The body responsible for health services in Swindon has been fined thousands of pounds after it was part of a contract process manipulated to ensure their preferred bidder won.

A joint procurement process run by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in the region ensured that Cinapsis, a company with ties to two senior members of staff, were awarded the contract.

It disadvantaged Consultant Connect Ltd (CC), the incumbent provider in Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire. The company sued the three CCGs involved, arguing that the process was non-transparent, skewed in favour of Cinapsis and in breach of various provisions in the Public Contracts Regulations.

In a judgement handed down on Friday (July 29), Mr Justice Kerr found that the contract specification was “not carried out transparently”, was written “on the basis of Cinapsis’ existing provision to NHS Gloucestershire”, and evolved “with a view to ensuring Cinapsis could meet it”.

“The CCGs were concerned not to ask for a service Cinapsis could not provide,” Mr Justice Kerr said.

The dispute arose after former Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced in 2019 he was banning pagers from the NHS.

As the groups worked to find a new provider, CCG leaders at the three bodies in Bristol, Gloucestershire and Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire floated the possibility of a joint procurement process.

John Turp, who worked for NHS Gloucestershire, and Dr Malcolm Gerald, who also worked for the Gloucestershire CCG but was described by others as “the [inside] man”, were involved in the process, before Dr Gerald was asked to stand aside.

But Mr Turp was “partisan in advocating the appointment of Cinapsis and not assessing its performance in a balanced and objective way”, and “lobbied tirelessly in favour of a joint procurement of Cinapsis”.

The pair also “colluded to breach CC’s confidence” after Mr Turp sent screenshots from a presentation by CC to Dr Gerald, who later “sought to strengthen Cinapsis’s position further by sending advice and draft text to” a Cinapsis representative.

The judge found the process “began to tilt” to favouring Cinapsis from early November 2020, when the presentation from CC was held.

CC was unaware it was being marked by the Bath and Swindon CCG in that meeting, and did not know what the criteria was or the marking scheme.

NHS Gloucestershire also held a “mini-competition” in which Cinapsis were the only firm invited.

Writing in his 350-paragraph judgement, Mr Justice Kerr said: “Mr Turp and Dr Gerald succeeded in their objective of securing the award of the… contract to Cinapsis.”

He added that other firms were not given “adequate opportunity” to challenge, adding the competition was “unreal” because the “CCGs’ requirements were tailored to those of the competitor”.

The Bath and Swindon CCG also “did not reveal to CC the full truth about the reasons for the procurement of Cinapsis” and “wanted to retain CC’s good will”.

The judge added the winner was picked by a “covertly competitive process”, then using an NHS framework “without genuine competition” and that regulations were not complied with.

He ruled that both Mr Turp and Dr Gerald had “conflicts of interest arising in the conduct of this procurement procedure”.

But the judge said there was no question of corruption and both men wanted the best for the local NHS.

Mr Justice Kerr shortened the contract by 14 months, meaning it will now end in January 2023.

Gloucestershire CCG was fined £10,000, whilst Bristol CCG was told to pay £4,000.

Bath, North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire CCG was given a £8,000 civil penalty.

They must also pay damages.

A spokesperson for NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire Integrated Care Board, which replaced the CCG last month, said: “Whilst we are disappointed in the court’s ruling, we are committed to learning from this case.

“This has been a difficult process for all parties. We remain focused on ensuring high quality Advice and Guidance services that bring benefits to the people we serve.”

You can read the judgement here.