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Procurement Update

October 2023

Procurement Update – October 2023

One year to go for the Procurement Bill 

The Procurement Bill has been continuing its progress through Parliament, moving between the House of Commons and the House of Lords in the amendment process. With no change to the dates previously announced, the ‘go live’ date for its implementation is still expected to be October 2024. That leaves the public sector and suppliers with a little under a year to prepare for the changes. Over the next couple of months, we will be providing some snapshots on the key changes proposed and will provide any further updates as they appear.

An update on the Provider Selection Regime

In the meantime, NHS England has updated its page on the Provider Selection Regime (‘PSR’), confirming that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) plans to introduce the PSR regulations into Parliament on 19 October 2023. Subject to parliamentary scrutiny, the DHSC intends for the PSR regulations to come into force on 1 January 2024.  This will be in time for the next NHS contracting round.
Unlike the Procurement Bill where a draft of the legislation has been in circulation for more than a year, it will be the first sight of the substantive drafting of the regulations that will have implications for the procurement options for healthcare contracts. We will also be providing analysis of some of the key changes once they have been published. 

One consequence of PSR being implemented ahead of the Procurement Bill is that it will be necessary to amend Schedule 3 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to remove the affected services. 

For further information and support please get in touch with a member of our expert health commercial team. 

Health and social care

With a team of over 250 lawyers, we are one of the leading firms providing legal advice and support to national and international healthcare and life sciences organisations.

From NHS bodies to private providers and practitioners to insurance practices, our multi-disciplinary legal expertise covers the full spectrum of healthcare law including, litigation, commercial, regulatory, employment, investigations and inquests, real estate and disciplinary law. As a full-service international law firm, we take a scalable approach to service delivery, providing immediate access to high-quality legal advice across the full spectrum.

We are committed to working in partnership with our clients, fostering philosophies that are mutually beneficial. Our expertise and experience mean that we understand the issues you face and the clear and practical advice that you require, especially as services and systems become more integrated. We can help you manage risk and obtain better value for money enabling you to improve services and outcomes.

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