Contract award · 17 Aug 2026

Palliative End of Life Care Adult Rapid Response Service in Northamptonshire

NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board awarded “Palliative End of Life Care Adult Rapid Response Service in…” to DHU Healthcare C.I.C. for £454k.

No competitionHealth & social careEast Midlands

Awarded without open competition

Awarded without open competition. The buyer went directly to one or a few suppliers instead of advertising the contract. Procurement rules allow this only in specific cases, such as extreme urgency, when only one supplier can do the work, or for call-offs from an existing framework.

What “without competition” means

Key facts

Buyer
NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board · Body governed by public law
Value
£454,467
Procedure
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Sector
Health & social care · Health and social work services (CPV 85000000)
Timeline
  1. Contract date17 Aug 2026
  2. Published19 Aug 2026Published 2 days after the contract date

Description

A 24/7 Rapid Response nurse-led service, providing urgent specialist care and support, including symptom management and non-medical prescribing both in hours and out of hours. The service will be provided to patients who are thought to be in the last eight weeks of life, where their preferred place of care is their own home (this includes residential care homes). This award was made in relation to an urgent circumstance to ensure the continued provision of a community rapid response end-of-life care service for Northamptonshire. The current provider was unable to provide the 24/7 rapid response element of the Countywide Community-based Specialist Level Palliative and End of Life Care Service for Adults. Without this service, people will not receive the appropriate support required to be cared for or die in their own home or in a residential care home. Patients will not receive timely advice or symptom management, acute admissions may increase, and the quality and availability of care …

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