Forensic Pathology Service

Concepts

• pathology services
• bridgend
• forensic pathology service
• a joint service
• pathology
• forensic
• other proceedings
• legal enquiries
• gwent police
• south wales police

Location

South Wales Police force area Other forces to use the same service - Gwent, Dyfed-Powys and Gloucestershire

Description

Provision of a highly specialised, critical Forensic Pathology Service to South Wales Police, Gwent Police, Dyfed-Powys Police and Gloucestershire Constabulary as part of a joint service to the four police forces in areas of post-mortem and the interpretation of injury, including generation of reports, assistance in legal enquiries, court and other proceedings.

Total Quantity or Scope

Provision of a highly specialised, critical Forensic Pathology Service across the region of four police forces in areas of post-mortem and the interpretation of injury, including generation of reports, assistance in legal enquiries, court and other proceedings.

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 85111800 - Pathology services

Indicators

Legal Justification

South Wales Police and Gwent Police intend to award a contract to Cardiff University for the supply of a Forensic Pathology Service. This service is required by the forces of South Wales, Gwent, Dyfed-Powys and Gloucestershire to be provided by pathologists of suitable status, experience and qualifications. The service is currently provided by Cardiff University which hosts the Wales Institute of Forensic Medicine (WIFM). The WIFM is a 'School of Medicine' based unit, providing highly specialised, critical services to the police, coroners and the public in areas of post-mortem examination and interpretation of injury. It is relatively unique in conducting additional work to the post-mortem, known as 'sub-speciality' and includes areas of specific expertise in relation to examination of parts of the human body such as neuropathology, bone pathology and paediatric pathology. Scoping work undertaken with forensic pathology consortia established across the UK to identify another host for the WIFM failed to find a party willing to take over the service. This is primarily due to the highly specialised service - there is a dearth of expertise across the UK in this highly skilled area and to obtain a Home Office licence to provide forensic pathology services to a police force, there must be a minimum of three qualified Home Office pathologists affiliated to a consortium; the size of the demand and geographical area and the alignment of Cardiff University with the University Hospital of Wales and its mortuary and laboratory capability. Other forensic pathology consortia established around the UK provide a service to several forces and coronial areas and are generally location based. We approached the South West consortium during early scoping as the closest consortia to the WIFM but it has no appetite to take on the additional areas. Therefore, the only economic operator able to supply the service is Cardiff University. Competition is absent for technical reasons due to the specialised service, scarcity of expertise, Home Office requirements and the level of demand across the area.

Other Information

NB The value of the contract shown is the SWP annual estimated value only. It does not include the value of spend by the other forces. The estimated contract value is based on previous years' demand but by nature of the contracted service, most of the value will be dictated by demand. (WA Ref:132805)