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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Discharge to Access (D2A) beds contract for Ipswich & East

Suffolk County Council · Contract details notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 20 Oct 2026, 11:22.

Opportunity overview

The provision of bed based nursing services commissioned by Suffolk County Council in Partnership with (Athena Care Homes UK Limited) to provide a swift discharge of medically optimised customers from the acute as part of the Discharge to Assess model. This will be a 3 year contract with optional extension periods of 1 year + 1 year

Awarded to

Amounts belong to published awards or contracts. Where several suppliers share one value, it is labelled as shared and is not a supplier-specific allocation.

ATHENA CARE HOMES (UK) LIMITED

Matched by number
Published award value
£7.6m
Awarded
18 May 2026
Award ID
1
Status
active
Identifier
GB-COH 09202115
Location
Laindon, UKH37, SS15 6TF, United Kingdom

Classification

No classification was supplied.

Lots

  • Lot 1Value not stated

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
MO30
Status
complete
Procurement Method
direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Why this procedure was chosen
This is required due to the absence of viable market alternatives, the need to maintain service continuity in order to effectively discharge our statutory duties and the significant financial benefit offered by the only provider capable of meeting the full specification and budget envelope following market engagement. Market Engagement Summary • A market engagement event for D2A beds (Lot 1 Ipswich & East, Lot 2 West) was held on 02/03/2026, attended by 26 participants. • A follow up MS Forms survey was issued on 03/03/2026, generating 5 responses (2 for Lot 1, 2 for Lot 2, 1 for both). • Clarification meetings were held with two providers for Lot 1 due to inconsistent responses regarding their ability to meet the service specification. • Both providers confirmed they cannot meet the specification or operate within the available budget envelope. • Lot 2 (West) will proceed via a separate procurement route. For Lot 1, only one provider is able to meet the full specification and budget envelope, and their pricing represents substantial savings compared with indicative market rates. This provider is therefore the sole viable option for service continuity. Justification for Direct Award A derogation under the Procurement Act 2023 is justified because: 1. No Reasonable Alternative • Market engagement demonstrated that only one provider can meet the required specification and budget. • All other engaged providers formally confirmed they cannot deliver the service as required. • A competitive process would not generate meaningful competition and would likely increase costs. 2. Technical and Operational Incompatibility • D2A beds are essential to hospital discharge pathways and the Council's statutory duties under the Care Act. • The service must be located within 15 miles / 30 minutes of Ipswich Hospital due to the integrated therapy model with ESNEFT. • Any interruption would negatively impact: - Acute hospital flow - Delayed discharge performance - Statutory social care duties • The only viable provider is already aligned with the required model and can mobilise without disruption. 3. Value for Money • The viable provider offers significant savings compared with indicative market rates. • Proceeding to competition risks losing this value and could result in higher cost emergency arrangements.

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Procedure reasons

Entry 1
Id
singleSuppliersTechnicalReasons
Entry 2
Id
additionalRepeatExtensionPartialReplacement

Special regime

lightTouch

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
complete

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
conflictOfInterest
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Name
Suffolk County Council
Id
GB-PPON-PHVH-1657-HHMV

Identifier

Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PHVH-1657-HHMV

Address

Street Address
Endeavour House, 8 Russell Road
Locality
Ipswich
Postal Code
IP1 2BX
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKH14

Contact

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Id
publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment
Description
Public authority - sub-central government
Organisation 2
Name
ATHENA CARE HOMES (UK) LIMITED
Id
GB-COH-09202115

Identifier

Scheme
GB-COH
Id
09202115

Additional Identifiers

Entry 1
Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PZVJ-2164-BWNT

Address

Street Address
Unit 5, Russel House Southfields Business Park
Locality
Laindon
Postal Code
SS15 6TF
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKH37

Contact

Roles

supplier

Details

Scale
large
Vcse
No
Public Service Mission Organization
No
Sheltered Workshop
No

Award information

Award 1
Id
1
Status
active
Main Procurement Category
services

Items

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
CPV
Id
85000000
Description
Health and social work services

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKH1
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Suppliers

Supplier 1
Id
GB-COH-09202115
Name
ATHENA CARE HOMES (UK) LIMITED

Related lots

1

Contracts and changes

Entry 1
Id
1
Award ID
1
Status
active
Has Renewal
Yes
Above Threshold
Yes
Date Signed
7 Aug 2026, 00:00

Period

Starts
8 Aug 2026, 00:00
Ends
7 Aug 2029, 23:59
Max Extent Date
7 Aug 2031, 23:59

Renewal

Description
2 X 1 year optional extensions available

Value

Including VAT
9,108,000
Amount
7,590,000
Currency
GBP

Documents

Entry 1
Id
098793-2026
Document Type
contractNotice
Notice Type
UK7
Description
Contract details notice on Find a Tender
Published
20 Oct 2026, 10:07
Format
text/html

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Ipswich · UKH14 · IP1 2BX · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

3 published notice versions reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

3 VERSIONS
  1. 044918-2026Transparency notice on Find a Tender ·
  2. 046156-2026Contract award notice on Find a Tender ·
  3. 098793-2026Contract details notice on Find a Tender ·

PROCURAAXIS AWARD ANALYSIS

Award outcome intelligence

Evidence-bound analysis of the published award appears below the official tender and award information.

ANALYSIS PREVIEW

Award intelligence at a glance

Suffolk County Council awarded Athena Care Homes (UK) Limited a direct-award contract for bed-based nursing services supporting Discharge to Assess pathways in Ipswich & East.

Published outcome signals

  • Notice statusContract details notice; completeEvidence: Process display status is awarded, source status is complete, and the cited notice is a Contract details notice.
  • Award statusActiveEvidence: Award 1 status is active.
  • Contract statusActiveEvidence: Contract 1 status is active.
97% approved-analysis confidence1 supplier record analysed4 source limitations

SOURCE AND FRESHNESS

Traceable procurement data

Source
Find a Tender
Notice reference
098793-2026
OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069a06
First published
20 May 2026
Last checked
20 Oct 2026, 11:22
Notice versions reviewed
3
View Find a Tender notice ↗

HOW THIS WAS PREPARED

Approved, evidence-bound analysis

ProcuraAxis structures information found in published procurement records, checks the result for consistency and publishes only approved analysis. Confidence describes the completeness and consistency of the available source information; it is not a guarantee of eligibility or contract award.

Analysis status
Approved for publication
Analysed
20 Oct 2026
Read the analysis methodology →