Sexual Health Locally Commissioned Services - LARC + HIV Testing

Location

Southampton

Description

The contract is for the provision of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception ("LARC") services and HIV Testing services to improve sexual health outcomes by: • Increasing the use of Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), giving more individuals and families reliable control over their reproductive health. • Contributing to a reduction in the number of unintended pregnancies and terminations including teenage conceptions. • Contributing to reducing health inequalities by improving access to good reproductive health services for vulnerable groups. • Increasing the knowledge of risks associated with STIs and referring clients who may have been at risk of STIs to an appropriate service. • Diagnosing more previously undiagnosed HIV through enhanced testing of at-risk populations, contributing to a reduction in late diagnosis and the associated harm. The contract term duration is 33 months, with an option for a period of extension of another 24 months, through to 31st March 2031. The Council is intending to award this contract under the Direct Award Procedure C of The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. The annual contract value at current prices is an estimated £219,000 per annum pro rata (ex VAT), based on the unit costs of service delivery and expected demand, making for a total maximum estimated contact value of £1,040,250 (ex VAT).The contract term duration is 33 months, with a contract start date of July 1st 2026 running through to March 31st 2029. There will be an option to extend the contract for a period of up to 24 months, through to 31st March 2031.

Award Detail

Renewal Options

There will be an option to extend the contract for a period of up to 24 months, from 1st April 2029 through to 31st March 2031.

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 85000000 - Health and social work services

Indicators

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

Legal Justification

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by the end of Monday 22nd June 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.

Other Information

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by the end of Monday 22nd June 2026, via email at: procurement@southampton.gov.uk . This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR. The award decision makers are officers of Southampton City Council, specifically those working within the Council's Public Health and Commissioning (Community & Wellbeing) sections. The relative importance of the key criteria, each weighted as a percentage out of 100, were as follows: Improving Access, Reducing Health Inequalities and Facilitating Choice 30%; Improving Integration, Collaboration & Service Sustainability 22%; Quality & Innovation 22%; Value 16%; Social Value 10%. The relative importance of each key criteria was determined by consideration of the importance of each in relation to the importance of the others, and in terms of their relative essentiality to the delivery of the specification requirements. The selection of the provider to whom the contract is intended to be awarded was based on assessment of their current and likely future service delivery of the contract and its specification against each of the key criteria: This assessment concluded that the provider had satisfactorily delivered the existing contract in the respect to each of the key criteria and would likely continue to do so in respect of the new contract that the Council intends to award the provider.