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Awarded· 25 Mar 2025

Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD Assessment Waiting List Initiative

NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board · Sunderland, North East

NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board has awarded Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD Assessment Waiting List Initiative. It is a contract for other health and social care in Sunderland.

Source: Find a Tender, published 28 Apr 2025. Details are refreshed every 30 minutes.

Key dates

  1. 2025

    Contract awarded

    The Owl Centre

  2. 2025

    Award notice published

    Award Notice · 09:24

    View notice
  3. 2025

    Tender notice updated

    Tender Notice · 09:05

    View notice
01

About this tender

In brief

NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board has awarded Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD Assessment Waiting List Initiative. It is a contract for other health and social care in Sunderland. The contract went to The Owl Centre. It was awarded on 25 March 2025. The contract value is £300,000.

It is run as an award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. Find a Tender published it on 28 April 2025. The notice number is 017204-2025. The OCDS ID is ocds-h6vhtk-050057.

Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process titled "Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD Assessment Waiting List Initiative" is being managed by the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board. It falls under the health services industry category, classified with the CPV code 85100000. This initiative addresses the urgent need for autism and ADHD assessments due to increased demand and unforeseen recruitment challenges.

Located within the NENC ICB regional footprint, including Sunderland and Cheltenham, the contract has been awarded under the Provider Selection Regime Regulations 2023 without a prior call for competition. While the contract came into effect on 25 March 2025 and will conclude by 24 March 2026, future modifications to increase activity and value are possible to meet ongoing service demands.

The OWL Centre, a large-scale health service provider based in Cheltenham, is already involved, suggesting that organisations with established reputations and capabilities in this sector may have a competitive edge.

The notice in full

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 and Procurement Regulations 2024 do not apply to this award.

The recent increased unanticipated demand for this service provision has coincided with unforeseeable challenges in relation to recruitment and retention of workforce, as well as a greater request for diagnosis to be sought to support access to education and social provision.

This increase has seen demand outstrip capacity across the NENC ICB regional footprint, resulting in the need to work with other non-NHS partners and providers of Autism and ADHD Assessment Services to address the long waits which exist in some localities.

Therefore, in line with Regulation 14 of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, The Owl Centre will work with the existing NHS commissioned Autism and ADHD Assessment and Diagnosis Services (and ICB commissioners) to identify the cohort of children and young people who will be offered the following; (i)advice & support, (ii)assessment and diagnosis for Autism and or ADHD management interventions (including Psychological Education for post ADHD diagnosis) (iii)medication - initiation, titration, stabilisation, treatment and care in order to address the current waiting list.

Regulation 14 has been applied because the urgency was not foreseeable by and not attributable to the relevant authority. Regulation 14 has been applied because delaying the award of the contract would be likely to pose a risk to patient or public safety.

Details of individual making decisions: Chief Delivery Officer NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board There were no conflicts of interest identified This award may include future modifications to increase activity and value.

Lots (1)

  1. 01

    Lot 1Cancelled

    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 and Procurement Regulations 2024 do not apply to this award.

    The recent increased unanticipated demand for this service provision has coincided with unforeseeable challenges in relation to recruitment and retention of workforce, as well as a greater request for diagnosis to be sought to support access to education and social provision.

    This increase has seen demand outstrip capacity across the NENC ICB regional footprint, resulting in the need to work with other non-NHS partners and providers of Autism and ADHD Assessment Services to address the long waits which exist in some localities.

    Therefore, in line with Regulation 14 of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, The Owl Centre will work with the existing NHS commissioned Autism and ADHD Assessment and Diagnosis Services (and ICB commissioners) to identify the cohort of children and young people who will be offered the following; (i)advice & support, (ii)assessment and diagnosis for Autism and or ADHD management interventions (including Psychological Education for post ADHD diagnosis) (iii)medication - initiation, titration, stabilisation, treatment and care in order to address the current waiting list.

    Regulation 14 has been applied because the urgency was not foreseeable by and not attributable to the relevant authority. Regulation 14 has been applied because delaying the award of the contract would be likely to pose a risk to patient or public safety.

    Details of individual making decisions: Chief Delivery Officer NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board There were no conflicts of interest identified The contract start date is 25 March 2025 for 12 months with a contract end date of 24 March 2026 The award or modification needs be made urgently.

    • The reason for the urgency was not foreseeable by and is not attributable to the relevant authority.
    • Delaying the award to conduct a full application of the Regime would be likely to pose a significant unknown risk to patient or public safety due to lengths of waits for assessment.

    Urgent award is required due to increased demand and increased waiting times for both Autism and ADHD assessments for children and young people, post- pandemic. This is a waiting list initiative using non-recurrent funding and will not continue following 12 months. This award may include future modifications to increase activity and value.

    Additional 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 and Procurement Regulations 2024 do not apply to this award.

    The recent increased unanticipated demand for this service provision has coincided with unforeseeable challenges in relation to recruitment and retention of workforce, as well as a greater request for diagnosis to be sought to support access to education and social provision.

    This increase has seen demand outstrip capacity across the NENC ICB regional footprint, resulting in the need to work with other non-NHS partners and providers of Autism and ADHD Assessment Services to address the long waits which exist in some localities.

    Therefore, in line with Regulation 14 of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, The OWL Centre will work with the existing NHS commissioned Autism and ADHD Assessment and Diagnosis Services (and ICB commissioners) to identify the cohort of children and young people who will be offered the following; (i)advice & support, (ii)assessment and diagnosis for Autism and or ADHD management interventions (including Psychological Education for post ADHD diagnosis) (iii)medication - initiation, titration, stabilisation, treatment and care in order to address the current waiting list.

    Regulation 14 has been applied because the urgency was not foreseeable by and not attributable to the relevant authority. Regulation 14 has been applied because delaying the award of the contract would be likely to pose a risk to patient or public safety. Details of individual making decisions: Chief Delivery Officer NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board There were no conflicts of interest identified.

    This award may include future modifications to increase activity and value.

02

Key facts

Every field the notice carries. Anything it leaves blank is listed under its table.

Contract

Service
Other health and social care
Procurement type
Standard
Category
Services
Contract period
Not specified - Not specified
Lots
1
Awarded to
The Owl Centre
Number of suppliers
1

Procedure

Notice type
Tender Notice
Procurement method
Limited
Procedure
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Current stage
Award
Stages so far
Tender, Award
Published on
Find a Tender Service
Awardee scale
Large

Values

Contracts value
£300,000

Not stated in the notice: tender value, lots value, awards value.

Status

Tender
Complete
Lots
Cancelled
Awards
Active
Contracts
Active

References

Find a Tender notice
017204-2025
Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-050057
CPV code
85100000 - Health services
CPV division
85 - Health and social work services
03

Location

NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board is based in Sunderland. The area the service covers can be wider, so check the notice and the lots.
Local authority
Sunderland
Town
Sunderland
Postcode
SR5 3XB
Electoral ward
Castle
Constituency
Washington and Gateshead South
Delivery area
North East (England)
Region
North East
Sub-region
Sunderland
Area
Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear
Country
England
04

Buyer and supplier

Contracting authority

Organisation
NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board
Category
Services
Address
Sunderland, SR5 3XB · North East · England

Not stated in the notice: contact, phone.

Awarded supplier

Supplier
The Owl Centre
Awardee scale
Large
Number of suppliers
1
Awards value
Not stated
05

Documents and links

Official sources for this notice. The tender pack itself sits on the buyer's portal.
06

Questions about Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD Assessment Waiting List Initiative

Who won the Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD Assessment Waiting List Initiative contract?

NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board awarded the contract to The Owl Centre on 25 March 2025.

How much is the Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD Assessment Waiting List Initiative contract worth?

The contract value is £300,000.

Who is the buyer for Children and Young People's Autism and ADHD Assessment Waiting List Initiative?

NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, based in Sunderland, North East.

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