The Light Regime for clinical services now in force

Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and the NHS Commissioning Board should be aware that the Light Regime under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations") comes into force in respect of health services from today, Monday 18 April 2016. The Light Regime has already been in force in respect of other services listed in Schedule 3 of the Regulations, such as social care services and the supply of medical personnel, but the changes coming into force today extend this to also cover all contracts for clinical services.

This means that from today all contracts for clinical services with a lifetime value of over £589,148 must be advertised in the OJEU by way of a contract notice or a Prior Information Notice as a call for competition. Beyond that, commissioners have flexibility to design the procurement process for Light Regime services and do not have to follow one of the procurement procedures laid down in the Regulations provided they act transparently and in a way that affords equal treatment in the way the process is run.

We have produced a series of Commissioning Bytes which provide further guidance for CCGs on the Light Regime as it applies to the procurement of clinical services, available at the links below:

• Commissioning Byte Intro
• Commissioning Byte 1 – Renewing or extending your existing contracts
• Commissioning Byte 2 – Complying with two regimes
• Commissioning Byte 3 – How flexible can your procedure be?
• Commissioning Byte 4 – How do you challenge-proof your procurement?