testing. The provider will be responsible for testing the samples and providing a comprehensive report to the NMC which explains the results, within agreed timeframes. The provider must be able to carry out more than one method of sample testing, and be able to test for a variety of substances. The samples and testing must be carried out in a manner that complies with chain of custody and with ISO standards ISO/IEC 17025:2017

Provision of Medical Examiner Services

The provider will be the point of contact between the NMC case teams and Medical Examiners. The provider will need to have a pool of Medical Examiners available to conduct examinations, provide independent reports and attend NMC hearings to give evidence. The pool of examiners will need to contain a range of expertise in psychiatry, occupational health, substance misuse and general medicine. When requested, the provider will need to source the appropriate Medical Examiner, within the contract price, and provide them with the necessary medical records, which the provider will need to source (consent would have already been obtained). The provider is responsible for the quality of the reports, as well as feeding back any issues with reports or performance concerns, and is responsible for the timeliness of reports provided to the NMC. The provider will be responsible for handling data in line with GDPR and in strict adherence to agreed timeframes. Our Registrations team review applications for admission or renewal to the NMC register and as part of this assess whether the applicant is capable of safe and effective practise. In certain circumstances the Registrar may require a report from a medical examiner on the applicant's health. The Registrar will make an assessment based solely on the paperwork provided. If the Registrar rejects an application, the applicant may appeal. An appeal hearing will be held before a panel with the parties able to attend to give live evidence. Medical examiners may be required to attend appeal hearings to present the findings of their report and may be required to provide ongoing monitoring and updated reports. Our Fitness to Practise teams arrange and co-ordinate a number of specific panels and committees, to hear evidence relating to allegations about individual registrants' fitness to practise. Where concerns have been raised about a registrant's fitness to practise by reason of their physical or mental health they may be asked to undergo an examination by a medical examiner who will provide a comprehensive report to the NMC. Medical examiners are also required to attend hearings to present the findings of their report and may be required to provide ongoing monitoring and updated reports. Some panels meet to hear evidence relating to the substantive case, which may lead to removal from the register, suspension, a caution, or the application of conditions of practice order. Other panels will meet to consider whether an individual practitioner is safe to practise whilst a case is under investigation, and may impose an interim suspension or interim conditions of practice order. Preliminary meetings and hearings may be necessary to clarify issues and eliminate problems prior to the substantive hearing. Panels will hear cases relating to health issues in private. The panels will also hear any cases relating to applications for restoration to the register or termination of suspension. Examiners will usually be scheduled to attend in half-day units or multiples thereof, although on some occasions an hourly rate may also apply.

Provision of expert witness services

The provider will be the expert witness' point of contact, and will liaise with the NMC case teams for all arrangements of hearing attendance. The provider will need to have a pool of, or be able to source, expert witnesses to conduct reviews of evidence, provide independent reports and attend NMC hearings to give evidence. The experts will need to contain a range of expertise in nursing and midwifery. The provider will be responsible for the quality of the report and making sure it is provided within the agreed timescales and contracted prices We sometimes need help to understand the basic facts of what happened, and whether it was serious enough to cause concerns about the registrant's (or applicant's) fitness to practise. We can usually discuss these issues with professionals at a local level who have the qualifications and technical expertise to help us with these issues. Sometimes, however, we'll need the opinion of an independent expert during our investigation, and because of the issues involved. We'll usually do this if we need: * specialised knowledge or expertise that we cannot obtain locally * an independent opinion * evidence to help us decide whether the registrant's (or applicant's) actions were directly responsible for patient death or serious harm When we investigate what caused the death or serious harm of a patient, we always need to think about the kind of evidence we'll need to explore. The expert will need to consider whether there is evidence that clearly shows that the fault on the part of the nurse or midwife: * led to the outcome * made those outcomes more likely, or * cost the patient a chance of survival.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012530-2022 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 13 May 2022 |
| Submission deadline | 9 Apr 2021 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 19 Jul 2021 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £6,000,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £6,000,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL |
| Additional buyers | THE NURSING AND MIDWIFERY COUNCIL |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | West London |
| Postcode | W1B 1PZ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | Marylebone |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLH East (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England), TLL Wales, TLM Scotland, TLN Northern Ireland |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 6 |
| Supplier names | CANSFORD LABORATORIES; DNA LEGAL; HEALES HEALTH SERVICES; ID MEDICAL GROUP; SOMEK AND ASSOCIATES; UK INDEPENDENT MEDICAL SERVICES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services
- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 71319000 - Expert witness services
- 85120000 - Medical practice and related services
- 85121200 - Medical specialist services
- 85145000 - Services provided by medical laboratories

## Release History

- 13 May 2022 at 15:04 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012530-2022
- 8 Mar 2021 at 14:39 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/004607-2021

## Notice URLs

- https://in-tendhost.co.uk/nmc
- https://www.nmc.org.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-h6vhtk-029970. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-029970.json.