Mandatory Dental Services (MDS) in Portsmouth and Havant to NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB)

NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight (HIOW) Integrated Care Board (ICB) sought providers who have the capability and capacity to deliver Mandatory Dental Services (MDS) in Portsmouth and Havant.

The procurement was divided into Lots:

MDS 5C3-1: Havant - Waterlooville (21,000 UDAs)

MDS 5C3-2: Havant (30,000 UDAs)

MDS 5C3-3: North Portsmouth (27,000 UDAs)

MDS 5C3-4: South Portsmouth (27,000 UDAs)

MDS 5C3-5: Portsmouth (27,000 UDAs)

Interested parties could bid for a maximum of two Lots.

The aims for MDS provision are to:

•contribute to improving oral and general health;

•reduce inequalities in health and access to dental care by providing extra support to groups of vulnerable adults and children. This includes, but is not limited to, children under 5 years old, residents of care homes, other vulnerable groups and patients weighing up to 227kg (35 stones and 10.45 lbs); •provide access to NHS dental services to ensure equity and consistency of provision;

•provide bookable appointments outside of core hours;

•deliver appropriate, efficient and cost-effective services within the service;

•provision framework of the NHS (General Dental Services/Personal Dental Services) Regulations 2005 and any subsequent revisions;

•provide high quality dental services;

•provide access within contracted hours to un-associated patients identified as having an urgent dental need via NHS 111, NHS Dental Helpline, out of hours services and self-referral; •refer patients to other NHS services as appropriate in line with the relevant local protocols and guidance;

•establish a positive working relationship between the Commissioner and Provider to facilitate and maximise high quality service delivery;

•prioritise Looked after Children (LAC);

•develop services in line with the evolving strategic approach to primary care dental provision and align with the priorities of the NHS Long Term Plan - www.longtermplan.nhs.uk; •promote overall health in line with Making Every Contact Count;

•keep availability of appointments up to date on nhs.uk;

•comply with recall intervals, in line with NICE Guidelines (CG19).

The contracts will be for a term of up to circa 117 months. Services were due to commence from between 21st July 2025 and 19th January 2026. The actual date of commencement of the services will be subject to agreement with the commissioner, further to changes to the indicative tender timetable published. Contract commencement will vary between lots, depending upon the mobilisation period required by Bidders to commence service following award.

The maximum total budget available for each Lot was as follows:

MDS 5C3-1 £6,812,914

MDS 5C3-2 £9,732,735

MDS 5C3-3 £9,188,795

MDS 5C3-4 £9,188,795

MDS 5C3-5 £9,188,795

The Commissioner will be contracting for the services using the Standard clauses for a Personal Dental Services agreement.

This procurement has been carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioners.

Additional information: The decision to award these contracts in line with the Competitive Process was based on evaluation against the basic selection criteria (in the form of a Selection Questionnaire), which was assessed on a pass/fail basis, and the PSR 5 key criteria, which were assessed using a 0-4 scale, pass/fail, pass with clarification and a financial risk scoring methodology, with the below weightings.

Several tender questions were asked under each of the key criteria.

Quality & Innovation - 35%

Value - 10%

Integration, Collaboration and Service Sustainability - 17%

Improving access, reducing health inequalities, and facilitating choice - 28%

Social Value - 10%

The providers selected for award have been chosen as they passed the basic selection criteria and were the highest scoring bidder overall, against the key criteria. Recommendations for award of contract made by the Pharmacy, Optometry and Dentistry (POD) Commissioning Lead for NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight were approved by the NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight ICB Executive Committee on 3rd July 2025.

After conducting a thorough Competitive Process, taking into account the key criteria and applying the basic selection criteria, NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) is content that the providers' bids sufficiently met the key criteria and thus can proceed to contract award under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.

Five declarations of potential conflict of interest were made via the conflict of interest process for this procurement and recorded accordingly. The non-conflicted members of the procurement have assessed the nature and risk of each declared conflict and decided which steps to take to avoid or mitigate them. Four declarations were deemed as not being actual conflicts of interest but were still managed accordingly with appropriate mitigations. The fifth declarant was excluded from further involvement in the procurement (including any decision making).

Contract award for Lots 2 - 5 took place on 13th August 2025, following conclusion of the standstill period.

No bids were received for Lot 1 (MDS 5C3-1: Havant - Waterlooville) and a contract has not been awarded for this area.

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) confirmation of contract award notice. This contract has been awarded under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and The Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to this award. This contract has now been formally awarded using the competitive process.