NHSE(East of England)Healthcare Services Norfolk prisons & L&D Norfolk & Suffolk. Primary Care HMP Bure and HMP Wayland

This notice is confirmation of an urgent award under Regulation 14 having been made due to unforeseeable circumstances not attributable to the Relevant Authority.

The services are healthcare services at HMP Norwich, HMP Bure, HMP Wayland and are to ensure uninterrupted access to essential primary care, mental health, and substance misuse services in a high risk custodial environment, while giving commissioners the stability needed to design a robust longer term commissioning plan.

This notice is confirmation of an urgent award under Regulation 14 having been made due to unforeseeable circumstances not attributable to the Relevant Authority.

The services are healthcare services at HMP Norwich, HMP Bure, HMP Wayland and are to ensure uninterrupted access to essential primary care, mental health, and substance misuse services in a high risk custodial environment, while giving commissioners the stability needed to design a robust longer term commissioning plan.

The contract period is for 12 months -commencing on 1st April 2026 until 31st March 2027 with an option to extend for a further period of up to 12 months

Total contract value is £7082337.50. Additional information: This contract has been awarded under Regulation 14 urgent circumstances provision of the Provider selection Regime (PSR).

This contract has been awarded under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Procurement Act Regulations 2023 do not apply to this award.

Justification for Urgent Award:
NHS England has a statutory duty to commission healthcare services in places of detention; failure to award this contract would be a breach of this duty and result in harm to this vulnerable patient group as there would be no alternative accessible healthcare services. The rationale for selecting the proposed provider is that as the incumbent provider they would be able to continue the service delivery with no interruptions. No other provider could safely mobilise without increasing risk to patients. Alternative providers would not be able to mobilise safely in less than 2 months given the complexity and likely staffing issues that would be caused by a change in provider. All staff need to have security clearance which takes 6-8 weeks meaning there is insufficient time for a new provider to mobilise a workforce to deliver services from 1st April 2026.

Justification for Contract Length:
The contract period is for 12 months -commencing on 1st April 2026 until 31st March 2027 with an option to extend for a further period of up to 12 months to ensure the continuity of essential services while NHS England concludes a live competitive process in accordance with the Provider selection Regime (PSR). A 12 month duration is required to ensure sufficient time and ability to:• conclude an ongoing/live competitive process• allow to safely mobilise future service arrangements, minimising transition risks and protecting patient safety.

Given the scale and pace of ongoing transformation across NHS organisations, any transition to new contractual arrangements carries an inherent risk of disrupting service continuity. Such disruption may compromise commissioners’ ability to effectively manage change and increases the likelihood of critical processes being overlooked, which could ultimately place patients at risk.

This decision was approved by Public Health Oversight Group on 9thFebruary, 2026
There are no conflicts or potential conflicts of interest.