Procurement in the Dental Sector

Our procurement team are seeing an increasing number of challenges in the dental sector.

There are a number of reasons why procurement is becoming more contentious:

• The tougher economic climate is making each bid more important to bidders and bidders are far more clued up than they used to be.
• Commissioners and their NHS partners now face the real threat of legal challenge where they fail to act reasonably and transparently.
• Unsuccessful bidders are getting more information on why they lost the contract which court guidance entitles them to receive. In a number of cases this information reveals an arguable case for taking matters forward.
• There is less sensitivity about the impact of bringing a challenge on the underlying commercial relationship.

All of this underlines the importance of the commissioners involved in procurement ensuring that there are clear evaluation sheets available if requested with a full audit trail and their avoiding agreeing contractual variations that substantially alter the contract.

Contact us at Pinsent Masons if you wish to learn more about our experience in this field.