Public procurement notice: Contract Award Notice
Published: 2020-09-02
Buyer: Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 33600000: Pharmaceutical products
Estimated value: 463306 GBP
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: The contracting authorities currently source their pre-prepared radiopharmaceutical kits from external providers holding ‘Special’ licenses, who supply and deliver compounded radiopharmaceutical kits within a specified time and date to enable delivery of patient care and support operational effectiveness.
The requirement covers the provision of the following radiopharmaceuticals: Tc99m (Technetium), MAA, HDP/HMDP, MAG3, DMSA, Sestamibi, Nanocolloid and Pertechnetate. These are provided in the form of multi injection vials.
This notice is for an extension to the existing agreements held at both contracting authorities, in order to allow sufficient time and resource (in light of the Covid-19 pandemic) to re engage with the market and design a procurement strategy for a renewed agreement.
It is the expectation of the contracting authorities that this will be awarded for an initial 12-month period, with an option to not exceed 18 months in total.
The contracting authority currently sources their pre-prepared radiopharmaceutical kits from external providers holding ‘Special’ licenses, who supply and deliver compounded radiopharmaceutical kits within a specified time and date to enable delivery of patient care and support operational effectiveness.
The requirement covers the provision of the following radiopharmaceuticals: Tc99m (Technetium), MAA, HDP/HMDP, MAG3, DMSA, Sestamibi, Nanocolloid and Pertechnetate. These are provided in the form of multi injection vials.
This notice is for an extension to the existing agreements held at both contracting authorities, in order to allow sufficient time and resource (in light of the Covid-19 pandemic) to re engage with the market and design a procurement strategy for a renewed agreement.
The contracting authority currently sources their pre-prepared radiopharmaceutical kits from external providers holding ‘Special’ licenses who supply and deliver compounded radiopharmaceutical kits within a specified time and date to enable delivery of patient care and support operational effectiveness.
The requirement covers the provision of the following radiopharmaceuticals: Tc99m (Technetium), MAA, HDP/HMDP, MAG3, DMSA, Sestamibi, Nanocolloid and Pertechnetate. These are provided in the form of multi injection vials.
This notice is for an extension to the existing agreements held at both contracting authorities, in order to allow sufficient time and resource (in light of the Covid-19 pandemic) to re engage with the market and design a procurement strategy for a renewed agreement.
The preparation of radiopharmaceutical kits is regulated under the terms of the Medicines Act 1968 and the activity must be carried out by a provider licensed by the Medicines Regulatory Agency under a ‘Specials’ license. Due to the short half-life and expiry of radiopharmaceutical kits, the providers holding ‘Specials’ licenses are limited to NHS licensed providers, which are generally acute Trusts with large Nuclear Medicine Department within a 2-hour distance from the contracting Trust.
In the last year, Great Western Hospital has explored options on whether this provision could be brought back in-house under an exemption to the Medicines Act as part of the proposed new aseptic services unit build. However, it has since been confirmed that the strategic direction is to continue with an external provider.
In addition, the resource and capacity pressures across both contracting authorities, due to the Coronavirus pandemic, has resulted in delays for approaching a subsequent re-procurement with potential, suitably accredited NHS Specials License providers.
Therefore, the contracting authorities require an interim extension to the existing agreements held at both contracting authorities, in order to allow sufficient time and resource (in light of the Covid-19 pandemic) to re-engage with the technically capable market providers and design a procurement strategy for a renewed agreement.
It is the expectation of the contracting authorities that this will be awarded for an initial 12-month period, with an option to not exceed beyond 18 months in total.


Winner: University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust
Award value: 463306
Number of bids: 1