Virus Testing Supplies

Concepts

• manual swab test kits
• virus testing supplies

Location

London

Description

Provision of nasopharyngeal swabs

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 38911000 - Manual swab test kits

Indicators

• Award on basis of price.

Legal Justification

The Government must protect the health and well-being of UK citizens. The COVID-19 outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020. COVID-19 is serious and its consequences pose a risk to life. Cabinet Office published PPN 01/20: Responding to COVID-19 on procuring with extreme urgency in March 2020 which states that contracting authorities may enter into contracts without competing or advertising the requirement where certain tests are met: 1) There are genuine reasons for extreme urgency as there is a significant public health risk requiring immediate action as a result of COVID-19. 2) The COVID-19 situation is novel and the contracting authority could not have reasonably foreseen these events. 3) It is not possible to comply with the timescales of another procedure due to the urgent requirement to obtain the supplies being contracted for. Additionally, there are many buyers competing for the same supplies. It is imperative that security of supply is maintained. Demand for equipment is high and there is little or no incentive for suppliers to participate in competitive procurement procedures. 4) The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority DHSC intends to make a direct award of a contract for the purchase of swabs from Hutchison (the supplier) via the negotiated procedure without prior publication (the contract) pursuant to regulation 32 of the public contracts regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) rather than undertaking a competitive exercise. In summary: 1. The products must be of a certain specification from a regulatory perspective and are only available from a small number of suppliers in the market. DHSC is utilising all available suppliers in the market however, due to scarcity in the market and high demand for products, urgent purchasing is still required while more competitive routes to market are established. 2. The products are required to meet the Government’s requirements of testing higher numbers of people, which continue to increase in order to fulfil the track and trace initiative which seeks to reduce the risk of having another nationwide lockdown of all social and economic activity. 3. DHSC had a relationship with the FCO in China who were originally facilitating the supply of the products however, this option is no longer available and DHSC is unable to purchase the products in this manner. 4. The contract will be for a period of up to 12 weeks and is to plug the gap between the current urgent requirement to meet the testing demand and the mini-competition which is currently being run and will be completed in January 2021. 5. If DHSC does not commit to purchasing from the supplier, there is a risk (as has happened with other suppliers) that DHSC will miss out on this demand and it will be allocated elsewhere. 6. DHSC has carried out market testing with other suppliers in the market, in relation to the urgent provision of the products and no other suppliers are able to meet the urgent demand. 7. Further competitive routes to market are also being explored and DHSC has issued an RFI to the market to engage suppliers and understand whether suppliers in the market are able to meet the continuing demand.