Enteral Nutrition - Covid Supply Resilience

Concepts

• enteral feeds
• enteral nutrition feeds
• sufficient supplies
• resilience
• covid
• enteral
• nutrition
• stock management services
• stock management
• pre-existing framework agreements

Location

London

Description

Supply of enteral nutrition feeds and consumables required to support patient life in intensive and critical care including provision of stock management, storage and rotation services to ensure supplier has sufficient supplies in stock for NHS customers to buy through pre-existing framework agreements.

Total Quantity or Scope

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has (on behalf of NHS bodies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) awarded this contract for the supply of enteral nutrition feeds and consumables required to support patient life in intensive and critical care. The contract includes provision of stock management, storage and rotation services to safeguard supply of these essential life-saving products by ensuring the supplier has sufficient supplies in stock for NHS customers to buy through pre-existing framework agreements.Under the contract, the supplier will supply and provide stock management services in relation to the following products: • enteral water:• high protein enteral tube feed; and • enteral pumps compatible with the above products. The maximum value of this contract is estimated to be £189,500 (excluding VAT). The estimated value is based on clinically identified volumes and validated assumptions.The contract award notice is being published retrospectively, having been inadvertently not published previously due to an IT systems error. DHSC is publishing the notice now to correct that error.

Award Detail

Renewal Options

The contract was for an initial 1 year period from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 with options to extend (exercisable under the terms of the contract) on one or more occasions depending on business needs provided the contract ends no later than 30 June 2025. The contract has now been varied to extend the initial expiry date to 30 June 2024.

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 33692300 - Enteral feeds

Indicators

• Options are available.
• Award on basis of price.

Legal Justification

Specialised high protein enteral feeds and dedicated consumables (giving sets) are required to support patient life in intensive and critical care. Four suppliers supply 99% of the UK market. The enteral feeds and giving sets used with the pump fleets currently employed by NHS Trusts are bespoke to the supplier. Each supplier’s enteral feeds are proprietary and only compatible with the same supplier’s pump. In addition, the enteral feeds have short shelf lives (6-9 months), and it is vital suppliers manage and rotate stock effectively to ensure sufficient enteral feeds are available for NHS customers to buy through pre-existing framework agreements. As such, DHSC (on behalf of NHS bodies in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) has directly awarded four contracts – including the one referenced in this CAN – to each major enteral feed supplier to the UK market. The contracts are for the supply of enteral feeds and include the provision of stock management, storage and rotation services. DHSC believes the direct awards are justified under the grounds set out in Regulation 32(b)(ii) and Regulation 32(5) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as explained below.Reg 32(2)(b)(ii) – absence of competition for technical reasonsA. The works, supplies or services can be supplied only by a particular economic operator as competition is absent for technical reasons: The pump fleets already procured by NHS trusts are standardised to a specific supplier’s system, and therefore only compatible with proprietary enteral feeds and giving sets. As such, only the supplier can supply the required enteral feeds. B. No reasonable alternative or substitute exists: As the enteral feeds are proprietary and only compatible with the pump fleets already procured by NHS trusts, there are no reasonable alternative products available. C. The absence of competition is not the result of an artificial narrowing down of the parameters of the procurement: DHSC has not artificially narrowed the parameters of the procurement as the proprietary enteral feeds being procured are required to operate with pump fleets already procured by NHS Trusts.Reg 32(5)/(6) – additional deliveriesA. Additional deliveries by the original supplier where a change in supplier would result in incompatibility in operation and maintenance: The ‘additional deliveries’ are being made by the same supplier. In addition, as the pump fleets already procured by NHS trusts are only compatible with proprietary enteral feeds and giving sets, any change in supplier would result in incompatibility.B. The contract should not (save in exceptional circumstances) exceed 3 years: The contract does not exceed 3 years.