General Dental Council: Provision of Part 2 of the GDC Statutory Examination - Overseas Registration

UK-London: Education and training services.

Preliminary Questions
   This notice is published by:
   Directive 2014/24/EU

Section I: Contracting authority/entity

I.1) Name and addresses
       General Dental Council
       37 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8DQ, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 2071676000, Email: procurement@gdc-uk.org
       Contact: Erica Williams
       Main Address: www.gdc-uk.org, Address of the buyer profile: www.gdc-uk.org
       NUTS Code: UK

I.4) Type of the contracting authority (in the case of a notice published by a contracting authority)
      Body governed by public law

I.5) Main Activity (in the case of a notice published by a contracting authority)
      Other activity:


Section II: Object

II.1) Scope of the procurement
   
   II.1.1) Title: Provision of Part 2 of the GDC Statutory Examination - Overseas Registration.
      Reference number: GDC-2017-001
      
   II.1.2) Main CPV code:
      80000000 - Education and training services.
   
   II.1.3) Type of contract: SERVICES
   
   II.1.4) Short Description: The GDC intends to extend its existing contract for the Provision of Part 2 of the GDC Statutory Examination - Overseas Registration Examinations (ORE), from 1 April to 30 June 2025 to continue to fulfil the intentions of the original contract by supporting the delivery of examination services. This service under the ORE contract relates to “social and other specific services” listed in Schedule 3 to the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended) (PCR) and is therefore subject to the ‘light touch regime’ in accordance with Regulations 74 to 77 of the PCR. A procurement for a new contract to deliver examination services for the ORE Part 1 and Part 2 is already underway: Notice reference: 2024/S 000-014888. It is anticipated that the new contract will commence in 2025 for delivery of diets beyond April 2025.
   
   II.1.6) Information about lots
      This contract is divided into lots: No

   II.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)
      Value: 12,650,000      
      Currency: GBP


II.2) Description

   II.2.2) Additional CPV codes:
      Not provided

   II.2.3) Place of performance:
      UKI LONDON
   
   
   II.2.4) Description of the procurement:
    The scope of services required include but is not limited to: Deliver the 4 components of the clinical examinations. Examinations venue within the UK -Provision of services, material, equipment, and personnel - qualified and experienced examiners -Project Management and administration -Candidate Management -Working with the GDC to ensure the examinations a delivered effectively and in accordance with the examination blueprint and Preparing for Practice and the ORE Advisory Group to ensure the relevant standard is maintained and the continuous improvement of the examination.    
   
   II.2.5) Award criteria
   (Directive 2014/24/EU / Directive 2014/25/EU)
               
    Not provided       
      
      
   II.2.11) Information about options:
      Options:    No       
   
   II.2.13) Information about European Union funds:
      The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:    No

   II.2.14) Additional information:
    A VEAT notice was issued in July 2023 (Notice reference: 2023/S 000-020320: that provided for up to 7 diets. The GDC contracted for 5 of the 7 diets (i.e. Nov 2023 to Nov 2024). As part of a change contract note, the GDC intends to commission the other 2 diets (i.e. Jan 2025 and Feb 2025) The GDC also intends to commission 1 additional diet which is the subject of this VEAT notice (April 2025).    
      
Section IV: Procedure

IV.1) Description
   
   IV.1.1) Type of procedure: Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below         
   
   IV.1.3) Information about framework agreement
         The procurement involves the establishment of a framework agreement: No    
   
   IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
         The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
         
IV.2)Administrative Information

   IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure:
      Notice number in OJ S: 2023/S 000 - 022724       
   
Section V: Award Of Contract/Concession
      
Award of Contract/Concession No: 1
Contract No: GDC-2017-001   Lot Number: Not Provided    Title: Provision of Part 2 of the GDC Statutory Examination - Overseas Registration

V.2) Award of contract/concession
      
      V.2.1) Date of contract award decision: 22/07/2024.
      
      V.2.2) Information about tenders
      The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:Yes .

      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire, No. 1:
          UCL Eastman Dental Hospital, N/A
       256 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8LD, United Kingdom
       NUTS Code: UKI
   The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: No    
   
      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire, No. 2:
          The Royal College of Surgeons of England, N/A
       35 - 43 Lincoln Inn Field, London, WC2A 3PE, United Kingdom
       NUTS Code: UKI
   The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: No    
   
      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire, No. 3:
          University College London, N/A
       123 Gray’s Inn Road, London, WC1X 8WD, United Kingdom
       NUTS Code: UKI
   The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: No    
   
      V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire, No. 4:
          Queen Mary University of London Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, N/A
       Institute of Dentistry of Turner Street, UK-London: Education and training services., E1 2AD, United Kingdom
       NUTS Code: UKI
   The contractor/concessionaire will be an SME: No    
   
         
      V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession:
         Initial estimated total value of the contract: 12,000,000          
         Total value of the contract/lot/concession 12,650,000         
         Currency: GBP

      V.2.5) Information about subcontracting:
         The contract is likely to be subcontracted: No          


Section VI: Complementary Information

   VI.3) Additional Information:
      The figure detailed at II.1.7) is an additional cost of circa £25K for each of the 2 diets under the previous VEAT and £600K for the 1 diet cover by this VEAT. Therefore, the GDC is extending the contract to provide for an additional 3 diets in total (January 2025, February 2025 and April 2025) to be delivered before the contract expires on 30 June 2025.
To view this notice, please click here:
https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=876189351
GO-2024723-PRO-26965643 TKR-2024723-PRO-26965642   
   VI.4) Procedures for review
   
      VI.4.1) Review Body
          General Dental Council
       37 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8DQ, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 2071676282, Email: procurement@gdc-uk.org
   
      V1.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures:
                General Dental Council
       37 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8DQ, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 2071676282.

      VI.4.3) Review procedure
      Not Provided    
      
      VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
          General Dental Council
       37 Wimpole Street, London, W1G 8DQ, United Kingdom
       Tel. +44 2071676282
   
   VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice: 23/07/2024


Annex D1 - General Procurement
Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
Directive 2014/24/EU


2. Other justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union

   The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive: Yes

3. Explanation

   Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union is
   lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive: (500 words maximum)
   The Order 2023 (the Order) came into force on 8th March 2023. The reform that flows from the Order removed the need for the ORE to be provided by a dental authority. The changes could significantly amend the scope of the services and open up the market to new suppliers who were previously prohibited from bidding. Before the GDC can take advantage of the new flexibility, the GDC needed to develop and consult on a new set of rules. The final rules were published in Spring 2024. The extension includes an additional sum payable to the consortium to account for the management and delivery of up to 7 diets across 20 months and 3 days. The additional services had become necessary to continue to allow overseas registrations to continue until the implementation of the rules pursuant to the new Order to allow for a procurement for the services under the updated rules. A change of contractor cannot be made for economic or technical reasons. There is significant preparatory work required to set up the services. This is one of only two types of this exam currently offered in the UK for Overseas dentists. It requires specific technical expertise to run the exam that has to date not presented itself in the market. A change of contractor would cause significant impact and substantial duplication of costs to the GDC. The GDC has a statutory obligation to run the ORE and was required to pause the exam due to Covid 19 restrictions, this has caused a significant backlog of candidates. Candidates only have one five-year period to complete the ORE, they cannot re-apply. Therefore, they would not be able to practice in the UK and overtime may reduce to number of dental professional available to practice in the UK.