National Recruitment Software System

CPV: Software package and information systems

Procedure method

Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Legal basis

CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)

Procurement category

Goods

Notice status

Awarded without competition

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Direct award (no call for competition)

GPA / WTO covered

Yes (GPA)

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

11 Jun 2025, 21:08 BST

Last source update

11 Jun 2025, 21:08 BST

FTS notice number

2025/S 000-031711

Classification (CPV)

Software package and information systems

Delivery area

UK

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-054722 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons

Published justification

NHS England (NHSE) is required to maintain the provision of a National Recruitment Platform to support Local, Regional and National recruitment across the Four Nations. This platform specialises in the recruitment of the following staffing groups:<br/>- Foundation<br/>- Medical<br/>- Dental<br/>- Pharmacy<br/>- Healthcare Science<br/><br/>There is a clear clinical risk should the national recruitment platform not be maintained and service continuity is of paramount importance. A stable recruitment system is required to ensure delivery of business as usual recruitment processes across the four nations. The wider landscape across national recruitment is changing and with annual increases in application numbers this has created an administrative burden for NHSE England’s regional recruitment teams. <br/><br/>NHSE has commissioned industry leaders to undertake assessments of the market, through discovery exercises, to understand whether there is competition in the market capable of meeting NHSE’s Technical requirements. The assessments have considered product disaggregation and wider market analysis. NHSE is currently undertaking an Alpha project to assess options that might allow for the development of alternative products or pre-built systems that will meet all the technical requirements (in Lots or otherwise) that NHSE believes does not exist currently . <br/>Additionally, previously competed procurements have only resulted in one bidder or one bidder with support from a partner supplier.<br/><br/>At this stage, NHSE has concluded that competition in the market does not exist in the form of a customisable Commercial Off the Shelf product. This is primarily due to the specialist nature of the technical requirements and in particular the need for interoperable functionality with other clinical government recruitment platforms. <br/>NHSE remains committed to keeping this position under regular review to ensure that the best value for money is delivered.<br/><br/>NHS England commenced negotiations for the direct award of the services with Hicom Technology Limited in December 2024 and is satisfied that the tests permitting the use of the Negotiated Procedure without prior publication (Reg 32(2)(b)(ii) and (iii) PCR 2015) and the Government Commercial Function’s Procurement Act 2023 Guidance: Transitional and Saving Arrangements have been met.

• Hicom Technology LimitedAwarded supplier04516040 Red House, Cemetery Pales, Brookwood, Woking,, Surrey, UK, GU24 0BL

No document links were published on the notice.