DDS agreement will extend beyond planned term of five years to enable organisations to fulfil procurements already in train and minimise ‘risk to delivery of anticipated savings and service improvements’

The NHS has agreed a six-month extension to a multibillion-pound print and document framework in order to avoid “potential disruption to transformation programmes”.

Valued at £6bn, including VAT, the Digital Document Solutions (DDS) arrangement has been in place since October 2021 and features 46 suppliers across nine lots. The deal was scheduled to conclude on 30 September of this year but will now run until 31 March 2027. A freshly published commercial notice states that “the decision to extend has been taken due to exceptional and justifiable operational circumstances”.

The framework “supports the procurement and delivery of complex digital and IT transformation programmes across the integrated health economy, many of which are multi-phase, business-critical initiatives involving significant system integration, data migration, and interoperability requirements”.

The notice adds: “Additional complex digital and IT procurements have been formally planned and approved within business cases, with mobilisation timelines aligned to the continued availability of the framework. Allowing the framework to expire at this stage would result in the cancellation, delay, or re-procurement of these requirements, causing duplication of procurement activity, additional cost to contracting authorities and suppliers, potential disruption to transformation programmes, and risk to delivery of anticipated savings and service improvements.”

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The document clarifies that “the proposed six-month extension does not alter the scope, nature or economic balance of the framework and [is] not considered a substantial modification” under the relevant regulations.

“The extension is considered necessary to ensure continuity of procurement, protect value for money, and enable the orderly completion and mobilisation of complex digital programmes already in progress or formally planned,” the notice adds.

Procurement for the framework was led, on behalf of organisations across the health service, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.

The nine segments of the deal respectively cover the provision of products and services in the areas of: internal Print; external print; digital mailroom; scanning; document storage; electronic document record management solutions; digital dictation; workflow processes; and contact centre.