Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2018-02-06
Buyer: NHS Supply Chain acting as agent for NHS Business Services Authority
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 24951100 | 33112000: Echo and ultrasound equipment
Estimated value: 3600000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2018-02-19
Award criteria: Lowest price

Technical requirements: NHS Supply Chain seeks to establish a Contract for supply to NHS Supply Chain depots and NHS supply Chain customer base via the Stock Route.
The Contract is for the supply of Ultrasound Gels for the Nationally Contracted Program (‘NCP’). It is anticipated that in the first 12 months of the Contract the value of purchases will be circa 750 000 GBP to 1 200 000 GBP.
NHS Supply Chain seeks to award a Contract for the supply of Ultrasound Gels to NHS Supply Chain depots via the Stock route. It is anticipated that in the first 12 months of the Contract the value of purchases will be between 750 000 GBP to 1 200 000 GBP. For the full total 36 month term (if extended) the anticipated value is circa 2 250 000 GBP and 3 600 000 GBP. These values are approximate only and are based on the commitment to purchase. See Invitation to Tender for further details.
The Contract will have an initial term of 12 months with an option to extend incrementally for up to a total period of 36 months.
Applicants may bid for one, more than one or all of the Product Lines and Applicants should refer to the Invitation to Tender for more information in respect of this.
The term of contracts formed under the Contract may continue beyond the end of the term of the Contract itself.
NHS Supply Chain will share savings information in order to assist its customers with making informed procurement decisions. NHS Supply Chain intends to enter into arrangements under which it will be entitled to purchase supplies and/or services which it will make available for purchase by:
3) any government department, agency or other statutory body (for the avoidance of doubt including local authorities) and/or
4) any private sector entity active in the UK healthcare sector. Only NHS Supply Chain can order from the Contract and enter into contracts under it.
Electronic ordering will be used and electronic invoicing will be accepted and electronic payment will be used. For the avoidance of doubt, and notwithstanding the estimate indicated at II.2.1, NHS Supply Chain guarantees a level of purchase through the contract and advises Applicants that the Contract shall be established on an exclusive basis. Tenders and all supporting documentation for the contract must be priced in sterling and written in English. Any agreement entered into will be considered a contract made in England according to English law and will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. NHS Supply Chain is not liable for any costs (including any third party costs fees or expenses incurred by those expressing an interest, participating or tendering for this contract opportunity. NHS Supply Chain reserves the right to terminate the procurement process (or part of it), to change the basis of and the procedures for the procurement process at any time, or to procure the subject matter of the contract by alternative means if it appears that it can be more advantageously procured by alternative means. The most economically advantageous or any tender will not automatically be accepted. All communications must be made through NHS Supply Chain's eTendering portal at http://procurement.supplychain.nhs.uk/ISS/ using the Message Centre facility linked to this particular contract notice.
The NHS has a procurement strategy, which aims to increase transparency, remove price variations between trusts and to streamline product ranges to avoid proliferation and fragmentation. It is anticipated that such an approach may enable the NHS to meet its efficiency and savings targets. That broad strategy was discussed by Lord Carter in his report of 2016 entitled “Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations” (the “Report”) in which he challenged the NHS to save 700m GBP through better procurement. The Nationally Contracted Products Programme (‘NCP’) has been developed by NHS Improvement (‘NHSI’) with important input being provided by stakeholders such as the Clinical Evaluation Team (‘CET’) and NHS Supply Chain in part to deliver the relevant recommendations in the report and to generate savings. One of the aims of the NCP Programme is to standardise the procurement of certain suitable products (and/or categories of products) and to aggregate the demand for such goods down to a reduced number of suppliers.
The Contract Agreement between NHS Supply Chain and successful suppliers will reserve the right to purchase the same or similar supplies and/or services from suppliers not appointed to the Contract Agreement at its sole discretion.
Parent company or other guarantees may be required in certain circumstances. Further details will be in the tender documents.
The Contracting Authority reserves the right to require groupings of entities to take a particular form, or to require one party to undertake primary legal liability or to require that each party undertakes joint and several liability.
The Contract includes obligations with respect to environmental issues and a requirement for successful suppliers to comply with the NHS Supply Chain Code of Conduct.

Eligibility requirements: Applicants may bid for one, more than one or all of the Product Lines and Applicants should refer to the Invitation to Tender for more information in respect of this. The term of contracts formed under the Contract may continue beyond the end of the term of the Contract itself. NHS Supply Chain will share savings information in order to assist its customers with making informed procurement decisions. NHS Supply Chain intends to enter into arrangements under which it will be entitled to purchase supplies and/or services which it will make available for purchase by: 1) any NHS Trust; 2) any other NHS entity; 3) any government department, agency or other statutory body (for the avoidance of doubt including local authorities) and/or 4) any private sector entity active in the UK healthcare sector. Only NHS Supply Chain can order from the Contract and enter into contracts under it. Electronic ordering will be used and electronic invoicing will be accepted and electronic payment will be used. For the avoidance of doubt, and notwithstanding the estimate indicated at II.2.1, NHS Supply Chain guarantees a level of purchase through the contract and advises Applicants that the Contract shall be established on an exclusive basis. Tenders and all supporting documentation for the contract must be priced in sterling and written in English. Any agreement entered into will be considered a contract made in England according to English law and will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts. NHS Supply Chain is not liable for any costs (including any third party costs fees or expenses incurred by those expressing an interest, participating or tendering for this contract opportunity. NHS Supply Chain reserves the right to terminate the procurement process (or part of it), to change the basis of and the procedures for the procurement process at any time, or to procure the subject matter of the contract by alternative means if it appears that it can be more advantageously procured by alternative means. The most economically advantageous or any tender will not automatically be accepted. All communications must be made through NHS Supply Chain's eTendering portal at http://procurement.supplychain.nhs.uk/ISS/ using the Message Centre facility linked to this particular contract notice. The NHS has a procurement strategy, which aims to increase transparency, remove price variations between trusts and to streamline product ranges to avoid proliferation and fragmentation. It is anticipated that such an approach may enable the NHS to meet its efficiency and savings targets. That broad strategy was discussed by Lord Carter in his report of 2016 entitled “Operational productivity and performance in English NHS acute hospitals: Unwarranted variations” (the “Report”) in which he challenged the NHS to save 700m GBP through better procurement. The Nationally Contracted Products Programme (‘NCP’) has been developed by NHS Improvement (‘NHSI’) with important input being provided by stakeholders such as the Clinical Evaluation Team (‘CET’) and NHS Supply Chain in part to deliver the relevant recommendations in the report and to generate savings. One of the aims of the NCP Programme is to standardise the procurement of certain suitable products (and/or categories of products) and to aggregate the demand for such goods down to a reduced number of suppliers. The Contract Agreement between NHS Supply Chain and successful suppliers will reserve the right to purchase the same or similar supplies and/or services from suppliers not appointed to the Contract Agreement at its sole discretion. Please note that the maximum number of suppliers as set out in IV.1.3.

Award value: 3600000