Lateral Flow Device Community Testing

Concepts

• stafford
• pharmacy services
• staffordshire county councils
• lateral flow device community testing
• lateral flow device testing
• community
• testing
• extreme urgency
• staffordshire county councils approach
• additional unforeseen circumstances

Location

West Midlands England: Staffordshire / surrounding border-locked areas

Description

Lateral Flow device Testing (LFT) is one of the tools being used to help us with the early detection of Covid-19 and to re-open society. Staffordshire County Councils approach is to continue to promote testing in the community using a variety of channels, in particular the use of Pharmacists, as trusted and respected healthcare professionals. The contracted provision here is for pharmacy delivery of LFT.

Total Quantity or Scope

Award of an interim contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Find a Tender Service. Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Please refer to Annex D1 (General Procurement) for justification. Additional information: Any extensions following this are subject to additional unforeseen circumstances linked to the pandemic.

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 85149000 - Pharmacy services

Legal Justification

The original contract status appeared to be forecasting a much larger throughput of spend, as lateral flow tests are being administered alongside vaccinations to endorse the 'test to protect' approach. Original forecasted test rates through the pharmacy scheme, were conservative based on assumptions of other local schemes and the range of other testing channels available to access testing. Therefore, the surge in demand through this testing channel was not anticipated at the levels experienced. The rise in demand has coincided with the rapid increase in the pace of vaccinations where testing is administered, along with the unexpected variants of concern and variants under investigation (Delta VOC and VUI). Combined, these unknown factors have meant accessing testing via trusted professional setting and alongside vaccination has generated larger throughput, and therefore spend, which was unforeseen.

Other Information

** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. ** Award of contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Find a Tender Service. Extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable for the contracting authority and in accordance with the strict conditions stated in the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. Please refer to Annex D1 (General Procurement) for justification.