This contract has been awarded to Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust under Direct Award Process A of the Provider Selection Regime. The specialist urogynaecology physiotherapy service forms an integrated element of the wider Primary Care Continence Service delivered to the Cheshire West population and is clinically interdependent with the existing continence pathway operating across the West Cheshire Health Collaborative. The service requires direct integration with the established multidisciplinary continence team, shared clinical pathways, referral and triage arrangements, clinical governance processes and collaborative working arrangements that are already in place between the Provider and Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. The service is not a standalone physiotherapy service that can be separated from the wider continence pathway without creating fragmentation of care, duplication of processes and disruption to patient management. Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is the only provider currently embedded within, and able to deliver the specialist physiotherapy component as part of, the existing integrated continence model across the West Cheshire Health Collaborative. Continuation of the existing arrangement ensures safe and effective patient care, maintains pathway integration and avoids disruption to patients accessing specialist continence services. The service relies upon established clinical relationships, referral pathways, governance arrangements and multidisciplinary working practices that have been developed as part of the West Cheshire Health Collaborative model and cannot reasonably be replicated by an alternative provider without fundamental redesign of the service pathway.

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS provider with the necessary statutory authorisations, governance arrangements and indemnity cover required to deliver specialist urogynaecology physiotherapy services. The Trust has an established workforce of appropriately qualified and experienced specialist clinicians and possesses the technical, professional and organisational capability to deliver the service to the required quality standards. The Provider has a proven track record of delivering the specialist physiotherapy element of the Primary Care Continence Service and has the necessary clinical infrastructure, governance systems, operational resources and experience to ensure safe, effective and sustainable service delivery for the Cheshire West population. This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to this award. The standstill period begins on the day after the publication of this notice. Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by 23rd September 2026 to cwp.contracts@nhs.net. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under Direct Award A. There has been no substantial change to the nature or cost of the service delivered. The existing provider is satisfying the original contract and will likely satisfy the proposed contract to a sufficient standard with the weighting 100 Approximate Lifetime Value of the Contract - £19,112.94 The Service is intended to be provided; 01/04/2026 to 31/03/2027