9.5 For any new facilities, IM&T and equipment could be procured by the following means:
• through the main PPP contract with the project company;
• through separate public funding; or
• through separate PPP contracts with IM&T and equipment suppliers.
It would also be possible to procure different elements of IM&T and equipment through any combination of the three procurement methods.
9.6 The decision on whether to procure IM&T and equipment as part of the main PPP contract should be taken before the scheme is advertised in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU). This is discussed further below.
9.7 If IM&T and equipment are to be procured separately from the main PPP contract then these contracts can be tendered at a later stage. However, NHS bodies should ensure that they have a clear understanding of the timetable that the separate IM&T and equipment procurements will have to be set against in order to fit in with the timetable of the main PPP procurement.
9.8 In particular, when drawing up the output specifications for the main project, NHS bodies will have to include sufficient allowance to cater for IM&T and equipment to be procured separately. This will have an impact on the specifications for design space requirements and may impact on the level of provision of engineering services.