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Summary, notice description and lot information
The procurement process overseen by Bristol City Council involves the direct award of a contract titled "Substance Use Care Pathways" in the rehabilitation services sector, specifically targeting substance misuse. The contract, valued at £189,340, was signed on 16 December 2025, awarding it to the University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Trust. This initiative aims to extend existing services that assist substance use service users attending the hospital for both emergency treatment and planned stays.
The procurement method utilised was the award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition, adhering to the PSR 2023 regulations, given it was deemed outside the directive's scope. The process was conducted with limited competition in the South West region, specifically in Bristol. This tender offers significant business growth opportunities, particularly for organisations involved in providing rehabilitation services.
While the procurement method was limited to a direct award due to specific regulatory conditions, this contract exemplifies a strong demand in the healthcare sector, particularly for pathways managing substance use cases. Businesses specialising in health services or those looking to partner with or become preferred suppliers to large healthcare organisations like the University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Trust could find opportunities for collaboration and expansion as similar projects are implemented or extended. The careful selection process ensures efficient use of public funds and high-quality integrated service delivery, fostering business partnerships rooted in specialisation and reliability within the designated industry.
The criteria of the service fits within the defined category area of CPV code 85312500-4 "Rehabilitation services, but only insofar as such services are provided to individuals to tackle substance misuse or for the rehabilitation of the mental or physical health of individuals", this states that the criteria of services provided for this contract fall within schedule 1 of PSR 2023 regulations, and as such this contract can be awarded under PSR 2023 regulations. UHBW currently delivers dedicated capacity to develop and implement pathways for substance use service users who attend the hospital for emergency treatment. They have been delivering an extended service from previous years, we will to continue with this extended service from the DATRIG grant that has superseded these for 2025/26. They are the only capable provider of the service BECAUSE we would not be able to split providers to deliver an extension of this current service as this would directly impact the service user in the quality of service they would receive with a disjointed service offer from the main contract and would also not be the most effective use of public funds, we MUST award via "Direct Award Process A" detailed in section 7 of the PSR 2023 regulations. Section 6 (4) of PSR 2023 states that a contracting authority MUST follow the route to direct award if the following terms have been fulfilled; (a)the proposed contracting arrangements relate to relevant health care services in respect of which a patient is offered a choice of provider, (b)the number of providers is not restricted by the relevant authority, (c)the relevant authority will offer contracts to all providers to whom an award can be made because they meet all requirements in relation to the provision of the relevant health care services to patients, (d)the relevant authority has arrangements in place to enable providers to express an interest in providing the relevant health care services, and (e)the procurement is not to conclude a framework agreement, I can confirm that the above requirements are met and as such it is within the bounds of PSR 2023 regulations to directly award this contract to the University Hospitals Bristol & Weston NHS Trust.
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