--- title: "Palliative End of Life Care Adult Rapid Response Service in Northamptonshire" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06e811" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e811" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e811.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e811.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Award" buyer: "NHS NORTHAMPTONSHIRE INTEGRATED CARE BOARD" published: "2026-08-19" --- # Palliative End of Life Care Adult Rapid Response Service in Northamptonshire Buyer: NHS NORTHAMPTONSHIRE INTEGRATED CARE BOARD Current stage: Award OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06e811 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e811) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e811.json) ## Summary NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board procured a community palliative and end-of-life care service for adults in Northamptonshire. The requirement was a 24/7 rapid-response, nurse-led service for patients thought to be in the last eight weeks of life whose preferred place of care is their own home, including residential care homes. It provides urgent specialist care and support, symptom management, and non-medical prescribing both during normal hours and out of hours. The service is intended to help patients receive timely advice and symptom management, supporting care or end-of-life care at home or in a residential setting and reducing the risk of avoidable acute admissions. The procurement is categorised as health and social work services. The procurement is complete and has been awarded following an urgent award under the Provider Selection Regime and Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, using a limited procedure without prior publication of a competition notice. The decision was taken by the UEC Board on 22 October 2025, and the contract was signed on 17 August 2026. DHU Healthcare C.I.C. was selected as the supplier. The awarded contract value is £454,467. The service period is stated as 14 October 2025 to 31 March 2026. The requirement was evaluated on cost, with the urgent award criterion recorded as 100%. The procurement contains one lot, which is marked cancelled, while the award and contract are recorded as active. This award indicates established demand from NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board for specialist community end-of-life care delivered continuously, including out-of-hours response. Suppliers likely to be credible when this requirement returns would need to provide a dependable 24/7 rapid-response operation led by appropriately qualified nurses. Relevant capability includes urgent assessment and support for people in the final eight weeks of life, practical symptom management, timely clinical advice, and non-medical prescribing. Providers would also need to support patients in their own homes and residential care homes across Northamptonshire, coordinating care in community settings rather than relying solely on hospital provision. The awarded supplier was a large healthcare organisation, indicating that operational scale and the capacity to sustain round-the-clock coverage are important features of this requirement. ## Notice A 24/7 Rapid Response nurse-led service, providing urgent specialist care and support, including symptom management and non-medical prescribing both in hours and out of hours. The service will be provided to patients who are thought to be in the last eight weeks of life, where their preferred place of care is their own home (this includes residential care homes). This is a transparency notice for a service delivered between 14th October 2025 and 31st March 2026 ### Lot Information Lot 1 A 24/7 Rapid Response nurse-led service, providing urgent specialist care and support, including symptom management and non-medical prescribing both in hours and out of hours. The service will be provided to patients who are thought to be in the last eight weeks of life, where their preferred place of care is their own home (this includes residential care homes). This award was made in relation to an urgent circumstance to ensure the continued provision of a community rapid response end-of-life care service for Northamptonshire. The current provider was unable to provide the 24/7 rapid response element of the Countywide Community-based Specialist Level Palliative and End of Life Care Service for Adults. Without this service, people will not receive the appropriate support required to be cared for or die in their own home or in a residential care home. Patients will not receive timely advice or symptom management, acute admissions may increase, and the quality and availability of care delivery will fall, leading to potential harm and suffering. 'This contract has been awarded under the urgent circumstances provision of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR). This contract has been awarded under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award.' ### Procurement Information This contract has been awarded under the urgent circumstances provision of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR). This contract has been awarded under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079221-2026 | | 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 | 19 Aug 2026 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | 17 Aug 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 | £454,467 | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Complete | | Lots status | Cancelled | | Awards status | Active | | Contracts status | Active | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | NHS NORTHAMPTONSHIRE INTEGRATED CARE BOARD | | Locality | KETTERING | | Postcode area | Northampton | | Postcode | NN15 6EY | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLF East Midlands (England) | | ITL 2 | TLF2 Leicestershire, Rutland and Northamptonshire | | ITL 3 | TLF25 North Northamptonshire | | Local authority | North Northamptonshire | | Electoral ward | Ise | | Westminster constituency | Kettering | | Delivery location | TLF24 West Northamptonshire, TLF25 North Northamptonshire | ## Supplier | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Number of suppliers | 1 | | Supplier names | DHU Healthcare C.I.C. | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85000000 - Health and social work services ## Release History - 19 Aug 2026 at 17:46 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/079221-2026 ## Notice URLs - https://www.icnorthamptonshire.org.uk/icb/ ## 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-06e811. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e811.json.