Official UK procurement notice
Urgent Award for Personal Health Budget Direct Payment Support Service
Authority: NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (NHS & healthcare)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThere is a need for an urgent award of contracts for Personal Health Budget Direct Payment Support Service to provide a Payroll and Managed Accounts Service to all individuals and their representatives/carers referred by the ICB or its partners and providers covering all aspects of receiving and managing a Personal Health Budget. A Managed Account is where all an individual's Direct Health Payment is paid to the Managed Account Service Provider who fulfills the function of processing invoices and making payments on behalf of an individual and according to the individual's support plan. This is for a period of 12 months from the 13th November 2025 to the 12th November 2026 as there is no time as the current incumbent provider has gone into administration unexpectedly, leaving no time to use a more detailed process to procure another provider, as patients care and safety needs to be protected by securing an immediate stand in provider. Attain have advised that an urgent award would be appropriate for a short-term agreement. The incumbent provider has become insolvent, leaving 19 patients without a package of care, there is an urgent need to protect the health of these patients. The reason for the urgency was not foreseeable by and is not attributable to the relevant authority and delaying the award to conduct a full application of the PA23 would be likely to pose a risk to patient or public safety. Patients will be at risk of not having their care supported if their personal health budgets are not managed effectively and this could result in withdrawal of care packages, without notice
The reason for the urgency was not foreseeable by and is not attributable to the relevant authority and delaying the award to conduct a full application of the PA23 would be likely to pose a risk to patient or public safety.
NHS Contract for the provision of services recommended for use.
The current contract with the incumbent expired on 12th November 2025 and the proposed contract value is £18,388.00 (Involves fixed and variable costs. £18,388 calculated based on activity to date)
CPV: Health and social work services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The Contracting Authority NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board has awarded an…Awarded
The Contracting Authority NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board has awarded an Urgent one year contract to Purple Direct Payment Support Service Trading name of Purple Zest Limited.
The contract commenced on 13th November 2025 and will expire on the 12th November 2026 with an estimated aggregate contract value of £18388.00.
Decision makers are: NHS Mid and South Essex ICB Executive Team
No conflicts of interest have been identified
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
- 11 Dec 2025, 11:07 GMT
- Last source update
- 11 Dec 2025, 11:07 GMT
- Authority reference
ACE-0853-2025-MSE- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-081837- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05f37fFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
This urgent contract has been awarded under Schedule 5 – Extreme and Unavoidable Urgency as the incumbent provider has become insolvent leaving 19 patients at risk of care breakdown, there is an urgent need to protect the health and care support in place for these patients. The reason for the urgency was not foreseeable by, and is not attributable to, the relevant authority and delaying the award to conduct a full application of the PA23 would be likely to pose a risk to patient or public safety.
Decision makers are: - Finance and Investment Committee and Main ICB Board.
Conflicts of interest identified among committee: [0], None Declared. The non-conflicted members have assessed the nature and risk of this conflict, and have decided which steps to take to avoid or manage it. Recused from that agenda item where the conflict existed. COI is managed using the ICB COI process along with NHSE COI guidance and the PSR Regulation 21 and guidance.
Contract value is £18,388.00 for a period of 12 months.
Publisher note: This is a Urgent award of a contract for the Provision of Personal Health Budget Direct Payment Support Service using Schedule 5 - Extreme and Unavoidable Urgency . Decision makers are: Finance and Investment Committee and ICB Main Board. Conflicts of interest identified among committee: [0], None Declared. The non-conflicted members have assessed the nature and risk of this conflict and have decided which steps to take to avoid or manage it. Recused from that agenda item where the conflict existed. COI is managed using the ICB COI process along with NHSE COI guidance and the PSR Regulation 21 and guidance. Contract value is £18,388 .00 for a period of 12 months with no option to extend.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Purple Zest LimitedPersonal Health Budget Direct Payment Support Service | £18,388 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Personal Health Budget Direct Payment Support Service · Purple Zest Limited
- Signed
- 27 Nov 2024
- Value
- £18,388
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- The Royal Courts of JusticeReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the noticeOfficial documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.