RE: Question29 Aug 2023 21:57
1) The Covid-19 outbreak is a public health emergency of international concern as declared by the World Health Organisation on 30 January 2020. The WHO Director General characterised Covid-19 as a pandemic on 11 March 2020. 2) DHSC needs to acquire POC testing goods as a matter of extreme urgency. The urgency is further amplified by the approaching flu season and the need for an immediate testing solution which allows medical practitioners to distinguish common flu or Covid-19; 3) DHSC is satisfied the tests permitting use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication (Regulation 32(2)(c)) are met: A. as far as is strictly necessary: the Covid-19 outbreak is a public health emergency and urgent, rapidly increasing demands to support laboratories within NHS pathology networks. The products will be used by laboratories across NHS pathology networks for the priority use cases; B. there are genuine reasons for extreme urgency: These tests are needed immediately in response to this crisis and need to be implemented to support the NHS’s ability to manage the increase of positive cases in hospitals, to be able to identify and treat Covid-19 positive patients and isolate them from other patients in hospitals. These allow NHS to save lives. If DHSC does not proceed with the purchase as soon as possible it is likely that this supply will be purchased by another country (due to high global demands); C. the events that have led to the need for extreme urgency were unforeseeable: the Commission itself confirmed: ‘The current Coronavirus crisis presents an extreme and unforeseeable urgency – precisely for such a situation our European rules enable public buyers to buy within a matter of days, even hours, if necessary.’ (Commissioner Breton, Internal Market, 1 April 2020); D. it is impossible to comply with the usual timescales in the PCR: due to the urgency of the situation there is no time to run an accelerated procurement under the open, restricted or competitive procedures with negotiation that would allow the NHS to secure delivery of a suitable, compliant product at required volumes as quickly as is needed. The supplier is required to start delivery of goods and services immediately. The situation is not attributable to the contracting authority – DHSC has not done anything to cause or contribute to the need for extreme urgency.
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