Provision of an Adult Autism Assessment and Diagnosis Service for NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Integrated Care Board (ICB)

This is an Intention to Award Notice pursuant to Regulation 9 of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 for the provision of the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Adult Autism Assessment and Diagnosis Service. A Direct Award C Process is being followed under the above-named regulations.

The existing provider is satisfying the current contract and will likely satisfy the new, non-significantly changed contract. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Adult Autism Assessment and Diagnosis Service provides a structured, specialist assessment to identify autism spectrum condition (ASC) for adults.

The service supports individuals who suspect they may be autistic or who have been referred by a healthcare professional. The service covers the registered patient population of the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire, United Kingdom.

The current contract for the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Adult Autism Assessment and Diagnosis Service is expiring on 31st March 2026 and a new one is needed . The contract duration was for an initial period of 2 years, commencing on 1st April 2022 with an option to extend for a further 2-years subject to mutual agreement.

The 2-year optional extension period is now coming to an end. The total lifetime value of the original contract was £1,380,000.

The incumbent provider of the above service is performing well. The commissioning authority, NHS Herefordshire & Worcestershire Integrated Care Board, has conducted an assessment of the incumbent provider against basic selection criteria and the PSR 5 Key Criteria to determine whether the incumbent provider is satisfying the current contract and will likely satisfy the new contract.

The proposed new contract is not significantly different from the existing one; it does not meet with the considerable change threshold, as specified Regulation 9 of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 . The total lifetime value of the original contract is £1,380,000.00; the total value of the new contact is £1,422,988.00.

The percentage increase is 3.12%. Therefore, the lifetime value of the proposed new contract does not equal and exceed 25% more than the original lifetime value of the existing contract when it was entered into.

There are no material changes to the Service Specification. The new contract period is from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2028 with the option to extend for a further 2 years subject to mutual agreement (i.e., a 4-year total period).

The decision to award the contract was made by the members of the NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Strategic Commissioning Committee on 3rd September 2025. There were no declared conflicts of interest for the individuals making the decision.

The value of the new contact is £355,747.00 per annum (plus inflationary uplifts from 2027/28) Excluding any future uplifts, this is a total contract value of £1,422,988.00 over the total 4-year period. Additional information: This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) Intention to Award Notice.

The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health and Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 or Procurement Act (PA2023) 2023 do not apply this award.

The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. This contract has not been formally awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under PSR.

Written representations should be sent to NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB at the following email address: hwicb.corpgov@nhs.net The decision to award the contract was made by the members of the NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire Strategic Commissioning Committee on 3rd September 2025. There were no declared conflicts of interest for the individuals making the decision.

NHS Herefordshire & Worcestershire ICB assessed the incumbent provider on Quality and Innovation, Value, Integration, Collaboration and Service Delivery, Improving access, and Social Value, with the relative importance being on Quality and on Value. The assessment determined that the incumbent provider has delivered this contract for the last 4 years to a high standard following a competitive tender, and will deliver the new contract at the same cost, plus inflation.