Official UK procurement notice
Specialised counselling for pregnancy-related bereavement and baby loss across Suffolk and north east Essex.
Authority: NHS SUFFOLK AND NORTH EAST ESSEX INTEGRATED CARE BOARD (NHS & healthcare)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionIntention is to commission a specialised bereavement counselling service that meets the needs of women or the birthing person and their partners, who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health distress because of pregnancy-related bereavement or baby loss. Access to the service will be provided via professional referral and self-referral. The service is accessible following a stillbirth, second trimester miscarriage, terminations for medical reasons, recurrent miscarriages, neonatal loss, birth trauma, pregnancy after loss, and early miscarriage (by professional referral only). A fixed number of counselling sessions will be provided either virtually or face-to-face based on parent choice.
CPV: Health services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The counselling service focusses on supporting women, birthing people and their…Awarded
The counselling service focusses on supporting women, birthing people and their partners who are experiencing mild to moderate mental health distress following a stillbirth, second trimester miscarriage, termination for medical reasons, recurrent miscarriages, neonatal loss, birth trauma, pregnancy after loss or early miscarriage (accessed only via professional referral). Access will be by professional referral or self-referral basis.
The delivery model will involve a triage session followed (if required) by a fixed number of counselling sessions. Patient outcomes will be captured using Core10 as an assessment method, with a minimum key performance benchmark of 50% for Reliable Improvement.
By providing support for mild to moderate mental following pregnancy-related loss support, this specialist service will become embedded in the commissioned perinatal mental health pathway within the integrated care system.
Contract period will be 01/10/2025 to 31/09/2028, there will be no option to extend the contract.
NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board are awarding the contract named within this notice under the Direct Award C process which is outlined within the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. The provider named in this notice is an existing provider and has been reviewed through a Key Criteria assessment to ensure the awarding body is satisfied with current performance and reasonably expects the provider to be able to satisfy the contract which is the subject of this notice. The contract which is the subject of this notice has not changed considerably when compared with the existing / previous contract delivered by the named provider.
The ICB may wish to introduce additional services during the lifetime of the contract ("Contract modifications"). Such contract modifications will be contemplated where additional requirements are similar and or complementary to the services already included in the Specification, at any given time. Such expansion would be by the addition of services commissioned by the Authority as named in the Contract Notice. To this end, after the award of contract, there is a possibility that the contract may be varied as allowable in accordance with the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.
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
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 25 Apr 2025, 10:21 BST
- Last source update
- 20 May 2025, 08:52 BST
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-022944- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-050765Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period.
Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by 8th May 2025 (8 working days following publication of intention to award notice). They should be submitted in writing to procurement@snee.nhs.uk.
This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.
Award decision-makers: Richard Watson, Executive Director on the recommendation of the Mental Health Multi-Disciplinary Team.
- No conflicts of interest, or potential conflicts of interest, were declared by any decision makes.
The decision to award this contract in line with Direct Award Process C was based on evaluation against the five required key criteria as follows:
- Quality and Innovation - Assured - SNEE ICB are assured that the provider is delivering a safe and effective service as required by the specification and contract they are currently delivering. This criterion was reviewed in line with the Quality Impact Assessment.
- Value - Assured - SNEE ICB are assured that the provider is delivering value to the integrated care system and the cost of change would not be outweighed by the potential benefit of a new provider.
- Integration, Collaboration and Service Sustainability - Assured - SNEE ICB are assured that the provider is positively impacting on the integrated care system through their integration and collaboration delivered as a requirement of the specification or alternative elements linked to the delivery.
- Improving Access, Reducing Health Inequalities and Facilitating Choice - Assured - SNEE ICB are assured that the provider is meeting needs of the population to ensure equitable access and choice as required by the specification and contract. This criterion was reviewed in line with the Equality Impact Assessment.
- Social Value - Part Assured - SNEE ICB are partly assured that the provider is delivering in line with the SNEE Green Plan, supporting with the implementation of carbon reduction and increase in initiatives which positively impact on the wider determinants of health. This criterion was reviewed in line with the Sustainability Impact Assessment.
Notice history
2 releases on Find a TenderPublished amendments (1)
This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) confirmation of contract award notice. 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 Contract Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. This contract has now been formally awarded using direct award process C. Contract award date: …
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pregnancy Expectations Trauma and Loss Society (PETALS)SME | £286,800 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 016941-2025-1 · Pregnancy Expectations Trauma and Loss Society (PETALS)SME
- Signed
- 11 Mar 2025
- Value
- £286,800
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | 1 | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Petals - The Baby Loss Counselling CharityAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.