---
title: "North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust Out of Area Psychiatric Intensive Care (PICU) Placement"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06e1de"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e1de"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e1de.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e1de.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust Out of Area Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Placement"
published: "2026-08-11"
---

# North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust Out of Area Psychiatric Intensive Care (PICU) Placement

Buyer: North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust Out of Area Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Placement  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06e1de

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## Summary

North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust procured specialised out-of-area Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) placement services for a named patient. The requirement covers inpatient mental health care, assessment and comprehensive treatment for someone experiencing the acutely disturbed phase of a serious mental disorder. Care is provided at Priory Hospital in Barnt Green, Birmingham. The patient is to be reviewed daily from Monday to Friday and repatriated when clinically appropriate. This is a healthcare service rather than a general mental health support contract, and is aimed at providers operating specialist psychiatric intensive care facilities. The Trust is the buying organisation and has placed the new contract directly, following arrangements previously managed through spot purchasing via the relevant integrated care board.

The procurement has been awarded and the contract is active. North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust awarded it to Priory Hospital on 16 July 2026 under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, using Direct Award Process B. The limited procedure was conducted without prior publication of a competition, after the Trust contacted known providers and received one response within the required timeframe. Evaluation was based entirely on price and availability. The contract was signed on 16 July 2026, at £1,022 per day, with an estimated value of £28,616. Its nominal period is four weeks, although the duration is described as unknown. The single lot is recorded as cancelled, while the associated award and contract are active.

This outcome demonstrates demand for highly specialised psychiatric intensive care with limited national availability. A credible future competitor would need an operational PICU capable of caring for patients in the most acutely disturbed phase of serious mental illness, with suitable inpatient assessment and treatment provision. Providers would also need to demonstrate timely availability for individual placements, respond effectively to spot-purchasing enquiries and support a Trust-led placement process. The requirement includes weekday clinical review and repatriation when clinically appropriate, so capability to coordinate ongoing clinical oversight and patient transfer would be relevant. Experience of working directly with NHS trusts, including arrangements previously delivered through integrated care board spot purchasing, would strengthen a provider’s position when comparable needs return to the market.

## Notice

This Contract Award Notice is placed under the Healthcare Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, Regulation 8 for Direct Award Process B, where the Trust is awarding this contract having conducted spot purchasing analysis and has concluded that this is the only available option. The Trust has a choice of providers and is not seeking to restrict the number of providers. The service is for specialised Psychiatric care for a named patient. Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) are specialist wards that provide inpatient mental health care, assessment and comprehensive treatment to individuals who are experiencing the most acutely disturbed phase of a serious mental disorder. The contract has been awarded following direct award process B at PS1022.00 per day for a nominal period of 4 weeks as the duration is unknown. The patient would be reviewed daily Mon-Fri and would be repatriated where clinically appropriate. Estimated total cost is PS28616.00 from 16th July 2026 to not known. The Trust had a spot purchasing arrangement with this provider in the past, and this is a continuation of this service for a new placement, now coming directly through the Trust whereas previously it sat under the ICB. The contract is new as the Trust are placing the contract directly, but the arrangements have been previously in place under spot purchasing via the ICB.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

This Contract Award Notice is placed under the Healthcare Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, Regulation 8 for Direct Award Process B, where the Trust is awarding this contract having conducted spot purchasing analysis and has concluded that this is the only available option. The Trust has a choice of providers and is not seeking to restrict the number of providers. The service is for specialised Psychiatric care for a named patient. Psychiatric Intensive Care Units (PICU) are specialist wards that provide inpatient mental health care, assessment and comprehensive treatment to individuals who are experiencing the most acutely disturbed phase of a serious mental disorder. The contract has been awarded following direct award process B at PS1022.00 per day for a nominal period of 4 weeks as the duration is unknown. The patient would be reviewed daily Mon-Fri and would be repatriated where clinically appropriate. Estimated total cost is PS28616.00 from 16th July 2026 to not known. The Trust had a spot purchasing arrangement with this provider in the past, and this is a continuation of this service for a new placement, now coming directly through the Trust whereas previously it sat under the ICB. The contract is new as the Trust are placing the contract directly, but the arrangements have been previously in place under spot purchasing via the ICB.

### Procurement Information

The patient has no legal right to choose, but the Trust does not want to restrict the number of providers. Award is therefore conducted under PSR Direct Award B. This is highly specialised psychiatric services with limited availability nationally. All known providers were contacted to ascertain whether they could provide the required service, only this supplier responded in the required timeframe

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076443-2026 |
| 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 | 11 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 16 Jul 2026 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £28,616 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust Out of Area Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) Placement |
| Locality | TRENTHAM |
| Postcode area | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Postcode | ST4 8HH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLG2 Shropshire and Staffordshire |
| ITL 3 | TLG23 Stoke-on-Trent |
| Local authority | Stoke-on-Trent |
| Electoral ward | Hanford, Newstead & Trentham |
| Westminster constituency | Stoke-on-Trent South |
| Delivery location | TLG West Midlands (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Priory Hospital |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85111500 - Psychiatric hospital services

## Release History

- 11 Aug 2026 at 17:38 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076443-2026

## Notice URLs

- https://www.combined.nhs.uk/contact/contact-us/

## 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-06e1de. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e1de.json.