Official UK procurement notice
Priory Hospital Ticehurst - Acute Transition Pathway
Authority: Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPSR Urgent Award for the provision of Short term inpatient step down capacity for acute mental health admissions, to include care for patients that no longer require intensive support but still require some clincal interventions in preparation for social care / supporting accommodation in their next phase of treatment.
CPV: Hospital and related services · Psychiatric hospital services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Trust determined that the award met the urgent circumstances provision under…Awarded
The Trust determined that the award met the urgent circumstances provision under Regulation 14 of the Provider Selection Regime.
At the time of the decision, system‑wide inpatient mental health capacity was under acute and unprecedented pressure, exacerbated by a high number of delayed discharges outside the Trust's control. This resulted in a material and immediate shortfall in available inpatient beds.
The scale and timing of this demand escalation was not reasonably foreseeable and was not attributable to the Trust's actions or decision‑making.
Delaying the award in order to undertake a standard PSR process would have been likely to pose a significant risk to patient safety, including the inability to admit patients in acute mental health crisis. The urgent award was therefore necessary to secure short‑term additional capacity and mitigate immediate safety risks.
The Trust has approximately 65 CRFD patients who are delayed discharges and occupying beds that the Trust cannot use as inpatient capacity
At the time of the award, the health system was under incredible pressure with emergency departments and inpatient units accross the county under immense pressure and unprecedented demand.
In addition, the Trust was forces to hold crisis patients in the community due to the lack of inpatient beds.
The situation was not foreseen to the level of demand being experienced and is outside of the gift of the Trust, it is not attributable to the Trust decision making
Delaying the award would pose a risk to patient or public safety, the award will increase bed capacity short term
Priory Hospital Ticehurst was selected as it was able to provide immediately available CQC-registered acute mental health inpatient capacity within the required timescales, meeting the Trust's clinical and safety requirements.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- 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
- Services
- 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
- 8 Apr 2026, 11:58 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Apr 2026, 11:58 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-031863- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-067dc9Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
The Trust determined that the award met the urgent circumstances provision under Regulation 14 of the Provider Selection Regime. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award.
At the time of the decision, system‑wide inpatient mental health capacity was under acute and unprecedented pressure, exacerbated by a high number of delayed discharges outside the Trust's control. This resulted in a material and immediate shortfall in available inpatient beds.
The scale and timing of this demand escalation was not reasonably foreseeable and was not attributable to the Trust's actions or decision‑making.
Delaying the award in order to undertake a standard PSR process would have been likely to pose a significant risk to patient safety, including the inability to admit patients in acute mental health crisis. The urgent award was therefore necessary to secure short‑term additional capacity and mitigate immediate safety risks.
The Trust has approximately 65 CRFD patients who are delayed discharges and occupying beds that the Trust cannot use as inpatient capacity
At the time of the award, the health system was under incredible pressure with emergency departments and inpatient units accross the county under immense pressure and unprecedented demand.
In addition, the Trust was forces to hold crisis patients in the community due to the lack of inpatient beds.
The situation was not foreseen to the level of demand being experienced and is outside of the gift of the Trust, it is not attributable to the Trust decision making
Delaying the award would pose a risk to patient or public safety, the award will increase bed capacity short term
Priory Hospital Ticehurst was selected as it was able to provide immediately available CQC-registered acute mental health inpatient capacity within the required timescales, meeting the Trust's clinical and safety requirements.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priory Healthcare Limited | £733,408 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 031863-2026-1 · Priory Healthcare Limited
- Signed
- 9 Mar 2026
- Value
- £733,408
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High Court and Court of Appeal of England and WalesReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Priory Healthcare LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.