Background

The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust has been a valued NOE CPC member for the last 14 years. During this time, it has drawn on the expertise of our procurement teams to support the work of the trust.

As its current contract was coming to an end, and with an awareness of the issues within the market, the trust was looking for a robust and compliant route to market for the re-procurement of its laundry and linen services contract, specifically ward and theatre linens.

Having successfully awarded contracts using NOE CPC frameworks for other requirements, the trust took the decision to utilise the Laundry Solutions for the Healthcare Sector agreement, benefiting from NOE CPC’s Category expertise and support available.

NOE CPC’s Laundry framework has been in place since 2019 and offers NHS trusts a free to access route to meet the varying laundry and linen needs from a range of providers including laundry consultants.

The project

The trust’s procurement team engaged with NOE CPC’s lead for the Laundry Solutions Framework Imran Ahmed and Charlotte Harrison, Procurement Officer, who supported on the project.

The support to the trust included:

• reviewing the further competition documents,
• reviewing the specification,
• drafting procurement timelines,
• publication of the further competition,
• managing clarifications/communication via the tender portal,
• facilitating the moderation process
• drafting the standstill letters/supplier feedback.

By building on our existing relationship with the trust and utilising the expertise of our framework lead, we were able to put processes in place to ensure a smooth and efficient further competition process with a clear outcome for Rotherham.

Due to the limited supplier base in this market, the complexity of the service requirements and the high value contract, there was a need for processes and procedures to be clearly defined and auditable to help mitigate any risks.

Outcome

Within the standstill period an unsuccessful supplier challenged the award decision, however because of the robust procurement process undertaken and with additional feedback this was resolved prior to any formal challenge.

The trust now has a compliant laundry and linen contract, which is fit for purpose, with Key Performance Indicators (KPI) in place for the next five years. There is an option to extend for a further two years and mitigated cost pressures.

Testimonial

“The NOE CPC framework provided a compliant route to market for the full scope of Linen and Laundry services required by the trust. Imran was able to bring his knowledge of the market to the project, including lessons learned from similar procurements which proved extremely useful. Charlotte was both professional and helpful in supporting the trust throughout the further competition process and I look forward to hopefully working with them both again in the future”.

Jo-Anne Turner, Category Manager (Estates and Facilities) The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust

 

“The NOE CPC framework documents for the procurement of laundry solutions provided a straightforward and compliant route to market. The team are vastly experienced, have great market knowledge, and were fully supportive throughout the tender process”.

Paul Bird, Head of Facilities, The Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust