---
title: "DHSC: National Breastfeeding Helpline"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0507fc"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0507fc"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0507fc.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0507fc.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE"
published: "2025-04-26"
---

# DHSC: National Breastfeeding Helpline

Buyer: DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0507fc

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## Summary

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), located at 39 Victoria Street, London, has completed a procurement process titled "DHSC: National Breastfeeding Helpline." This contract falls under the services category, specific to the call centre industry (CPV code 79512000). Notably, it involved a direct award without prior competition to the Breastfeeding Network for a 12-month period, ensuring continuity of the 24-hour National Breastfeeding Helpline across the UK. The procurement process used a limited procurement method due to the absence of competition for technical reasons, and the contract was formally signed on 28 March 2025, with a total value of £786,363.

This tender provides a significant opportunity for businesses specialising in call centre operations and support services to engage with public procurement in the health sector. While the direct award in this instance did not involve open competition, it highlights the demand for expertise in managing helpline services on a national scale, offering potential future opportunities for businesses capable of expanding capacity and delivering specialised counselling services. Companies with a focus on continuity and scalability in helpline operations might find forthcoming tenders valuable, as DHSC plans market engagement activities to explore longer-term solutions in late Q2 or early Q3 of 2025/26, opening avenues for more varied participants in future procurement cycles.

## Notice

The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking a provider to deliver the National Breastfeeding Helpline, providing breastfeeding information and support via a 24 hour helpline for families across the UK.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The Department of Health and Social Care is seeking a provider to deliver the National Breastfeeding Helpline, providing breastfeeding information and support via a 24 hour helpline for families across the UK.

### Procurement Information

DHSC have made a direct award to the Breastfeeding Network (BfN) for a 12-month period to provide a continuity of service for the 24-hour National Breastfeeding Helpline (NBH).

This direct award has been made in accordance with Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) competition is absent for technical reasons.

In 2024/25, the NBH was expanded to pilot a night service so that services are available to members of the public 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The current NBH service includes a 24-hour telephone helpline and voicemail service, social media, webchat and links to the BfN's drugs in breastmilk advice service.

DHSC have deemed that BfN are currently the only supplier who are positioned to run the 24-hour service without helpline users facing a gap or reduction in service provision, based upon BfN's capacity to manage service demand and them additionally having the means to increase capacity of the night service in early 2025/26. BfN also previously commissioned an independent evaluation for the 2024/25 pilot and are uniquely positioned to put arrangements in place for an independent evaluation of the full night service pilot which is required by DHSC. For these reasons, BfN are currently the only provider who could deliver the full scope of service requirements at the required scale.

DHSC are exploring longer term solutions in respect to the ongoing provision of the NBH, and intend to conduct an open procedure in late Q2 or early Q3 of 2025/26 to source a replacement contract. To support this, DHSC intend to conduct market engagement at the end of Q1 or beginning of Q2 2025/26. A UK2 preliminary market engagement notice will be published to advertise any upcoming engagement.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/017166-2025 |
| 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 | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 26 Apr 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 28 Mar 2025 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £786,363 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1H 0EU |
| 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 | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | TLI32 Westminster |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | THE BREASTFEEDING NETWORK |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 79512000 - Call centre
- 85312300 - Guidance and counselling services
- 85312320 - Counselling services

## Release History

- 26 Apr 2025 at 17:08 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/017166-2025

## Notice URLs

- http://www.breastfeedingnetwork.org.uk
- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health-and-social-care
- https://www.theroyalcourtsofjustice.com

## 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-0507fc. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0507fc.json.