The long awaited Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 ("PSR Regulations") was laid before the House of Lords on 18 October 2023 and the House of Commons on 19 October 2023, respectively.

Commissioners and providers of NHS healthcare services can now get to grips with the proposed legislation and detail behind the new set of rules governing how NHS healthcare services will be procured in England.

What's the background?

The Procurement Bill is in the final stages of receiving Royal Assent and, once passed, will reform the UK's public procurement regime. Following debate and amendments made to the Procurement Bill by the Public Bill Committee in the House of Commons, the procurement of NHS services does not fall within scope of the Procurement Bill. Accordingly, once it receives Royal Assent, we expect that the Procurement Act will not apply to NHS healthcare services.

So what will happen to procurement of NHS healthcare services? Previously, NHS England had only published its anticipated proposals for how NHS healthcare services will be procured in England; the NHS Provider Selection Regime ("PSR"). We now have the draft PSR Regulations giving us the detail.

What do I need to know?

The Government intends to bring PSR Regulations into force on 1 January 2024, and if you are a relevant authority or a supplier to the NHS, you must comply with the new rules with effect from that date.

The Government has published:

  1. the draft PSR Regulations in electronic form
  2. draft statutory guidance
  3. a toolkit to assist relevant authorities with applying the PSR Regulations, comprising of various presentation slides, Find a Tender Services supplementary guide, end to end process maps and flowcharts.

Watch this space for further commentary and analysis of how these changes will affect you as a relevant authority or provider of NHS healthcare services.

To discuss any of the points raised in this article or if you need support navigating the new regulations, contact Christopher Brennan, Alison Richards or Sarah Higgins.