Official UK procurement notice
VEAT - Pulse Development, Support & Maintenance
Authority: NHS Blood and Transplant (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPULSE is the Critical National Infrastructure at the heart of NHSBT. This bespoke software supports the blood, tissue, and eye donation process across the organisation.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Software-related services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Reg32: Negotiated Procedure Without the Need for Prior Publication
Reg32: Negotiated Procedure Without the Need for Prior Publication<br/><br/>Procurement of services for the support, maintenance, and development of Critical National Infrastructure: PULSE
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 · 32014L0025 Utilities Contracts Regulations 2016 (Directive 2014/25/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
- 12 Sept 2024, 21:14 BST
- Last source update
- 12 Sept 2024, 21:14 BST
- Authority reference
C306352- FTS notice number
2024/S 000-029308- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-049a82Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive
- Published justification
NHS Blood & Transplant (“NHSBT”) intends to award a contract to Savant Ltd.,Dalton Hall Business Centre., Dalton Lane, Burton-in-Kendal, Cumbria, LA6 1BL (“Savant”) for the support and maintenance of PULSE (“Software”) for 84 months with a value of £36,938,535.00. This follows the purchase of the Software from Savant.<br/> <br/>It is considered that the award of this contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (as required by the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons.<br/><br/>NHSBT are completely dependent on Savant’s technical knowledge of the system, architecture and business processes. NHSBT do not control or own the end-to-end delivery platform and are dependent on tooling which is under the control of Savant. To assure safe delivery to donors and patients, NHSBT must address all of these technical requirements. This constitutes a near technical impossibility for another economic operator to achieve the required performance, or the necessity to use specific know-how, tools or means which only Savant has at its disposal.
- Review procedure
10 day standstill, 30 days to raise a challenge
Publisher note: Initial Term: 60 months<br/>Additional Extension Option: 24 months<br/>Expected Contract Commencement Date: 30/04/2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast1 further award records carry no date or value.
Contracts
Contract 029308-2024-1 · supplier not published
- Signed
- 11 Sept 2024
- Value
- £36,938,535
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- The High CourtMediation bodyReview bodyReview contact point
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.