Awarded contract

Provision of Toxicology Services

Details

Buyer: Essex County Council
Supplier(s): Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Value: £838,000
Duration: 3 years
Topic: Pathology services
Published: 20 February 2026
Source: uk:find_a_tender

Tender description

Essex Coroner Service has procured a contract for the provision of toxicology services on behalf of his Majesty's Coroner. The contract requirement includes; 1. Collection of samples from Coroners approved Mortuaries 2. Testing of samples 3. Production of a report to support the pathologist in determining the cause of death Contract will run from April 2026 for an initial period of 3 years with possible extensions of 24 months ## Contract award Title: C014PA Provision of Toxicology Services

Timeline

Completed: Award date18 February 2026
Completed: Award published20 February 2026
Current notice
Next: Contract expiry date31 March 2029in 2 years

About the buyer

Essex County Council is a local authority that procures through three in-house teams, Corporate, Place and People. Larger opportunities are advertised through Open, the council's own tendering and contract management platform. Smaller and lower-value contract notices instead appear on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. The Place team commissions highways, waste, energy and transport work, including a dedicated Dynamic Purchasing System for bidders. Construction projects separately run through the Essex Construction Framework, a route for regional contractors. The People team commissions education, social care, adult support and public health services across the county.

UK local government drives £140bn in annual procurement, led by social protection (£66.6bn) and education (£57.1bn).

Over the past 5 years, most of Essex County Council's contract awards have been in IT services, construction work and business services.

Relevant CPV codes

85111800 · Pathology services
85111810 · Blood analysis services
85111820 · Bacteriological analysis services
85145000 · Services provided by medical laboratories

Decision makers

Connect with the people behind this procurement.

Job title	Phone number	Work email
Head of Procurement	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@essex-county-council.gov
Commercial Director	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@essex-county-council.gov
Procurement Manager	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@essex-county-council.gov
Category Lead	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@essex-county-council.gov
Senior Buyer	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@essex-county-council.gov
Contracts Manager	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@essex-county-council.gov