---
title: "Managed Services Contract - Medical Biochemistry & Immunology"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04cc57"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04cc57"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04cc57.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04cc57.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "CARDIFF AND VALE UNIVERSITY HEALTH BOARD"
published: "2025-03-21"
---

# Managed Services Contract - Medical Biochemistry & Immunology

Buyer: CARDIFF AND VALE UNIVERSITY HEALTH BOARD  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04cc57

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## Summary

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board has extended its Managed Services Contract for Medical Biochemistry & Immunology with Abbott Laboratories Limited. This contract, originally initiated in 2010, was recently updated in March 2025 to include a five-year extension due to technical and economic challenges. This extension is necessary to replace ageing equipment and ensure the sustainability of clinical services. The contract value is approximately GBP 99.65 million and will run for a total duration of 1,800 days, located in Cardiff (region UKL22), covering laboratory services within the healthcare sector.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses involved in laboratory equipment and associated services. The extension period allows for comprehensive planning and execution, ensuring the replacement of critical systems with minimal disruption to clinical operations. Companies specialising in laboratory information management systems, biochemistry, and immunology equipment, as well as maintenance services, are well-suited to compete. The controlled timeframe offers a stable environment for market engagement, allowing suppliers to provide innovative solutions that align with the Health Board's strategic needs. Abbott Diagnostics, a large-scale supplier, continues to be pivotal in maintaining service standards.

## Notice

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board (CVUHB) currently operate a Managed Service Contract with Abbot Diagnostics that covers Biochemistry and Immunology equipment , maintenance and related consumable.. This contract was awarded with commencement 1st April 2010 following an OJEU Competitive Dialogue procurement exercise for an initial term of 7 years to 31st March 2017, with the option to extend at the Health Boards discretion for a further 8 years until 31st March 2025, all extension options have been exhausted

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Tender Process timing - To ensure that the appropriate level of detail and due diligence is applied to any future tender it is has been established that a five-year extension to the current contract would be necessary for the following reasons; - The need to provide a safe sustainable Clinical service during the tender process. The Clinical risk of not having an operational Medical Biochemistry and Immunology service within Cardiff and Vale is significant as the laboratory is involved in 70% of all Clinical decisions - around 90% of the work undertaken within the department requires a 2 hour turnaround from time of receipt to reporting of the result which can only be achieved with an onsite service supported by hardware and the LIMS system. - 12 months to write and refine the tender specification - there is currently no specification written other than the one issued around 2007 - this requires time to ensure all key points are covered - 24-36 Months to go through the tender process including viewing potential options open to us to ensure an informed choice is made. - 12-24 Months Implementation - this would include phasing out the current equipment following validation and verification of any new platforms - some assays may require significant patient rebase lining which means dual running to evaluate any change in results on a personal patient basis - during this period a contract will still be required with Abbott diagnostics. - Tender processes - there is evidence from other sites within the UK including legal precedence that show the above is a realistic timeline. End of life-cycle equipment - The current equipment provided under the managed service contract with Abbott including Alinity analysers and associated automation (sample tracking and movement system) is 8 years old and needs replacing. A five-year contract could achieve this cost effectively, but any lesser period would place huge financial pressures on the HB in duplicative costs and may not be achievable. In the short term, not changing the aging equipment now and attempting to run it for a further 2-3 years to undertake a procurement exercise (notwithstanding the technical/resource limitations) would create a significant patient risk as the analysers down time which is likely to increase, will have a detrimental effect on the department's ability to turnaround the majority of work within the required 2 hours' time window, this places patients at risk by not being able provide laboratory results to make a clinical decision. Accordingly, the indication is that a period of less than five years is not economically viable to replace the current system. - There is also an indication that the automation is nearing its end of life, this is evidenced by the increased down time of individual components on the tracking system and time taken to obtain parts, life expectancy of this equipment is around 8 years although that is not a hard end point as with the LIMS, rather it is an unknown risk that could materialise or escalate in severity over time. Abbott Diagnostics are no longer contracting their track system to Inpeco and going forward would not be able to hold the risk under the MSC due to this contracting change. - As indicated 8 years is the usual life cycle of both analytical and tracking systems, although the equipment is still fully functional down time will increase and for the track will take longer to obtain, this increased downtime will seriously affect our ability to meet the 2 hours' time window for the return clinical results required to treat patients

### Procurement Information

The Health Board wish to apply a modification to the original contract award to add an additional 8 years on to the current contract under the same terms and conditions to extend the contract up to 31st March 2033. The modification will enable the Health Board to undertake an equipment refresh of critical equipment that will put the Health Board services at significant risk if not replaced urgently.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010567-2025 |
| 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 |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 21 Mar 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 30 Dec 2009 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £150,752,880 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | CARDIFF AND VALE UNIVERSITY HEALTH BOARD |
| Locality | CARDIFF |
| Post town | Cardiff |
| Postcode | CF14 4HH |
| Country | Wales |
| ITL 1 | TLL Wales |
| ITL 2 | TLL5 South East Wales |
| ITL 3 | TLL52 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan |
| Local authority | Cardiff |
| Electoral ward | Heath |
| Westminster constituency | Cardiff North |
| Delivery location | TLL Wales, TLL22 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 2 |
| Supplier names | ABBOTT DIAGNOSTICS; ABBOTT LABORATORIES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 71 - Architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services

### Codes

- 71900000 - Laboratory services

## Release History

- 21 Mar 2025 at 09:39 - AwardUpdate - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010567-2025
- 6 Jan 2025 at 11:32 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000166-2025
- 20 Dec 2024 at 16:10 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/041275-2024

## Notice URLs

- http://nwssp.nhs.wales/ourservices/procurement-services/
- https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA0221

## 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-04cc57. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04cc57.json.