Find a TenderAwarded without competition
Published 20 Jan 2026, 10:12 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Unscheduled Dental Care (UDC) to NHS Kent and Medway ICB

Official notice

Authority: NHS KENT AND MEDWAY INTEGRATED CARE BOARD (Central government)

ServicesAward procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Awarded value£3,821,339published contract · exc. VAT
Awarded 7 Dec 2025no call for competition
Awarded to Medway Community Health (MCH)

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This is an intention to award notice.

Kent and Medway Unscheduled Dental Care (UDC) is an NHS out-of-hours emergency dental service providing urgent care during evenings, weekends, and bank holidays. It offers temporary pain relief and treatment for severe dental issues such as acute pain, trauma, bleeding, or swelling when regular dental practices are closed. Patients must follow up with their own dentist for ongoing care. Access is via telephone triage for advice and appointment booking.

NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) intends to award a contract to an existing provider, Medway Community Health (MCH), following Direct Award Process C of the UK Health Care Services (PSR) Regulations 2023 for UDC services in the Kent and Medway area. 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.

The term of the existing UDC contract is due to expire on 31st March 2026 and NHS Kent and Medway ICB have proposed that new a UDC contract should replace the existing contract at the end of its term. All requirements outlined in Regulation 6(5) of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 have been met, including that the considerable change threshold has not been met, and therefore Direct Award Process C has been determined as the appropriate provider selection process.

After conducting assessments of the existing provider, taking into account the key criteria and applying the basic selection criteria, NHS Kent and Medway ICB is content that the existing provider is satisfying the original contract and will likely satisfy the proposed contract to a sufficient standard.

The awarded contract will be for a term of 36 months and is due to commence from 1st April 2026, terminating 31st March 2029. The total maximum contract value of the contract is £3,821,338.52.

CPV: Dental practice and related services · Dental-practice services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1This transparency notice serves as an intention to award the contract to the existing…Awarded

This transparency notice serves as an intention to award the contract to the existing provider, using Direct Award Process C under PSR.

Kent and Medway Unscheduled Dental Care (UDC) is an NHS out-of-hours emergency dental service providing urgent care during evenings, weekends, and bank holidays. It offers temporary pain relief and treatment for severe dental issues such as acute pain, trauma, bleeding, or swelling when regular dental practices are closed. Patients must follow up with their own dentist for ongoing care. Access is via telephone triage for advice and appointment booking.

The awarded contract will be for a term of 36 months and is due to commence from 1st April 2026, terminating 31st March 2029. The total maximum contract value of the contract is £3,821,338.52.

A 36-month award is proposed - this will allow other providers the opportunity to express an interest to deliver services in the medium term.

The existing service will not change, and the new contract will be based on current clinical standards.

Delivery: South East

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record · publisher note attached
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
20 Jan 2026, 10:12 GMT
Last source update
20 Jan 2026, 10:12 GMT
Authority reference
WA18294
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-004647
Classification (CPV)
Dental practice and related servicesDental-practice services
Delivery area
South East (UKJ4)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06098c Find 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 the relevant authority by 2nd February 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.

Publisher note: Assessment of the existing providers took into account the key criteria, which were weighted as follows:- • Quality and innovation (20%) • Value (20%) • Integration, collaboration and service sustainability (20%) • Improving access, reducing health inequalities and facilitating choice (20%) • Social value (20%) Each criterion was weighted at 20%. This balanced approach enabled decision makers to make a fair, transparent and holistic judgement of the provider's suitability, ensuring that no single criterion disproportionately influenced the outcome. Quality and innovation (20%): The commissioned service must be of high quality and performing to expectation. They must demonstrate a commitment to continuous quality improvement and willingness to innovate. Value (20%): The service must be delivering, or be on track to deliver, an optimal combination of benefits to individuals (patients and workforce), population health outcomes and taxpayers. It must add value across the integrated care system. Integration, collaboration and service sustainability (20%): The service must operate in a manner which maximises opportunities for integration and collaboration across the ICB area and wider context, across organisational and geographical boundaries. This must be balanced by due consideration of the financial sustainability and stability of the service and its operating model. Improving access, reducing health inequalities and facilitating choice (20%): Enhancing patient access and addressing health inequalities and unwarranted variation are priority areas aligned to local population priorities and national ambitions. Promoting patient choice is integral to service delivery. Social value (20%): The service will contribute to promoting broader impact (to social, economic and environmental wellbeing). It will provide community benefits beyond core service delivery, supporting social cohesion and inclusion. Each criterion was judged on an assurance basis, arriving at an assessment of either Assured or Not Assured. The requirement was that the provider must be judged Assured on at least three out of five criteria. This threshold reflects a minimum standard of assurance and alignment with NHS priorities. The ICB judged the existing provider to be Assured across all five key criteria, with none being Not Assured. This outcome reflects a consistently high level of performance, alignment with NHS priorities, and capacity to deliver sustainable, integrated, and socially valuable dental services. The provider is considered suitable for continued or future commissioning under the new contract. The award decision has been authorised by the Deputy Director Primary Care Commissioning, NHS Kent and Medway ICB. No conflicts of interest (COI) were declared as part of this award process. COI are managed via a combination of the NHS Kent and Medway ICB COI policy and the NHS England South East Commissioning Hub (Workstream 2) COI process. 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 and The Procurement Act 2023 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 2nd February 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR. Written representations should be sent to scwcsu.procurement@nhs.net

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £3,821,3391 contract exc. VAT
Bids received 1
Contracts signed 1latest 7 Dec 2025
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Medway Community Health (MCH)£3,821,339 †—Awarded

Contracts

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
1bids———

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board (ICB) on behalf of NHS England

Contracting authorityCentral GovernmentBody governed by public lawHealth 2nd floor, Gail House, Lower Stone Street, Maidstone, South East, ME15 6NBContact email

Dispute resolution & review bodies

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Official documents & specifications

Official links; attachments are not copied

No document links were published on the notice.