Speech and Language Therapist and Occupational Therapist Contract

Description

The aim of the service is to recruit 1 Occupational Therapy (OT) and 5 Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) professionals. This is one of the key components of the Experts at Hand model, and guidance is clear that our Experts at Hand Team must consist of SLT, OT, Educational Psychology and specialist teachers. The Provider will need to mobilise at the beginning of November 2026 and meet the specification requirements.

Key facts

Procedure

Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Lots

1

Contact

corporate.procurement@bolton.gov.uk

Category

services

Awarded suppliers

• Bolton NHS Foundation Trust · GB-FTS-136595 · UKD3

Ground given for limiting competition

The buyer’s own stated reason for awarding without open competition, as published. Their assertion, not a finding.

The 'Type of Procure' above is incorrect, The Authority had to select this in order to publish the notice. An F01 Notice was published on Find a Tender in respect of this Most Suitable Provider Process under Notice 2026/S 000-095767 on 9 October 2026, 3:26pm. The contracting Authority has been unable to associate that notice electronically with this F03: Contract Award Notice due to a technical issue with the Find a Tender Service. For the avoidance of doubt, the contracting authority does not consider that no prior notice was published. The earlier notice can be located on Find a Tender using the notice reference above. If the technical issue preventing issue preventing the Authority linking the notice is rectified, the Authority will endeavour to update this notice. Contract: 1 year with the option for up to 2 x 1 year extensions Contract value: £440,400 for year 1. Approximate value for total contract including the extension periods is £ 1,321,200 Additional Information (VI.3) 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 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. Declarations of Conflict Forms were completed by all individuals involved in the decisions about the provider selection. No conflicts of interest were declared. The award decision makers are members of the Inclusion Team, SEND Children's Services and Commissioning. The submission was assessed and the provider selected against the following key criteria: • Quality and innovation • Value • Integration, collaboration, and service sustainability • Improving access, reducing health inequalities, and facilitating choice • Social value Bolton Foundation Trust as the incumbent provider has met the satisfactory requirements for the current Speech and Language therapy service SaLT - Children and young people - Bolton NHS Foundation Trust and the Childrens Occupational Therapy service Paediatric Occupational Therapy - SEND Local Offer for a number of years. The Bolton Foundation Trust are fully engaged with full communications with positive working relationships. The Bolton Foundation Trust also meet Bolton Council's priorities and vision for children by providing the best start to life, as well as achieving long term goals, for children to live as independently as possible with a good education. They reach out into the Bolton communities from health settings, educational setting and home settings, to provide the child and the family/carer the support they need. The Bolton Foundation Trust are integrated with NHS, meaning they have all access/knowledge to the correct systems and processes, to allow fast mobilisation at short notice. The service has been shown to provide good value for money in the running of the service when exploring the market, which has been recognised from option appraisal processes. The Authority, using the key criteria under Most Suitable Provider PSR route, has determined the preferred provider using the ranked criteria of critical importance for integration, collaboration, and service sustainability. Bolton Foundation Trust have been identified as the provider who can mobilise, deliver, and integrate with Bolton health, social care, and mainstream education settings in the required time period, above other providers. In addition, Bolton Foundation Trust are embedded into local systems and council mechanisms on a wider core basis and have proven quality and innovation for a number of years. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by 23:59, Monday 23 November 2026 via email to corporate.procurement@bolton.gov.uk. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.