Union chiefs have called into question a Kirklees health firm after it lost its contract to provide Huddersfield’s out of hours dental services.
Unison says Batley-based social enterprise Locala intended to submit a tender but failed to do so in time.
The not-for-profit company did not clarify if it had missed the deadline or decided not to compete for a contract renewal.
Unison health spokesman, Gary Cleaver, said: “Locala is a company that’s involved with the review of the health care in Huddersfield and Calderdale.
“If they can’t tender for their own service it’s worrying – how are they going to cope when they’re running all the other services?”
NHS England said it could not confirm if Locala had been part of the process due to tendering competition secrecy rules.
A spokesperson for Locala Community Partnerships said: “Locala will not be submitting tenders for the of Out of Hours Dental Services for West Yorkshire but we will continue to deliver this service until the contract expires in September at which point we will work with the new provider to ensure a seamless transition for service users.
“As a community interest company – a type of social enterprise – we have invested in our ability to respond to new opportunities and our team reviews a broad base of prospects on a daily basis.
“We are currently pursuing a number of exciting opportunities.”
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