Medical Tenders: The Fundamentals

Medical tenders and where to find them

Medical tenders could be used to procure a wide range of medical goods or services. They can range from the provision and installation of medical equipment to medical services and medical insurance.

Within the UK, the largest procurer of medical services is the NHS. The responsibility of the procurement of medical tenders is split between several organisations. These are:

  • The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
  • NHS England
  • Public Health England.

Medical tenders for the NHS are commissioned by:

  • Local Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • The Crown Commercial Service
  • The NHS Supply Chain and NHS Procurement Hubs.

Before starting your tendering response for any medical tenders, you should ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do I have the time and resources to fulfil the contract?
  • Does my business meet the economic and financial thresholds required?
  • Do I have enough experience?
  • Can I produce a high-quality submission?

If the answer to any of the above questions is no, then it’s probably not right for you. Tendering for work takes a lot of time and resources. It can be a lucrative line of business to go down however, particularly in Healthcare.

This is because healthcare and medical tenders are often comprised of framework agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS). These can run for years at a time and, when working in the public sector, can guarantee income for your business. 

Need help with writing your next medical tenders?

If you don’t have the resources or time inhouse to write a winning medical tender, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. We offer four bid writing support packages that can get you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully. It includes a 12-month subscription to Healthcare Tenders.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next medical tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a medical tender response and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect medical tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Where can I find medical tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find medical tenders. You likely don’t have the time to trawl through thousands of websites, relying on inaccurate CPV codes. Searching for the right opportunity for your business can turn into quite the headache. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Our Healthcare Tenders portal uploads all the relevant tenders in the healthcare industry across the UK. This helps to streamline the process,  saving you time and resources.

What makes Healthcare Tenders different?

Healthcare Tenders is a time-saving tool. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sites for the latest healthcare leads and opportunities. They upload a whole range of opportunities such as single-provider contracts, NHS frameworks and DPSs. Once they are uploaded to our portal, you can filter the results by budget, keyword, location and more.

A dedicated Account Manager is on-hand to answer any questions you may have about the tendering process. You’ll also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox containing all the new healthcare tenders uploaded that day. This will save you even more time, allowing you to find the perfect medical tenders for your business.

Below are previous medical tenders sourced on our portal:

Alternative Provider Medical Service — Windermere and Bowness Medical Practice

NHS England and NHS Improvement North West- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

16-12-2020

Devon CCG – Primary Medical Services in Sherford (ITT)

NHS SCW CSU- South West- Budget: £819,700

01-12-2020

Forensic Medical Services (Children’s and Archway)

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

08-01-2021

General Medical Services (17J)

NHS Highland- Scotland- Budget: £300,000

01-12-2020

Provision of Primary Medical Services at HMP Kilmarnock

NHS Ayrshire & Arran- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

25-02-2021

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages are particularly useful if your business runs across two sectors, such as Healthcare and Technology.

A dedicated Account Manager will carefully consider which medical tenders are most suitable for your business. This will help improve your competitor awareness and bid success rate.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable medical leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information.

How to Find & Win NHS Contracts for Tender

NHS contracts for tender and where to find them

NHS contracts for tender can seem daunting if you’re unfamiliar with the process. Public sector tendering in general can be a bit of a minefield and you’re bound to have plenty of questions. Notoriously, securing NHS contracts can be a rather lengthy and arduous procurement process. However, there is a constant and steady stream of NHS contracts for tender being released.

What type of NHS contracts for tender are there?

The NHS procures many goods, works and services via a range of different tendering procedures. NHS tenders are very diverse. They could range from the maintenance of lifts with their hospitals to the procurement of beds for patients.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Public Health England and NHS England are responsible for NHS procurement. Various streams within the NHS and government commission NHS contracts for tender. These include:

  • Local Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • The Crown Commercial Service
  • The NHS Supply Chain.

The NHS uses various NHS procurement hubs in order to buy whatever they need. Largely speaking this is done via framework agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS).

What is a framework agreement?

A framework agreement allows for multiple suppliers on the same contract. They are often used when the buyer has a large scope in multiple locations. Having multiple suppliers across multiple locations can help meet demand and ensure the buyer’s client’s needs are met.

Frameworks often run for longer terms than single supplier contracts. Hopeful suppliers will have to pass the PQQ or SQ stage. Then they will need to pass the ITT in order to secure a place on a framework. Successful applications will then be awarded a place on a shortlist of chosen suppliers. After that, a buyer will then release an additional ITT or mini competition when they need something.

Suppliers on the framework agreement will then compete, submitting an ITT response. This saves time for both the supplier and the buyer. This is because they do not need to go through the PQQ stage again.

Goods and services on frameworks are often divided into multiple Lots. These can be for a specific good, service or location. Instead of being required to deliver all aspects of a contract, you only deliver your business’s speciality.

What’s the difference between a framework agreement and a DPS?

A DPS is almost the same as a framework agreement. The main difference is that you can apply to be a supplier on a DPS any time that it is open. They, too, can run for multiple years at a time.

How are NHS contracts for tender awarded?

NHS contracts for tender are awarded to the most economically advantageous tender, known as the MEAT. The MEAT does not mean that the cheapest bid wins. Buyers are looking at more than just price. Other aspects that they could be considered independently or in combinations are:

  • Accessibility
  • Patient quality, care and safeguarding
  • Health and safety
  • Risk management
  • Equality, diversity and environmental policies
  • Ability to deliver on time.

Does my written response for an NHS contract matter?

In short yes. Buyer’s care about the quality of your writing and NHS contracts are no exception. Overall weightings can vary, and your response is split between price and quality. Obviously, you want to score as highly as possible for both. In order to do this for your quality response, it’s not exactly ground-breaking that the quality of your writing matters.

A few things to consider when writing your response to NHS contracts for tender are:

  • Focus on being persuasive. Why are you the best business for the job?
  • Be as clear and concise as possible while hitting as close to the word or page count as possible.
  • Have attention to detail, but don’t be overly descriptive.
  • Don’t allow room for the buyers to make assumptions. This could risk allowing the buyer to make the wrong assumption.

Need support?

Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit, and that’s ok. If you have found NHS contracts for tender but don’t have time, our sister company, Hudson Succeed, can help. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bidding experience collectively.

We offer four bid writing packages to suit every tendering need.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business grow.

Where can I find NHS contracts for tender?

You may be wondering where you can find NHS contracts for tender. You likely don’t have the time to trawl through various websites relying on inaccurate CPV codes. Our Healthcare Tenders portal can help streamline the process saving you time and resources.

What makes Healthcare Tenders different?

Our Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sites for the latest healthcare leads and opportunities. They upload a whole range of opportunities such as NHS frameworks, DPS and single-provider contracts. Once they are uploaded to our portal, you can filter the results by budget, keyword, location and more.

A dedicated Account Manager is on-hand to answer any questions you may have about NHS contracts for tender. You’ll also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox containing all the new healthcare tenders uploaded that day. This will save you even more time, allowing you to find the perfect NHS contract for your business.

Below are some examples of NHS contracts for tender that we recently sourced on our portal:

GB-Poole: FootPrints Continuous Support Renewal

Dorset Health Care University NHS Foundation Trust- London- Budget: £100,000

22-02-2021

St/H FH Comms Room

Epsom & St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

18-02-2021

Service Maintenance of Lifts

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: £12,000

23-02-2021

Privacy/Medical Screens for COVID-19 Vaccination Programme

NHS England- North East- Budget: £ 718,500

16-02-2021

Community Beds – Partnership

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust- Eastern- Budget: Undisclosed

19-02-2021

Deputy Heads of Midwifery and Deputy Directors of Midwifery leadership accelerator programme

NHS England (Commissioning Board)- London- Budget: Undisclosed

16-02-2021

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help you find more NHS contracts for tender – even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages are particularly useful if your business runs across two sectors such as Healthcare and Technology. A dedicated Account Manager will carefully consider which NHS contracts are most suitable for your business. This will help improve your bid success rate and improve your competitor awareness.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management. This includes registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information.

3 Things to Consider When Writing Your Ambulance Tender Response

Answers to your ambulance tenders FAQ’s

It can seem daunting when writing a response to an ambulance tender. The public sector requires a lot of additional policies and requirements to be in place when tendering. This blog hopes to answer all your FAQ’s to do with ambulance tenders and the NHS Ambulance Service tendering procedure.

What are the UK Ambulance Services?

The UK Ambulance Service is comprised of 10 individual NHS Ambulance Trusts in England:

  • East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
  • London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • South Western Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust
  • Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust
  • South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust
  • South East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust
  • East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Then you have the following services covering the rest of the UK:

  • The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
  • The Scottish Ambulance Service
  • The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust

The London Ambulance Service alone spends approximately £78 million annually procuring a range of goods and services. They work with a range of public organisations such as:

What are NHS ambulance tenders used for?

The NHS may put ambulance tenders out to procure many goods and services. Their principal areas of spending include:

  • Frontline staff and services

Information technology

  • Desktops and services
  • Communications technology
  • Networks

Fleet and logistics

  • Emergency vehicles
  • Accident damage repairs
  • Fuel

Medical

  • Defibrillators and associated medical equipment
  • Medical gases
  • Medical consumables such as bandages and gloves

Professional services

  • HR recruitment
  • Travel and accommodation
  • Insurance 

What are ambulance tender framework agreements?

Framework agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) are common ways that the NHS uses to procure ambulance goods and services. Framework agreements are used to appoint multiple suppliers to provide various services and goods. They can run for several years at a time with the possibility of extension. Many frameworks and DPSs will enable you to choose a ‘Lot’. A Lot is used for specific goods, service or location. It enables you to work alongside other service providers on a contract. Businesses are typically able to apply for three Lots. This is as long as you’re able to prove you have the capabilities to fulfil the contract if successful.

3 things to consider when writing your ambulance tender response

  1. Be in keeping with the general standards

An ambulance tender response will likely require you to have certain accreditations, qualifications and policies. These will vary depending on the goods or service being procured. Some examples that could be required are:

  • ISO 9001; 14001; 23001; 27001
  • OHSAS 18001
  • COSHH
  • RMADS
  1. Be the MEAT

Public sector organisations have a responsibility to ensure all public money received is used as resourcefully as possible. Due to this, successful tenders achieve the best value for money and contracts are awarded to the MEAT. MEAT stands for the most economically advantageous tender.

A MEAT means that the buyer is looking at more than just the price. They will be looking at a range of factors which could include:

  • Accessibility
  • Innovation
  • Customer service
  • Technical ability
  • Quality
  • Ability to deliver on time
  • Environmental benefits
  1. Sustainable development

Coinciding with MEAT, sustainable development, also referred to as social value is important for any public sector contract. You must comply with all applicable environmental, social and labour law requirements. The NHS and public sector, in general, take this seriously. As of January 2021, there is a mandatory 10% weighting on social value within all public contacts. Bear in mind 10% is the minimum, some can have a weighting of up to 30%.

This should not be an afterthought when writing your ambulance tender response. You should be including policies that you can actually deliver on and maintain. Social value responses expect you to demonstrate the social, environmental and economic aspects. They want to know you’re committed to aiding things such as:

  • COVID-19 recovery
  • Climate change
  • Reducing waste
  • Paying the Living Wage of all staff and supply chain subcontractors
  • Helping fight economic inequality
  • Creating a diverse and fair workplace
  • Introduce learning opportunities to help fight unemployment

The NHS will be looking to see tender responses that encourage the NHS Long Term Plan and sustainability.

5 tips for responding to an ambulance tender

  1. Read the information for providers and the specification carefully. Always ask clarification questions.
  2. Give a full response. Don’t assume that the buyer knows anything, they can only evaluate what’s written down in your answer.
  3. Focus on answering the questions asked. They can only evaluate what’s relevant. You should demonstrate how you will meet the requirements of the tender.
  4. Be clear on your pricing model and provide full costings.
  5. Before submission, double-check you have signed and returned the declarations.

How can we help?

Once you’ve found the right ambulance tender for your business, we can help you write the response. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, have 60 years of collective experience of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Our Bid Writers can help your business win its next ambulance tender. We offer four bid writing and support packages.

Tender Writing

If you’re interested in a specific ambulance tender you’ve seen why not send it our way? Our Bid Writers will take care of the bid response for you and they’ll even submit it on your behalf. They’ll provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown.

Tender Mentor

Our Tender Mentor service analyses your tender content, double-checking it for any errors before you submit.

Tender Ready

The Tender Ready package is for those who have never tendered before. We offer a three-stage process that makes sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Discover portal of your choice.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve written an ambulance tender response but aren’t seeing the results you want, Tender Improvement can help. Our Bid Writers will assess your supporting documents and previous tender submissions. They’ll give you some guidance and feedback on how to improve next time.

Where can I find ambulance tenders?

Our Healthcare Tenders portal is home to hundreds of live healthcare contract opportunities, frameworks and DPS’ from across the UK. These can be lucrative opportunities for your business. They are a fine way to secure a pipeline of work for your business.

What makes Healthcare Tenders different?

Good question. A subscription to Healthcare Tenders allows you to view all opportunities from multiple UK portals in one, central, easy-to-navigate place. We don’t rely on often mislabelled CPV codes. Our Opportunity Trackers manually trawl through thousands of sites daily, uploading them via keyword. This means you’ll never miss an opportunity for your business again.

You’re able to filter the results by keyword, budget, location and more. This saves you even more time, allowing you to tailor the results to suit you. You’ll also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox containing all the live tenders found that day.

Here are some recent ambulance tenders that we sourced on our Healthcare Tenders portal:

Tender for the Provision of Frontline Ambulance

States of Jersey – International – Budget: Undisclosed

26-01-2021

Framework Agreement for the Supply of Non-Emergency Patient Ambulance Transport

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust – West Midlands

Budget: Undisclosed

25-04-2019

Non-Emergency Ambulance Transport Service

Procurement and Logistics Service – Northern Ireland- Budget: £19,620,000

09-01-2019

Specialised Critical Care Ambulance Transport Service for The East Midlands Region

NHS England and NHS Improvement (Specialised Commissioning) – East Midlands

Budget: £12,250,000

14-08-2020

Market Engagement Event For Specialised Critical Care Ambulance Transport Services Related Procurement

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit – East Midlands – Budget: Undisclosed

12-02-2020

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

Upgrade to Discover Elite

We know how busy you are running your own business. That’s why we want to make life even easier for you with our new Discover Elite packages. This upgraded feature is particularly useful if your business runs across two sectors such as Healthcare and Technology, for example. It helps streamline the tendering process, even more, eliminating the frustrating, time-consuming pre-bid admin aspect of tendering.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool package does what it says on the tin. This package includes:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover tender portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns to help you make bid or no-bid
  • A dedicated Account Manager to help track the perfect tender opportunities for your business.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
  • Public and private buyer portal management. This includes registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.

Become a Pre-Bid Master

Become a Pre-Bid Master package includes all the perks above, plus the following two perks:

  • Up to seven breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information.

5 Tips for Writing a Successful Orthodontic Tendering Response

The orthodontic tendering process explained

The majority of orthodontic tendering opportunities are for the public sector, specifically the NHS. The Midlands, North and East of England are the regions where most orthodontic tendering opportunities lie for the NHS.

NHS England commissions orthodontic services in the NHS England Midland and East via managed clinical networks (MCNs). These are slightly different from other NHS services that are procured via NHS procurement hubs.

There are quite a few hoops you must jump through if your business is considering the orthodontic tendering process. They’re there for good reasons, as providing the best patient care should be at the heart of any healthcare procurement.

Orthodontic tendering can seem like a daunting process if you’re new to it. A combination of quality improvement and lower cost agendas can make it difficult. The ever-changing landscape of patient care and clinical skills is tough to keep on top of. Providing trustworthy and safe dental care is unfortunately no longer enough to win.

With that in mind, this blog includes some helpful tips on how to succeed at orthodontic tendering.

Before you even begin you need to read the specification carefully and ask yourself the following:

Does my business meet the minimum economic and financial thresholds? 

Do I have the resources to deliver the goods, works or services that are required?

Do I have the necessary experience and qualifications required?

You should always ask yourself these questions before you begin your tendering response. It’s the ultimate question: to bid or not to bid?  You must establish your answers to these questions before you proceed.

If the answer is no to any of the above, it may not be the right opportunity for your business. If the answer is yes, you should carry on and start planning your response. 

What is the orthodontic tendering process?

PQQ

Typically, the orthodontic tendering process starts when NHS England commissions a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). This is released when they’re looking to procure orthodontic works, goods, or services. A PQQ can also be known as a selection questionnaire (SQ). They are essentially where you provide your company’s information and a box-ticking exercise. You’ll need to confirm non-collusion and establish your environmental and equality and diversity policies.

ITT

If you meet all the minimum criteria at the PQQ stage, you will be then sent an invitation to tender (ITT). This is where the serious work begins. It’s within the ITT that you detail how to plan to carry out and fulfil the contract if you win. The suppliers with the best chance of winning will read the specification, and formulate a response that demonstrates:

“Yes, I can do that, here’s how and here’s the benefit to you if you pick me”.

You have to persuade the buyers into thinking you’re the best business for the job. You must show that you not only meet the service requirements but will deliver:

  • Outstanding quality
  • Improved patient outcomes
  • Value for money

Once you’ve submitted your bid the buyer will then review each one. They will then award the contract to the highest scoring tender response based on both quality and price.

Dynamic Purchasing Systems

Orthodontic tendering opportunities often are presented in Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPSs). There are also Personal Dental Services Agreements and Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing Systems (PDPS). These are similar to framework agreements that are frequently used within the healthcare sector and the NHS. The main differences are that a business can join at any time, and there’s no limit on numbers of suppliers.

Traditional tendering contracts will be awarded to one supplier. However, DPS’ are multi-supplier agreements that are used when a buyer wants to procure multiple goods or services. Once a business has passed both the PQQ and ITT stages, the buyer will create a shortlist of approved suppliers. Then, for each new project, they will hold a mini competition (or call for competition) with the pre-approved suppliers. Suppliers don’t have to re-do the PQQ stage, saving time they can skip straight to the ITT stage.

Securing a place on a DPS can be a lucrative opportunity for your dental business. They can run for multiple years with the possibility of extensions.

Lots

Orthodontic tenders are often broken down into Lots. Each Lot may be a different service, product or location. They can be defined either by value per Lot, or a defined quantity of UOAs (Units of Orthodontic Activity). Your orthodontic tendering response needs to be Lot-specific and aligned to the number of UOAs. A business is able to bid for multiple Lots. However, you will need to demonstrate that you can fulfil the needs or service of multiple Lots. You will also have to prove that you have the financial stability to undertake the work of multiple Lots.

5 tips for writing successful orthodontic tendering responses:

  1. Have a patient-focused approach

As mentioned above, the NHS has a customer-centred approach. They want to know how you will provide the best patient care while meeting their eligibility criteria. The patent care must be robust, and your quality assurance processes must be watertight.

  1. Evidence is key

Proven evidence is key when submitting a bid in the public sector. Buyers want to be reassured that you have the necessary experience and completed work of similar scope. Often, they’ll require up to three case studies of similar contracts you’ve completed within the last five years. The NHS wants to have concrete evidence that demonstrates you have previously delivered successful services. You may be required to attach testimonials and the contact information of previous clients.

  1. Adhere to best in practice

Your business must demonstrate the uphold best in practice as with any business in the healthcare sector. You must ensure that all aspects of your clinical governance are as robust as possible. For example, you must adhere to:

  • Regulatory standards
  • Clearly defined roles
  • Clinical audits
  • Safeguarding procedures
  • Patient safety
  • Health and safety
  • Complaints procedure
  • Responsibilities and accountabilities
  • Incident reporting procedures
  • Feedback mechanisms
  • Sustainable practice
  • Equality and diversity practices

You should establish the most appropriate governance mechanisms and networks. These could include, but aren’t limited to:

  • NHS England
  • Orthodontic MCN
  • Local Dental Network (LDN)
  • Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG)
  • Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs)
  • British Dental Association (BDA)
  • Local Dental Committees (LDC)
  • Local Authority Health and Wellbeing Boards and Scrutiny Commissions
  • Healthwatch
  • British Orthodontic Society
  • Community Dental Services
  1. Have a comprehensive mobilisation plan

Your mobilisation plan needs to demonstrate potential risks and how they are to be mitigated. The NHS is risk-averse so you will have to take the needs of patients into consideration. You must show how you’ve incorporated all the elements into a thorough and comprehensive mobilisation plan. The NHS is focused on sustainability so it’s worth considering how you can factor that in.

  1. The quality of your writing matters

Most UOAs and orthodontic tenders have set prices. This means there’s little room to gain a competitive edge via pricing. This means the quality of your written response matters. You should never assume the buyer knows anything. Leaving room for assumptions can allow for the wrong assumptions to be made. Explain everything clearly and concisely. Leave the overly technical jargon out.

We get that you don’t always have the time to formulate an orthodontic tendering response – writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit. So, we offer bid writing support packages that can help get you on the path to winning your next tender.

Our Bid Writers at sister company, Hudson Succeed, are experts in producing winning bids. They have 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. They offer four bid writing services:

Where can I find the right orthodontic tendering opportunities for my business?

Finding the right orthodontic tendering opportunity for your business can take a large chunk out of your day. There are thousands of sites that host tenders across multiple sectors all throughout the UK. It can turn into a full-time job.

Luckily for you, we have a solution that can save you time. Our Healthcare Tenders portal is a tendering platform that hosts hundreds of new healthcare opportunities from across the UK. We don’t reply on mislabelled CPV codes to bring you leads. Instead, our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload industry relevant tenders to our portal.

You are then able to filter the results via keyword, budget, location and more. This means you get access to all available live tenders that are relevant to your business. 

Below are some past orthodontic tendering opportunities that we sourced on our portal:

Expression of Interest for Specialist Led Orthodontic Services in the Colchester Area, Essex.

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit- Eastern- Budget: Undisclosed

Expressions of Interest for the Provision of Orthodontics in Lincolnshire

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of Orthodontic Services North Ceredigion

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership-Procurement Services (hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust)- Wales- Budget: £1,369,922

Supply of Orthodontic Consumables

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust- West Midlands- Budget: £73,000

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Start a free trial

Where to Find an NHS Tender Portal

Answering 6 FAQs about NHS tender portals and where to find them

You may be wondering where you can find an NHS tender portal if you’re thinking about tendering for business. Don’t waste time scouring various NHS tender portals. You can find all NHS tenders and more on Healthcare Tenders.

  1. Where can you find an NHS tender portal?

When searching for a good NHS tender portal, consider finding a one, central portal that hosts all NHS tendering opportunities. Our Healthcare Tenders portal hosts all NHS tenders as well as other public and private sector opportunities. It takes regular NHS tender portals to the next level.

  1. What makes the best NHS tender portal?

  • No reliance on CPV codes

When looking for a good NHS tender portal, you don’t want to be relying on inaccurate CPV codes. These are often mislabelled, allowing plenty of opportunities to slip through the net. Studies have shown that nearly 30% of CPV codes are tagged inaccurately.

The best NHS tender portals will manually upload any NHS tender opportunities they find. This allows you to see 100% of tenders that are available across the UK.

  • Results you can filter

 NHS tender portals, ideally, will have results that you can filter. Filtering the results by keyword, budget or location, allows you to find the perfect opportunity for your business. NHS tender portals have tenders for multiple services, and not all of them are relevant to your business. Being able to filter results allows you to save time and skip the irrelevant opportunities. 

  • Email alerts

To make finding NHS tender opportunities for your business even easier, Healthcare Tenders sends you daily email alerts. These will include all of the live NHS tendering opportunities uploaded that day, saving you even more time.

  1. What’s published on an NHS tender portal?

You may be wondering what business opportunities are posted to NHS tender portals. The NHS tend to procure a whole wealth of healthcare works, goods and services. It can vary from digital solutions to consumables and care workers to x-ray machines.

Often, there will be opportunities to secure a place on a framework agreement or dynamic purchasing system (DPS). These can be lucrative opportunities for your business, and they can run for years at a time. Securing a place on one of these systems allows you to build experience, safeguarding a reliable income for your business.

  1. What are NHS Framework agreements and DPSs?

Framework agreements are often used to appoint multiple organisations to provide goods or services. The process is similar to an average tender. It will start when the buyer releases a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). This a type of box-ticking exercise showing the buyer that you meet the minimum criteria they need for the contract.

If successful at the PQQ stage, you’ll then receive an invitation to tender (ITT). The buyer will give you the specification that details all the requirements for the work they need. A supplier will formulate a response persuading the buyer that they’re the best company for the job. Once the suppliers have submitted their response, the buyer will review them. Then, the successful applicant will be placed on a list of approved suppliers known as a framework.

Once the buyer has a need to procure other goods or service, they can hold a mini competition. This is when all the approved suppliers create an ITT response. As they’re already on the framework or DPS, they don’t need to complete the PQQ stage again. This saves both the buyer and supplier time, thus streamlining the process.

NHS procurement hubs manage, maintain and develop procurement framework agreements for public sector organisations and the NHS. There are four NHS procurement hubs and one of them is the NHS London Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP). The NHS LPP serves the health community in London and the surrounding areas.

  1. What are the common themes within NHS tenders?

There are some common themes when applying to various NHS tenders. No matter the works, goods or services you’re applying to provide, you’ll need to remember the following.

Case Studies

You will be required to demonstrate relevant case studies of work you have completed to a similar scope. The buyer may ask for up to three examples within the last five years. Remember to keep them relevant and state how you overcame any unexpected challenges. Buyers want to be reassured that you have some experience in delivering a contract.

Qualifications

A buyer will expect you to have certain qualifications and accreditations relevant to your profession. They want to know that you are qualified for the job and have the capabilities to fulfil the contract. The specific qualifications required should be listed in the specification. You want to make sure that your business is aligned with best practice.

Some accreditations that could be relevant are:

  • ISO 9001; 13485; 14001; 27001
  • NVQs (usually level 3 or above)

MEAT

As the NHS is a public sector, as with any public sector organisation the contract is awarded to the MEAT. The MEAT stands for the most economically advantageous tender, meaning the buyer looks at more than just price. The cheapest bid here does not win. The buyer assesses various factors within your quality response. These can include, but are not limited to:

  • Innovation
  • Technical ability
  • Quality
  • Ability to deliver on time
  • Accessibility
  • Proposed design of healthcare solutions
  • Environmental benefits

Each aspect can either be looked at independently by the client, or in a mix with other considerations.

Social Value

It wouldn’t be an NHS tender blog without mentioning the importance of social value within your tender response. The public sector builds upon MEAT by including a compulsory minimum weighting of 10% on social value. This is included within your quality response and, in some cases, can have a weighting of up to 30%.

Social value requires you to consider the environmental, economic and social aspects of the contract. Buyers will expect you to make promises that you can keep. Some examples of social values you could include in your tender response are:

  • How your business supports COVID-19 recovery.
  • The environmental considerations you’re taking to reduce waste and fight climate change.
  • The equal opportunity policies you implement.
  • How you’re tackling economic inequality.
  1. How can I find the right NHS tender for my business?

The ultimate question of to bid or not to bid. You must ask yourself seriously before you consider applying to any tender if the opportunity is right for you. You must read the specification carefully, twice, just to be sure. Then, you must ask yourself the following:

  • Do I have enough experience?
  • Does my business meet the economic and financial threshold?
  • Do I have the time and resources to produce a high-quality submission?
  • Can I actually fulfil the contract if I’m successful?

These four questions should be the foundation of any tender you’re considering applying for. If the answer is no to any of the above, then it’s likely that the tender isn’t suitable for you. There’s no point wasting the time and money applying to an opportunity that isn’t right for your business.

Supply to NHS Portal/NHS Tender Portal

The Institute for Government states the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) spent £70 billion on procurement in 2018/19. The vast majority of this is on NHS spending. The NHS accounts for around 80% of all healthcare spending in the UK.

In England, most healthcare goods are bulk purchased centrally and distributed by the NHS Supply Chain. The NHS Supply Chain now manages more than 4.5 million orders a year.

A business can secure a pipeline of work by supplying a product to the NHS via portals. It can be quite a lucrative opportunity if you’re able to supply to the NHS portals.

How has NHS procurement changed since the COVID-19 pandemic?

The DHSC, Public Health England and NHS England are responsible for NHS procurement. Various stems within the NHS and government actually commission NHS contracts for tender. These include Local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) and the NHS Supply Chain.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NHS England has taken on the CCG’s powers to purchase services. This allows them with a greater ability to support the provision of services across the NHS during the crisis. The CCG are still purchasing services as well.

During this emergency, the government has issued guidance on emergency procurement. This sets out the routes that government bodies can take to gain access to good and services rapidly. This allows for direct awards, for example, meaning there is no competition resulting in accelerated procedures. Therefore, businesses can supply to the NHS without being on a portal.

The NHS uses various procurement hubs to buy goods and services they need. You can apply to supply to the NHS on their portals.

The benefits of working with the NHS Supply Chain

If you’re questioning whether to supply to NHS portals, there can be multiple benefits. The NHS Supply Chain offers benefits to suppliers that no other route to market can provide. For example:

  • Regional distribution centres that have over 9000 stocked lines, allowing for increased Supply Chain resilience.
  • Specialist procurement conversations with suppliers. The Category Tower Service Providers (CTSPs) have buying teams that have specialist knowledge of their product areas.
  • Suppliers are involved in the CTSP development of category and sourcing strategies, which are approved by their cross-functional teams.
  • Reduced point of sales, providing a single route to market for suppliers instead of applying to each trust individually. This is a particular benefit for SMEs, lowering sales and marketing costs.
  • The NHS Supply Chain has a dedicated Supplier Relationship Management (SRM) team that engage regularly with suppliers.
  • A clearer route for innovative products into the NHS Supply Chain. It has better links and offers the opportunity for collaborations with national programmes such as the National Wound Care Strategy.

It isn’t just suppliers that benefit from supplying to NHS portals. NHS trusts also benefit from the NHS Supply Chain. For example:

  • Savings that can be channelled back to frontline services.
  • More time enabled for core clinical activities.
  • Greater NHS clinical involvement in purchasing decisions.
  • More effective introduction of new products, particularly those with a focus on innovation.

What is the supplier code of conduct?

All suppliers for NHS tender portals must adhere to strict laws and ethics standards. It must comply with all laws applicable to its business, particularly for the following:

  • Child Labour
  • Forced Labour
  • Compensation and working hours
  • Discrimination
  • Health and safety
  • Business continuity planning
  • Improper payments/bribery
  • Environment
  • Business partner dialogue
  • Compliance with the supplier code of conduct.

Can SMEs join the NHS Supply Chain?

The UK government has an ongoing initiative to award 33% of all government contracts to SMEs by 2022. This applies to the NHS and they are keen to remove barriers to enable ease of trading with SMEs. Thus, ensuring that all suppliers, no matter their size, have equal and fair access to supply opportunities within the NHS.

The NHS Supply Chain has been structured to simplify the engagement with those who have expertise in their product category. SMEs will benefit from a quicker route for the evaluation of innovative products. These should offer more measurable benefits to patients or the health care system. It must compare and improve routine practice in the UK through HealthTechConnect.

How can I supply to NHS tender portals?

There are a number of actions you can take to learn more about becoming a supplier for the NHS Supply Chain. In order to supply to an NHS tender portal, you must first create an account online. You will be required to create a username and password to log in to your account.

You can also contact the Supplier Relationship Management Team or view the Procurement and Savings Calendar. This calendar will give an overview of contract launch activity, framework renewals and mini competitions all in one place.

Alternatively, you can sign up to our Healthcare Tenders portal. Here, you can find all NHS tendering opportunities and more in one place.

Join Healthcare Tenders

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

Upgrade to Discover Elite to save even more time

Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts even when you’re busy! An on-hand Account Manager will carefully consider which tenders are most suitable for your business. They can give you advice on how to supply to the NHS portal. This will help improve your bid success rate and competitor awareness.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool includes:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice. This option is perfect if your business overlaps two industries such as Healthcare and Technology, for example.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable healthcare leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Become a Pre-Bid Master package includes:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information.

So, now you know more about NHS tender portals and where to find them. You may be wondering how to win an NHS tender. If writing isn’t your strong suit, we can help.

Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, are experts in bid writing. They have 50+ years of bidding experience and an 87% success rate. The team provides four levels of bid writing support to suit all your tendering needs. Whether you’ve never tendered before, or simply need someone to proof your response – they can help.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found an NHS tender you want to go for but don’t know where to start, Tender Writing can help. Just send the specification over and one of our Bid Writers will provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll write the response for you, and even submit it on your behalf!

Tender Mentor

If you need a fresh set of eyes to look over your NHS tender response, Tender Mentor is for you. Our Bid Writers analyse your response, notifying you of any errors before you submit.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve been tendering but aren’t seeing any success the Tender Improvement programme can help. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous tender responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Tender Ready

The Tender Ready package is for those who are completely new to the tendering process. This package offers:

  • An Organisation-wide bid library.
  • Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals.
  • Additional Flexible Benefits Options.
  • A 12-month Discover subscription to Healthcare Tenders.

Get in touch to gain further insight into our services and see which opportunities can benefit your business.

5 Things Required for Mental Health Tenders in the UK

A breakdown of mental health tenders in the UK

If you’re applying for mental health tenders in the UK, it can be slightly overwhelming to know where to start. The process can seem confusing, but this blog will help clear a few things up.

One in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind in England. The cost of mental health problems reached almost £120 million in England.

How are mental health services purchased?

The typical process for mental health tenders in the UK is that a buyer will first release a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). A buyer could be looking to procure good or services in the public or private sector. The majority of mental health tenders in the UK are procured by public sector organisations such as councils and the NHS.

Potential suppliers will then complete the PQQ which asks for general information on your business such as insurance and policies. It’s basically a box-ticking exercise ensuring that you meet the minimum criteria needed to fulfil the project.

If successful, you will then be sent an invitation to tender (ITT). The ITT will include the specification which you should pay great attention to. It will detail and specify how the response should be formed including word counts. It will provide a breakdown of:

  • Submission deadline – date and time
  • Procurement timetable
  • Scoring breakdown
  • Deadline for clarification questions

5 things that are required for mental health tenders in the UK

If you’re new to the tendering process it can be hard to know where to begin. Below are five things that are required for mental health tenders in the UK. It’s worth noting, however, that each tender may require additional information. This is a general guide covering the basics.

  1. Proposed methodology

Within the ITT, you will typically be asked for the proposed methodology for the project. You must clearly demonstrate how the aims will be met. Clearly explaining your business’s proposed approach to delivering the brief will help you score highly. You could do this by outlining the sustainability and robustness of your method.

It’s also worth noting the limitations of your proposed methods. Buyers want you to demonstrate your business’s ability to work flexibly as there can often be bumps in the road. Showing how you can adapt and overcome these challenges will help you stand out from your competitors. The proposed methodology should also demonstrate that you are able to meet the timelines that are outlined in the specification. This further demonstrates that you have paid attention to what is needed and can fulfil this.

  1. Staffing and capacity

Mental health tenders in the UK will often require you to include staff CVs. This is because buyers want to know that you and your staff are qualified to carry out the project. This is particularly due to the sensitive nature of the job. You will be asked to provide relevant qualifications, competency and specialist skills that you and your staff hold. You should show that you have the capacity to perform the job at hand. This will be in the specification, and it’s worth double-checking that you have the resources before starting your response.

  1. Timetable and delivery

Mental health tenders may ask you to provide a timetable for the delivery of each of the key tasks. These will be outlined in the specification and you should formulate a realistic timetable. You may be required to highlight project milestones as well as the allocation of staff for each task.

You should pay particular attention to the timetable as the buyer may want it to form part of the contract. This will often be specified if this is the case, but it’s’ something to consider. You shouldn’t be adding an unrealistic timetable that you won’t be able to use when the time comes.

  1. Risk assessment

A risk assessment is a crucial part of mental health tenders in the UK. Buyers will want you to identify any risks associated with the project and you must explain how you’ll mitigate them. Mental health is a complex sector with built-in unpredictability, so you want to demonstrate a balance between control and care. Risk assessments can help keep patients, staff and all others involved safe.

  • IOSH (Institute for Occupational Health and Safety)
  • ISO 22301; 31000

A risk assessment should typically:

  • Identify potential hazards.
  • Determine who might be harmed and how.
  • Evaluate the risks and implement precautions.
  • Record your significant findings.
  • Review your assessment and update if necessary. 
  1. MEAT 

In the public sector, the tender will be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). This means that the buyer is looking at more than just the price. The weightings of mental health tenders in the UK range from 70 – 80% quality and a smaller percentage on price. Often the buyer will rank tenders on a range of factors such as:

  • Value for money and ability to meet timelines.
  • Approach to identifying and managing risk.
  • Your approach to the project, including the proposed methodology.
  • Fit to requirements of the brief, including proposed outcomes.
  • Your approach to equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Your unique value to deliver the project.

Where can I find mental health tenders in the UK?

Tendering for work can help secure a pipeline of contracts for your business. You may be wondering where you can find mental health tenders in the UK. There are thousands of sites across the UK that post live opportunities for your business. It can take hours out of your day scrolling to find the right one for your company.

Usually, tenders are uploaded and tagged with CPV codes. These are often inaccurate, and you can end up missing out on the perfect opportunity for your business. If only there was one, easy-to-navigate industry-specific portal that you could use.

Enter – Healthcare Tenders

Our Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sites for the latest public and private healthcare opportunities. This includes single-provider contracts, NHS frameworks, DPS and spot provider frameworks. They then upload them to our Healthcare Tenders portal where you can filter the results by keyword, location and more. This can save you even more time, helping you find a tender that suits your business.

Here are some recent mental health tenders in the UK that were sourced on our Healthcare Tenders portal:

Advocacy Services – Lot 2 – Independent Mental Health Act Advocacy

Cumbria County Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

31-01-2021

Colne Valley Mental Health Intervention Service

Kirklees Council- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

01-02-2021

Community Mental Health Support Services

Midlothian Council- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

11-02-2021

Provision of a Mental Health Service in Brent (Peer support, Befriending, Outreach workers and General & Wellbeing Recovery Offer)

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust- London- Budget: Undisclosed

05-02-2021

Support and Accommodation Framework for people with a Learning Disability, Mental Health Problem, Autism or a Physical and/or Sensory Impairment

Cumbria County Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

29-01-2021

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

If you’re struggling with writing your response for mental health tenders our sister company, Hudson Succeed, can help. Our Bid Writers have over 50 years of bidding experience and an 87% success rate. We offer four bid writing packages to suit every tender need.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business grow.

A Guide to Contract Laboratory Services

Everything you need to know about contract laboratory services

Contract laboratory services are required across the UK and can be a lucrative opportunity for your business.

A lot of contract laboratory services are looking for lab equipment, chemicals, laboratory consumables and gasses. The delivery, maintenance and installation of equipment and fridges and freezers have been in demand recently, too.

Who commissions contract laboratory services?

Universities and the NHS are two of the main procurers of such contract laboratory services across the UK.

If you’re a small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs), you can benefit from these procurement opportunities. You may think that such opportunities are only for large businesses, but that simply isn’t the case anymore.

Securing a contract with a university can be a great business opportunity for an SME. The average university is currently spending just under 40% of its impactable spend with SMEs. In 2017/18 this accounted for around £1.5 billion, with this sum only expected to rise.

This is further encouraged by the UK governments target to see £1 in £3 spent with SMEs by 2022. This means that public sector businesses are actively looking to award contracts to smaller businesses.

Framework agreements

Often, contract laboratory services will be on framework agreements. Framework agreements are popular ways of procurement, particularly within the healthcare sector. NHS frameworks and agreements with other authorities can be a good place for small or new businesses to start. Sometimes, the NHS provides access to framework agreements, through partnerships such as the NHS London Procurement Partnership.

A framework agreement looks to establish a multi-supplier agreement and they can run for years at a time. It is a similar process to your average tender whereas the buyer will issue a notice to suppliers (PQQ or SQ). Potential suppliers can then submit a bid to provide their services. In this case, that can be anything from laboratory ovens and stirrers and mixers to bacterial and viral swab systems.

Once these bids have been submitted, the buyer will then review each bid. They will then create a shortlist of approved suppliers. Whenever there is an opportunity or project available, the buyer will hold a mini competition with the shortlisted suppliers. At this point, suppliers will only have to compete for an invitation to tender (ITT). This saves a lot of time for both the buyer and supplier as they don’t need to submit another PQQ or SQ.

How is a framework divided?

Framework agreements often include ‘Lots’ which are often, in this case, a specific service or product. An example of various Lots that could be available on a framework contract for laboratory services for the NHS could be:

  1. Lab Equipment
  2. Lab Consumables
  3. Mortuary and Autopsy Consumables
  4. Mortuary and Autopsy Equipment
  5. Medical and Scientific Refrigeration.

If your business specialised in specifically mortuary and autopsy equipment, you would simply apply for Lot 4. Lots allow businesses to work alongside other service provides on the contract. Securing a place on these can be a lucrative business and place your organisation in good stead for future contracts.

The advantages of being a supplier on a framework

There are many benefits of being a supplier on a framework agreement.

  • An easier way for SMEs to secure a pipeline of work

Securing a place on a framework can place your business in good stead. They can run for years at a time, with some having the possibility of extension. Because multiple suppliers can be awarded onto the same agreement, you won’t be competing in the same way. The more suppliers the framework allows, the better your chances are of securing a place on the agreement.

  • Guaranteed pay

If providing contract laboratory services within the public sector, you are guaranteed pay if on a framework. This is because public organisations are contractually bound to pay the awarded supplier. Some NHS framework agreements last for four years and this can provide your business with a structured, long-term revenue. Obviously, this is one of the biggest advantages when tendering for public contracts.

  • Build experience

If you’ve never tendered before, securing a place on a framework can be a great place to start. Frequently you will be required to provide at least three case studies of previous work. If you’re new to the process, you may not have any. This is why securing a place on a framework contract can help. They can help you build experience which then enables you to apply for larger contracts. 

Weightings

When looking at contract laboratory services for the NHS on a framework the weightings can vary a great deal. An example of the four core criteria within framework agreements can range from:

  • General Service Requirements: 20 – 70%
  • Clinical/Technical Requirements: 10 – 60%
  • Support & Installation: 10 – 60 %
  • Price: 20 – 70%

Depending on the goods or services being procured, the buyer can adjust the criteria weightings to fit their bespoke requirements. Therefore, it’s worth reading the specification carefully to make sure you’re putting enough detail and information into each criterion.

If applying for contract laboratory services in the public sector, the contract will be awarded to the MEAT. MEAT stands for the most economically advantageous tender. This does not mean the cheapest bid wins.

The MEAT means the buyer looks at more than just price, seeing if they can get more value for money. These can include, but aren’t limited to:

  • Quality
  • Accessibility
  • Technical ability
  • Environmental benefits
  • Innovation

Need help writing your next bid for contract laboratory services? We can help.

Bid Writing Services

Our team of Bid Writers at Hudson Succeed know how much time is required to turn out a winning bid. We understand that you have a full plate and don’t always have the time to do this. Our Bid Writers have an 87% success rate and over 40-year bidding experience. Luckily, for you, we offer four bid writing solutions to suit different needs.

Our four bid writing assistance packages are:

Tender Mentor

Our Tender Mentor service can help make sure your contract laboratory services response is the best it can be. Our Bid Writers will look over your bid making sure it’s error-free before you submit.

Tender Writing

Our Bid Writers take care of the whole tendering process for you. Through Tender Writing, they’ll create your responses and will even submit the bid on your behalf. This allows you to focus on the important stuff.

Tender Improvement

If you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing the results you want, our Tender Improvement package can help. We’ll assess your previous submissions, providing some feedback and guidance that will increase your chance of winning next time around.

Tender Ready

Tender Ready is a programme that’s perfect for those who have never tendered before. This programme works with you, ensuring you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Where to find contract laboratory services

Knowing where to find contract laboratory services can seem like a daunting process. It can take hours searching hundreds of websites to find an opportunity that’s right for your business.

The good news is the Healthcare Tenders is here to help. Healthcare Tenders is a tendering platform that hosts hundreds of new opportunities in this sector from across the UK. We have a range of private and public sector opportunities.

Our portal can help save you time, give you tailored support and streamline the process. We don’t rely on inaccurate CPV codes. Instead, we manually tag relevant opportunities via keyword, budget, location and more. This means you get access to 100% of all available live tenders that are relevant to you.

Below are some past tenders for contract laboratory services that were sourced on our portal:

Supply, Delivery, Rental and Maintenance of Specialised Laboratory Gas

NI Water and its subsidiaries- International- Budget: Undisclosed

26-01-2021

BAS Beach Hut Laboratory

UK Shared Business Services Limited- South West- Budget: £75,000

28-01-2021

Laboratory Equipment for toxicology and pharmacology applications

Bournemouth University- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

18-01-2021

2021/105 – Delivery, Installation and Commissioning of Laboratory Fridges & Freezers

University of Leeds- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: £50,000

26-01-2021

Framework for the Supply and Delivery of Laboratory Consumables and Chemicals

Queen’s University Belfast- Northern Irelands- Budget: Undisclosed

15-01-2021

Why join Healthcare Tenders?

  • Our Opportunity Trackers manually search hundreds of sources daily to ensure you never miss a tender.
  • They post tendering opportunities on our Healthcare Tenders portal. They then tag them with accurate keywords instead of relying on CPV codes which are often incorrect.
  • You can easily filter results via region, budget, keyword and more. This means you’ll never miss an opportunity for contract laboratory services
  • You can receive a daily email bulletin when new tenders are released. You’ll also be able to access the portal 24-hours a day.
  • You’ll be assigned a dedicated Account Manager. They will be on hand to answer any queries or questions you may have about the portal or tendering process.
  • You can have a free 20-minute phone consultation with our Bid Writing experts. They can provide you with advice and guidance related to your tendering journey.

Start a free trial

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Want to receive all care frameworks, direct to your inbox? Book a free live demo today.

The NHS Tendering Process Explained

Everything you need to know about the NHS tendering process

The NHS tendering process can often seem confusing and vast, it can be hard to know where to begin. All public sector tenders are procured via different routes depending on the value of the contract.

Contracts that are lower than the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) threshold can be quoted directly. Whereas, if the contract of an NHS tender matches or exceeds the OJEU threshold, it must be procured via tendering. They can also be tendered through local authorities or Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).

Who is responsible for NHS procurement?

In England, the NHS procurement is predominantly split between several organisations:

  • The Department for Health & Social Care (DHSC)

The DHSC is responsible for setting the budget and objective for the NHS. They’re essentially accountable for NHS procurement.

  • NHS England

NHS England is legally independent of the DHSC. It oversees the commissioning of NHS services and sets strategy.

  • Public Health England

Public Health England is an executive agency of DHSC. It’s responsible for dealing with public health emergencies.

Who commissions NHS tenders?

Local Clinical Commissioning Groups

NHS healthcare services are commissioned primarily by local CCGs. Each CCG represents a group of local Primary Care Networks and GP practices. They’re locally based, clinically led NHS bodies that are responsible for procurement and commissioning within their local area. The services commissioned by CCGs account to roughly two-thirds of the total NHS England budget. This was an estimated £79.9 billion in 2019/20.

The Crown Commercial Service

The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) is the UK’s biggest public procurement organisation. They spend over £15 billion a year on commercial solutions for their customers. They cover four broad sectors:

  • Technology – digital future, network services, software & cyber, and technology products and services.
  • Corporate solutions – document management and logistics, financial services, fleet marcomms and research and travel.
  • Buildings – construction, workplace, utilities, and fuel.
  • People – workforce, people services, professional services, and contact centres.

The CCS often teams up with NHS Digital and other NHS stringencies to procure goods/services from various NHS frameworks. Most recently, they teamed up with NHS Digital to add 12 new consultancies to their Digital Capability for Health framework.

The NHS Supply Chain

The NHS Supply Chain are the central body that oversees the procurement of healthcare products for the NHS. They consolidate orders from over 8,000 suppliers for more than 4.5 million orders per year saving both time and money.

What does the NHS buy?

There are three general areas of procurement within the NHS:

  1. Goods

The main goods that are bought by the NHS tendering process are medicines and equipment. They can include:

  • Single purchase capital equipment – such as x-ray machines and beds.
  • Consumables – covering anything from paper towels to bedsheets.
  • Personal protective equipment (PPE).
  1. Services

The services that are procured within the NHS tendering process could be people such as cleaners, doctors, or care works. They could also be put out to solve needs such as long waiting list problems.

  1. Digital

NHS Digital controls IT procurement of software solutions and data systems. The CCS has G-Cloud and the Spark DPS which help the public sector procure IT services. Digital NHS tenders would be put out to procure software solutions to be used in hospitals.

Before you begin, have you got a CQC registration?

If you work within the healthcare industry and provide healthcare services, then you will need to have a QCQ registration. Having this in place before you begin tendering will give you an advantage over those who don’t have it. However, more than that, it can actually be a requirement for some bid proposals.

It is our recommendation that you have a CQC registration in place before you begin. But remember to check through the tender documents to ensure it is not a requirement if you don’t have one.

So, what is a CQC registration?

CQC stands for Care Quality Commission. It is the regulation of primary care amongst healthcare services.

What this means is, that providers of healthcare services must meet essential standards of quality to deliver their services. It also means that the safety and dignity of patients who are receiving these services is respected at all times. Being CQC registered demonstrates that you follow the above criteria and that you are providing exceptional services.

CQC registration can also apply to companies who provide medical equipment, PPE and medical facilities. Having this in place means you are meeting the essential standards of quality. This ensures that the equipment or facilities you are providing are suitable for the intended purpose and are clean. It also ensures that the equipment is maintained and stored correctly.

The 5 stages of the NHS tendering process

  1. PIN

Often commissioners will release an issue of prior information notice (PIN). This is released in advance, warning of their intention to launch an NHS procurement. It can be issued 2 – 12 months in advance of the procurement. Typically, the lead time for a PIN is less than six months. Commissioners may ask potential bidders to make an expression of interest at this stage. This gives suppliers plenty of time to prepare for the bid.

  1. SQ or PQQ

The NHS tendering process often starts with a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) also known as a selection questionnaire (SQ). They are used to establish that the potential supplier is qualified, suitable, and able to deliver the contract. Typically, it’s divided into three sections:

  1. Potential supplier information.
  2. Grounds for exclusion.
  3. Selection questions covering financial standing and technical capacity.

This stage of the tender process is used to filter out any suppliers who cannot deliver the contract. You may be surprised at how often companies will bid for contracts they cannot conduct. This is a waste of their time, resources and money, and it waste’s the buyer’s time too. So, to avoid this, the PQQs/SQs were implemented as time-saving tools.

  1. ITT 

Once a company has passed the PQQ, they will then be given an invitation to tender (ITT). This is a key document that a supplier should pay particular attention to. It specifies how the response should be formed giving word counts. It is also important to remember that each ITT is different. It will provide a breakdown of:

  • The scoring of each question.
  • Procurement timetable.
  • The deadline for clarification questions.
  • Deadline for responses.
  • Contract award date.
  • Service commencement date.

It will also include the contractual documents such as the conditions of the contract and non-collusion statement.

It will also have the service specification and technical questions that are to be answered by the bidder. They’re typically broken up into several sections depending on the services or goods being bought. The word and page counts are strict with answers expected to range from 500 – 2,000-word responses.

Following instructions

It is especially important that you pay close attention to these specifications. Failure to meet them could easily cost you the bid. Does the buyer specify that they want 2,000 words for a response? If so, then give them as close to that as you can. It is no good to give shorter answers than what the buyer has asked for. The same goes for longer responses too. By not meeting the wordcount, you show the buyer that you cannot follow instructions. You also risk giving the impression that you do not know the key elements involved within the response. Make sure your responses are clear and concise to give yourself the best chance of success.

  1. Presentations and interviews

Once submissions have been scored, some bidders may be invited to interview or given the opportunity to do a presentation. Presentations are often required if you are involved with the NHS tendering process for software solutions. Commissioners need to see a demonstration of the solution in real life, before signing off on the contract. This presentation may contribute to a small percentage of your overall marks.

  1. Announcement of winner

Once the preferred bidder has been identified and selected, there is a cooling-off period. This allows unsuccessful bidders to challenge the tendering process if they feel there has been any foul play. The tender outcome will not be publicly announced until after the cooling-off period has been completed.

How the NHS tendering process is evaluated

The NHS tendering process is evaluated on both price and quality. More weighting is typically given to quality – up to 80%. Pricing accounts for the remainder. Within public sector tendering, the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) will win the contract.

MEAT

The MEAT does not mean the cheapest bid wins – the buyer is looking at more than just the price. The MEAT allows the buyer to award the contract based on aspects of the tender submission. These can include:

  • Accessibility
  • Ability to deliver on time
  • Innovation
  • Customer service
  • Proposed design
  • Technical ability
  • Quality
  • Environmental benefits

Each aspect can be looked at by the client independently, or in a mix with other considerations.

Framework agreements

Healthcare tenders are often procured via frameworks agreements. Frameworks can be used to appoint multiple organisations to provide healthcare services over several years. They are used when the buyer, the NHS, is seeking to secure a supply of goods, works or services. Framework agreements are common within the NHS tendering process.

The process is similar to an average tendering contract. They often start with a PQQ then those who are successful, move onto the ITT. The buyer will issue a notice for suppliers (ITT) where they can submit a tender to provide their services. Once these have been submitted, the buyer can review them. The buyer will then create a list of approved suppliers. These suppliers will then be awarded a place on the NHS framework agreement.

Some frameworks enable you to choose a ‘Lot’. A Lot is often a specific region or service. It allows a business to work alongside other service providers on the contract. Securing a framework contract can be lucrative and place your organisation in good stead for future contracts. For example, the NHS London Procurement Partnership includes live contracts that fall within the following four categories:

  1. Clinical Digital Solutions
  2. Estates, Facilities and Professional Services.
  3. Medicines Optimisation and Pharmacy Procurement
  4. Workforce

Whenever the buyer has a project available, they will contact their list of pre-approved suppliers. They will often hold a mini competition to select a preferred supplier from their list. This makes the NHS tendering process a lot simpler than normal. It saves a lot of time as most information is readily available.

DPS

Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS), like framework agreements, can be worth millions of pounds. They can run for multiple years at a time, and you can apply for a DPS any time it’s open.

Where can you find NHS tenders? 

If you think your business would benefit from applying for NHS tenders than Hudson Discover can help you. If you’re wondering how to track live NHS tenders, our Healthcare Tenders portal can help. It’s your one-stop-shop for all NHS tenders including framework agreements and DPS’.

We have 11 sector-specific portals available, so whatever your industry, we have tenders available for you.

How to write a winning NHS bid

We know how important it is to be successful with your tenders. So, we have provided some useful tips on how you should approach your NHS bid.

1. Read the ITT carefully

As we mentioned earlier, it is crucial to pay very close attention to the ITT. This is to ensure you do not miss any important information. This could cost you the bid if you are not prepared. So, always break down the tender to make sure you know exactly what you’re doing.

2. Make sure you can deliver the contract

There is nothing worse than wasting valuable time, money, and resources. As we have touched on earlier in this blog, some suppliers bid for contracts they cannot deliver. This is why so many buyers now use PQQs. So, check your accreditations before you begin a bid. Make sure you can deliver the contract confidently.

3. Include case studies

You need to reassure the buyer that you can deliver the contract successfully. The best way to do this is to use case studies. These are examples of previous work you have completed. They should be relevant to the bid you are tendering for. By showing off your previous success, the buyer will have more confidence in your abilities.

4. Leave out irrelevant information

We will repeat this point until we are blue in the face, because it is such an important point. A buyer does not want to know about irrelevant information of experience. So, make sure that your bid focuses on the necessary details, and not a ton of waffle.

5. Show that you monitor performance

It can be an asset to show that you focus on continuous development and performance monitoring. This shows that you are dedicated to the development of you and your team’s skills.

6. Answering scenario-based questions

When responding to an NHS tender, there may be scenario-based questions you have to answer. By answering scenario-based questions, the buyer can see how you will respond in certain situations. Looking at what procedures you have in place and how you adapt. It is a great way for the buyer to learn about the supplier’s values, ethical standards and thought process. But also, what your priorities are.

Here are two examples of the types of questions you could see within a bid response:

Scenario 1: For a supported living contract

Your support workers have noted a young person, placed at your service, is regularly making excuses to stay out of the placement. The young person is respectful, polite, and gentle to the support workers and to other tenants. The support worker has also noted that the young person is bringing expensive gifts back with them when they do come home. For example, new clothes, a smart phone, and they have a lot of excess cash.

What are the identified concerns and how will you safeguard the young person and address the issues?

Scenario 2: For a care contract

Betty has end-stage dementia and has been cared for a number of years in her own home. She requires all care and is nursed in bed. Betty has an Advance Care Plan and a ‘Do Not Attempt to Resuscitate (DNAR)’ recommendation in place, written and witnessed prior to her losing mental capacity. Betty’s wish is to die in her own home, although her daughters do not agree with this decision. Neither daughter lives with Betty. 

Betty’s GP has made a number of anticipatory medications available within the house and there is an associated current drug chart in situ. 

Over the past week, your staff have reported that Betty appears a bit more frail but still appears comfortable. A member of your staff has visited this morning and Betty appears distressed and unsettled, is crying in pain upon movement, and is cold to touch but appears flushed in the face. The night Carer reports that Betty has been like this all night.

What action would your staff take?

To help you answer these types of questions, here are four tips to follow:

    1. Have a methodical approach, demonstrating your logic and critical thinking to the hypothetical situation.
    2. Draw on experience and showcase when you successfully managed something similar in the past.
    3. Be factual. Although the question is hypothetical, it is important to think critically. Approach the question as if it was really happening to give a better response.
    4. Add value and show your innovative methods.

3 benefits of winning an NHS bid

There can be plenty of advantages from winning an NHS contract. The NHS actively seeks suppliers across a range of industries. So, this is great for businesses who are aiming to see their company grow and succeed.

  1. NHS contracts tend to be long-term, so they provide regular and consistent work for your company. This is always a benefit for companies and business planning.
  2. By securing an NHS contract, you are opening yourself up to more opportunities in the future. When tendering, you can use case studies from your NHS contract. This will definitely give you an edge over some competitors. You’ll stand even more of a chance with other public sector organisations. You can also build more contacts for potential jobs.
  3. The payment terms for NHS contracts are a maximum of 30-days, due to the governments prompt payment policy. This is one element that makes NHS tenders so appealing.

What makes our Healthcare Tenders portal different?

There are a few things that allow our Discover division and Healthcare Tenders to stand out amongst the crowd. For example, we don’t use CPV codes. Our Opportunity Trackers manually scour hundreds of portals every day and upload them to our portal. With a subscription to Healthcare Tenders, you can view all opportunities from all UK portals in one, central, easy-to-navigate place.

You’ll receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox, containing all NHS tenders found that day.

Here are some recent NHS tenders that were sourced on our Healthcare Tenders portal:

Alternative Provider Medical Service — Windermere and Bowness Medical Practice

NHS England and NHS Improvement North West- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

Devon CCG – Primary Medical Services in Sherford (ITT)

NHS SCW CSU- South West- Budget: £819,700

Forensic Medical Services (Children’s and Archway)

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

Emergency Medical Service (Response) Roster Reviews

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership-Procurement Services (hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust)- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

General Medical Services (17J)

NHS Highland- Scotland- Budget: £300,000

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders – Discover tenders seeking suppliers to provide nursing services, home care, GP services, residential care, and supported living. To help you understand the types of contracts you could bid on, here is a past example of a domiciliary care contract:

New Domiciliary Care Package

Durham County Council – North East – Budget: Undisclosed

Medical PPE – Discover tenders for the provision of personal protective equipment within the medical industry. PPE contracts can range from masks and gown to supply, to hand sanitising stations. Here is an example of the a past tender we have sourced on Healthcare Tenders for PPE:

Supply of PPE, Work Wear and Associated Services

Forth Valley College – Scotland – Budget: Undisclosed

Social Care Contracts – Discover tender opportunities for assessment services, accommodation support, social workers and care services, homelessness support, and fostering and adoption services. Looking for social care contracts? Here is just one example of the types of social care contracts you can source on Healthcare Tenders. This is a past tender we have found for our clients:

Provision of Educational Occupational Therapy

The London Borough of Merton – London – £2,560,000

Medical Supplies & Consumables – Discover opportunities to tender for the supply of healthcare and medical supplies. There is always a need for the supply of medical supplies and consumables. These are items that in some cases, can only have a one-time used. Therefore, need replenishing more often. You will also find that these contracts can be issued by buyers un-related to the healthcare industry. For example, the contract below:

First Aid Supplies       

West Yorkshire Police – Yorkshire and Humber – £50,000

Mental Health Tenders – Discover buyers seeking to establish contracts involving mental health services, wellbeing support, and counselling and therapy. When it comes to mental health contracts, there are so many opportunities available that you can bid on. From community mental health programmes to school children mental health. Here is just one example of the type of contract you can source on Healthcare Tenders:

Prevention & Promotion Fund for Better Mental Health: Every Mind Matters Campaign

The Borough Council of Bolton – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

Supported living Tenders – Discover bids for supported living services to ensure those involved can retain their independence within their own home. Looking to find the right supported living tender for your business? Here is an example of a past tender we have sourced on Healthcare Tenders. This can give you a better understanding of the types of tenders you can find.

Supported Housing Services for Complex Needs

North of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea – London – £8,400,000

Medical Equipment Tenders – Discover contracts for the provision of various medical equipment. Medical equipment tenders can range from specialist equipment to general medical equipment used every day. There are so many opportunities you may not be aware of. Here is a past example we have sourced on Healthcare Tenders:

Provision of Laboratory Equipment

The University of Central Lancashire – North West – £180,000

Book a free live demo today.

If you are struggling with the NHS tendering process – our sister company, Hudson Succeed, can help. Our Bid Writers have over 50 years of bidding experience and an 87% success rate. We offer four bid writing packages:

Tender Mentor support

Our Tender Mentor service is for businesses who want to ensure the bid they’ve produced is the best it possibly can be.

It’s for businesses who want to train their internal team – real time, whilst working on a live bid. This allows us to critique the document whilst mentoring your team on how to constantly improve their content to meet buyer requirements.

The service allows for an external guide and review service. We will mark your bid as a buyer would in advance of a submission deadline.  This allows you to eliminate any mistakes and generally improve the final response.

Tender Mentor ensures that you never submit a bid with content errors or grammatical mistakes.

Small oversights such as this can greatly affect your overall bid result. Buyers often see mistakes as an insight into your attitude towards your work and a way to assess your attention to detail.

So often we have seen businesses fall at the final hurdle due to seemingly small human errors. This is why Tender Mentor was created.

During this service, our consultants will review the bid that you have already written. We will suggest areas that could be improved and highlight mistakes to be corrected.

After both parties have agreed that the bid is completely error-free, you can submit the tender with confidence.

You can discover more about our Tender Mentor support here.

Tender Writing services

Our Tender Writing service is for businesses who either don’t know how to tender, don’t have any Bid Writing capabilities in house, or those who need support to cover sick leave or maternity cover.

Do you need support with a one-off bid? Are you trying to apply to a framework? Do you have time to digest and respond to a lengthy specification?

Our Tender Writing service was created to help you submit a winning bid without sacrificing other business commitments.

Once you have found a contract that you want to deliver, our team will immediately begin by breaking down the specification. The breakdown will then be presented to you, detailing time scales and any resources we may require from you. As a tender writing company, we believe in full transparency between our team and our clients. We achieve this by outlining the full body of work at this initial stage.

As soon as the work is agreed by both parties, we will immediately commence writing your bid response.

Want to know more about our Tender Writing service? You can find more information here.

The Tender Improvement Package

Our Tender Improvement programme supports businesses who are bidding for work but not seeing any success.

We understand tendering is time consuming, so investing important resources into the production of bids, without seeing a return is frustrating. We know that the tendering process can be both complicated and time-consuming, especially if you don’t have dedicated resources in-house.

During the Tender Improvement package, our team will work with you to review and improve your recent tender responses.

As well as this, we will also recreate your company policies, procedures, and case studies, ensuring your brand is used correctly throughout.

Our team of Bid Management and Bid Design professionals will ensure that you complete the programme with winning bid response templates and impressive corporate literature.

Continuing to make, what are often the same mistakes will leave you and your team demotivated.  Our team of qualified Bid Writers can show you where you’re going wrong, re-organise your bid library and offer knowledgeable guidance on how to get you across the finish line first.

This one-to-one support is tailored to you and your needs and allows your business to succeed when tendering.

If you want to learn more about Tender Improvement services, you find information here.

Tender Ready programme

Our Tender Ready programme helps businesses to understand how to respond to public and private sector tenders.

Over the last decade, we’ve developed robust procedures that assist and support businesses of all sizes, ensuring time spent on responding to bids is not wasted.

We believe success comes from exceptional preparation and taking an expert approach to bid submissions. Tender Ready allows you to do just that.  Our tender consultants will work with you to thoroughly prepare and identify your sweet spot, based on experience, knowledge, and service offering. Ensuring you see a quick return.

Our Tender Ready services were designed to make the procurement process fairer and more accessible.

We recognised that tenders were often only awarded to larger companies, with impressive and branded corporate literature in place.

The Tender Ready programme was created to ensure that businesses of all sizes could compete.

During the Tender Ready service, our team will create professional policies, procedures, and case studies in your company branding.

If you already have this content, we will review everything carefully to ensure that nothing is missed.

This service also helps businesses who are new to tendering with terminology and industry knowledge. Our team will advise on your company’s best qualities, and which tenders you should be bidding for.

It doesn’t end there!

Upon completion of the service, we will also offer to write your next bid on your behalf. However, if you would prefer to put your new skills and corporate literature portfolio into practice, we will guide you through your next two tenders.

If you want to prepare your tender documents effectively and ensure you deliver results, then Tender Ready is perfect for you. You can find out more about it here.

Why you should choose us

We understand that there is an enormous level of trust required when asking us to create content that represents your company. This is why we always work to reassure our clients that your business is in safe hands. We do this with proven statistics and demonstrating that we are always moving up. Most recently this was validated by our increased success rate, from 83% in 2018 to 87% in 2019 and we don’t plan to stop there.

Our consultants never claim to be experts in any one sector. We are experts in writing winning bids. Recently, we have worked with clients in industries including domiciliary care, supported living, medical products and social care to name a few.

Find recent testimonials to see what our clients have to say about their experience with our team.

Get in touch to find out more information about our bid management consultancy services.

Let us help you to help others.

Now is the time for Healthcare Tenders.

What is the NHS London Procurement Partnership?

Everything you need to know about the NHS London Procurement Partnership

The NHS London Procurement Partnership (NHS LPP) is one of four national procurement hubs across the UK.

The NHS London Procurement Partnership serves the health community in London and the surrounding areas. Their services extend across the mental health, community and acute sectors, clinical commissioning and primary care.

What makes the NHS LLP unique is that they are collectively owned by all their members, not just one organisation. This allows their members to have equal status and input into their vision, products, structure and services. They have a number of membership forums and the governance of a member-led Steering Board.

The NHS London Procurement Partnership has the same priorities as the regional and national agendas. This includes the:

  • NHS Long Term Plan
  • Integrated Care Systems
  • Procurement Target Operating Model

The four NHS procurement hubs are:

  • NHS Commercial Solutions
  • NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative
  • East of England NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub
  • NHS London Procurement Hub

NHS London Procurement Partnership members have access to framework agreements developed by each of the above.

What is a framework agreement?

Now that is all cleared up, you might be wondering what a framework agreement actually is. Healthcare services/goods are often procured through framework agreements. Frameworks are used to appoint multiple organisations to provide healthcare services/goods, sometimes over several years.

Some frameworks enable you to choose a ‘Lot’. A ‘Lot’ is often a specific service or region and enables you to work alongside other service providers on a contract. If you secure a place on a framework, it can place your organisation in good stead for future contracts. It can also secure you a steady income over the contract period.

NHS London Procurement Partnership framework agreements:

The NHS LPP manages, maintains and develops procurement framework agreements for the NHS and other public sector organisations.

Every hospital and GP within the procurement hub region will be a member of the procurement hub. The members are the customers, and the ones procuring the goods or services from the suppliers on the framework. They all agree to procure from these central hubs.

Suppliers who wish to join the framework will need to complete a pre-qualifying questionnaire (PQQ). Once they have passed the PQQ, they will then receive the invitation to tender (ITT).

However, completing the ITT doesn’t guarantee you work.

Some frameworks may award work to all successful suppliers, whereas others may then undergo mini competitions. In this case, suppliers will only have to submit an ITT if on the framework. They won’t need to complete a new PQQ. This makes for a faster and easier procurement process on both ends.

Remember these three key themes when applying to any NHS London Procurement Partnership framework:

  • Sustainability
  • Value for money
  • Security of supply

The NHS London Procurement Partnership includes live contracts that fall within the following four categories:

  1. Clinical Digital Solutions (CDS)

The NHS LPP CDS offers a service-led approach to clinical digital procurement. This area provides specialist expertise in complex, fully integrated digital health and IT infrastructure solutions.

The NHS London Procurement Partnership supports the NHS and the wider public sector to future-proof new technology contracts. They want to ensure that additional charges and variations to contracts are limited. By doing this, they can achieve substantial savings on multi-million-pound contracts.

Some of the CDS live contract opportunities are:

  • Information Management & Technology
  • Health & Social Care Apps DPS
  1. Estates, Facilities and Professional Services

The NHS LPP are interested in procurement within the following subsections:

  • Transport
  • Management
  • Minor works
  • Bespoke support services
  • Utility contracts

The NHS LPP are looking to reduce their carbon emissions. They’re hoping to meet the government and NHS England net-zero commitments which will, in turn, reduce hospital admissions. This is an important thing to bear in mind when applying to be a part of the framework.

Social value is key and means a great deal. You will score highly if you work this into your proposal. They’re looking for suppliers that can provide long-term, sustainable solutions.

Some of the current live opportunities they are looking to procure are for:

  • Legal Services
  • Linen and Laundry Services
  • Analysis and Reconciliation
  • Medium Value Works
  • Payroll Services
  1. Medicines Optimisation and Pharmacy Procurement

This sector of the NHS LPP comprises of clinical specialists. They support medicine optimisation through a pan-London approach aligning with quality, safety and value priorities. The NHS LPP are looking for patient pathways that improve patient care and population health. They do this by promoting equity and reducing unwarranted variation across the system. They work closely with NHS England, NHS Improvement, clinical networks and the Academic Health Science Networks. Some of the current live opportunities include:

  • Homecare contracts
  • Medical gases
  • Contrast media
  • Parental nutrition products
  1. Workforce

The Workforce Team at the NHS London Procurement Partnership supports the public sector across all aspects of ‘hire to retire’. They link all elements of workforce management enabling them to streamline the employment process. They are facing the issue of managing an aging workforce and looking to implement new Integrated Care Systems (ICS). This is a good opportunity if you can provide:

  • Solutions across permanent and temporary staffing, increasing your strategic workforce planning.
  • Market intelligence on supplier insights and legislative perspective.
  • New market solutions that fit the needs of an organisation that don’t exist within the market.
  • Non-clinical temporary and fixed-term staff.
  • International recruitment,

They also include two additional products and services that the NHS LLP cover which are:

  • Consultancy

The NHS London Procurement Partnership Consultancy Team provides technical expertise to deliver complex procurements. They do this for the NHS and the wider public sector. They work with the NHS to create bespoke plans delivering complex outcomes and supporting transformation change. Innovative and sustainable patient outcomes are a strong focus.

  • Business Intelligence

The NHS LPP Business Intelligence Team have access to data from the NHS and its suppliers. They categorise, analyse and more without the data leaving the organisation. They connect trusts across London, enabling them to work together.

6 things to include for a successful LPP framework application

Before you even begin your application for an LPP framework, you should ask yourself the following:

  • Do I have enough experience and the necessary qualifications required?

If your answer is no to any of the above questions, then perhaps this opportunity isn’t right for you. Really question yourself whether to bid or not to bid. It’s best to clarify this at the beginning of the process as opposed to further down the line. Giving it some proper thought can save you time and money in the long run.

You should read the tender specification carefully paying attention to the requirements.  Even if there are 70 pages. You don’t want to spend the time writing your response to find out you missed a requirement on page 57.

  1. Plan accordingly

Plan accordingly and give yourself enough time. It’s best to give yourself too much time than not enough time when preparing for and LPP framework response. It’s best to wage in extra time for any unexpected hiccups to occur that could delay your submission. Deadlines are final and there are no exceptions or extensions.

Set yourself and your team realistic deadlines, allowing plenty of time for detailed responses. Once you decide to apply, the first thing you should do is note the submission date and time. 

  1. Ask clarification questions if needed

 It’s likely during your tendering career that you come across something in the specification that doesn’t make sense. If you’re unsure of something in the tender documents, you should ask a clarification question. You should note when the clarification question deadline is, as it may be significantly before the submission deadline.

Before you ask your clarification questions(s), read through the feed and see what other bidders have asked. You never know, your question could be one which a number of others are unclear about. If you do need to ask a question, it’s best to keep it clear, concise and anonymous. You don’t want to tip off your competitors that you’re applying to this LPP framework. 

  1. The devil is in the detail

Detailed responses are often well-received however, you don’t want to go into unnecessary detail. You want to avoid overly technical jargon and don’t leave any room for the buyer to make assumptions. Your response should be detailed enough to match the word and page counts. They are there for a reason. If a buyer thinks a response is worth 500 words, then two sentences won’t suffice. It’s a fine balance. Ultimately, you want to be persuasive in your response and demonstrate that you’re the best company for the job.

  1. Be the MEAT

Public sector organisations have a responsibility to spend taxpayers’ money resourcefully. Thus, organisations such as the NHS are always looking for value for money. LPP framework places are always awarded to the most economically advantageous tenders, known as the MEAT.

The buyer is looking at more than just price. They will be looking at a combination of things combined and individually ensuring the best value for money. These could include, but aren’t limited to the following:

  • Innovation
  • Quality
  • Patient care
  • Technical ability
  • Accessibility
  • Improved patient outcomes
  • Proposed design. 
  1. Social value

Following on from value for money and MEAT is social value. Public sector organisations have a mandatory minimum 10% weighting on social value. This is not something to be glossed over in your LPP framework response. Your social value responses should include the social, environmental and economic aspects of the contract. The NHS and DHSC have a focus on sustainability and innovation, so it’s best you include these.

The buyers want to see you making promises that you can keep. They want to know that you’re committed to things such as:

  • COVID-19 recovery
  • Tackling climate change
  • Reducing waste and encouraging recycling
  • Tackling economic inequality through the National Living Wage
  • Creating a fair and diverse workplace
  • Encouraging upskilling within the local communities, tackling the long-term unemployed
  • Ethical supply chains
  • Reducing carbon footprint.
  1. Evidence is key 

Evidence is key when applying to join an LPP framework. You will be required to provide examples and evidence that you have the necessary experience to carry out the requirements. Often, buyers may ask for up to three case studies within the last five years.

These case studies should be similar in scope and scale to demonstrate your capabilities. The NHS likes to see concrete evidence of successful contract fulfilments. You should be prepared to attach testimonials from previous happy clients. This will strengthen your response and reassures the buyer that you know what you’re doing.

Depending on the word count for your LPP framework response, you could note how you overcame any unexpected challenges. This can show your problem-solving skills and ability to adapt and be flexible which is sometimes needed within a framework.

Need help with bid writing?

After finding an NHS framework you want to go for, the next step is writing and submitting your bid. This can be a daunting idea if you’ve never done it before. It can be a lengthy and time-consuming process. This is where we come in.

Our Bid Writers have an 87% success rate and over 40 years of bidding experience. We offer four bid writing packages to help you with your bid. These are:

Tender Ready

The Tender Ready package is for those who are completely new to the tendering process and never tendered before. We offer a three-stage process and the programme can last up to three months. If you choose this option, you’ll receive:

  • A 12 month Discover subscription to Healthcare Tenders

This summarises the UK’s latest private and public sector opportunities. You’ll get daily notifications via email about new healthcare opportunities.

  • Access to Global Bid Directors and Senior Bidding Professionals

Our Bid Writers have over 40 years of bidding experience in numerous industries. You will also have access to a dedicated Bid Consultant. They can answer any questions or queries you may have on the tendering or framework agreement process.

  • An Organisation-wide bid library

This includes developing new bid-specific content ranging from:

  • 3 case studies
  • 5 CV’s
  • 8 policies

We provide a templated library for your team to easily manage all content. We’ll arrange all of your company credentials, undertaking a full bid library audit. We’ll also provide advice and guidance on how to increase your tender quality and competitiveness.

  • Additional Flexible Benefits Options

Meet the specific needs of your business and tendering activity over 3 days’ worth of consultancy. You can choose from one of the three following options:

  1. A bespoke proposal covering 5,000 words of boilerplate responses accustomed to your company. This is fully editable and designed on Microsoft Word.
  2. Three days Bid Consultancy support, coaching and training with Hudson’s senior team.
  3. Three days Bid Consultancy support towards one tender, private sector proposal or public sector framework.

Tender Improvement

Have you been tendering to the best of your ability but aren’t seeing results? Our Bid Writers will assess your previous tender responses and work with you to develop improved content as part of Tender Improvement.

Tender Mentor

Our Tender Mentor service analyses your tender content and checks for any errors before you submit your tender response.

Tender Writing

If you’re interested in getting a place on the NHS London Procurement Partnership framework, we can help. Our Bid Writers will help you every step of the way. They’ll write the tender response for you and even submit the bid on your behalf.

This package is priced per bid and will provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. You’ll know how long it’ll take, what we need from you and when you’ll see an initial and final draft.

How can Healthcare Tenders help you find NHS contracts?

Our Healthcare Tenders portal is home to hundreds of live healthcare tenders and frameworks and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS). A DPS, like a framework agreement, can be worth millions of pounds. This is because they can run for years. Applying for a DPS or framework is flexible, meaning you can join any time! They’re a great opportunity that could benefit your business if you secure a place. Get in touch today and find out how we can help grow your business.

Opportunities for Healthcare Tenders are available across the whole of the UK. It’s likely that there will be a suitable tender opportunity for your business near you.

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Our portal is different because we don’t rely on CPV codes. CPV codes can often be confusing and unreliable. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search through thousands of sources every day, bringing you the most relevant contracts for your business. This means that each opportunity is new and brings with it the potential to add value to your organisation.

The portal’s search function is easy to use. You’re able to filter your results by region, keyword, budget or sector. This takes the headache out of searching for your new healthcare tender. This allows you to focus on the more important things such as running your business.

Book a free, live demo to gain further insight into our services and see which opportunities can benefit your business.

Save even more time by upgrading to Discover Elite

Discover Elite’s two new time-saving packages can help optimise your tendering efforts even when you’re busy! An on-hand Account Manager will carefully consider which tenders are most suitable for your business. They can give you advice on applying to the LPP framework, helping improve your competitor awareness and bid success rate.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice. This option is perfect if your business overlaps two industries such as Healthcare and Technology, for example.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable healthcare leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Become a Pre-Bid Master package includes:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information.

7 Things to Consider When Applying for Hospital Tenders

How to succeed when applying for Hospital Tenders

Hospital tenders are some of the most abundant tenders going. Health is by far the biggest area of government procurement spending. The current COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in procurement within the healthcare sector. Increased procurement has been needed for both goods and services as they struggle to cope with increasing demand and pressure.

There are several things to consider when applying for hospital tenders.

Who puts out hospital tenders?

Private Healthcare Sector

This includes Private Hospital Groups such as:

  • Bupa
  • SPIRE
  • Ramsey
  • Nuffield Health
  • BMI Healthcare

Public Healthcare Sector

In the UK, this is the National Healthcare Service (NHS). This is inclusive of hospitals, general practices (GPs) and community care. Most of the procurement opportunities in healthcare and hospital tenders are put out by the NHS, local authorities and central government.

The NHS Supply Chain

This is the central body that oversees the procurement of healthcare products, services and food within the NHS. The NHS Supply Chain manages more than 4.5 million orders per year across 94,000 order points and 15,000 locations. They consolidate orders from over 8,000 suppliers saving time and money.

How are goods and services purchased?

In England, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) acquires funding through taxes and national insurance. This then goes to regional NHS organisations. Each region within the UK has its own healthcare board, known as the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG). They receive the money from the government and decide how and what to put the money towards in their region. Each hospital decides how to spend money from the government as they might need to procure different goods and services. As a result, our Healthcare Tenders portal sees a constant stream of healthcare contract opportunities.

The DHSC spent around £70 billion on procurement in England in 2018/19 and it is increasing each year. The public healthcare sector couldn’t run efficiently without private sector suppliers. An estimated 1 in 3 NHS clinical service tenders are won by private-sector contractors. 

There are three general areas of procurement and hospital tenders. These are:

  1. Digital

NHS Digital which controls IT procurement of dater systems and software solutions. Digital hospital tenders would be put out for software solutions to be used within hospitals. It is worth bearing in mind that if applying for NHS Digital procurement opportunities the following accreditations are needed:

  • ISO 9001
  • ISO 13485
  • ISO 27001
  • Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSP) Toolkit
  • IASME GOLD also known as IASME Governance
  1. Goods

The main goods bought by hospitals are equipment and medicines. This includes single purchase capital equipment tenders for things such as beds and x-ray machines. It also includes consumables which could be anything from bedsheets to paper towels. Both of which hospitals are in constant need of. In response to the pandemic, this would include the procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE).

  1. Services

The services can be viewed as the procurement of people. This could be doctors, cleaners or care workers. Service tenders would be put out to solve needs such as long waiting list problems. The current pandemic has led to an increase in the procurement of services in the last year.

7 things to consider when applying for hospital tenders:

  1. Accreditations and Qualifications

It’s no surprise that to secure healthcare and hospital tenders, you have to have certain accreditations and qualifications. The procurement teams need to know that you’re appropriately qualified to tend to their needs. Without these, you’ll likely fall at the first hurdle. Displaying some basic, internationally recognised qualifications and accreditations assures your quality. Including your organisation’s information security standards will help.

Some of the key accreditations that are needed when applying for hospital tenders are:

  • ISO 9001
  • ISO 27001
  • NVQs (usually level 3 or above)
  1. Case Studies

If you’re a relatively new business, it’s worth keeping in mind that hospital tenders will require you to include past case studies. If you don’t have these, it’s best to start with a small spot provider opportunity that you’ll champion. Once you’ve secured three small projects, you will have enough experience to apply for larger bids. The NHS requires case studies of previous work, so you must have these before applying.

  1. Price

When applying for hospital tenders, you want to make your bid the most price attractive to the buyer. The most economically advantageous tenders (MEATs) will come out on top, and it’s something worth remembering. Although a lot of tenders have greater scoring in quality, you must not overlook the pricing aspect.

  1. Framework

If you’re new to tendering, consider starting with framework agreements. A framework agreement is a form of tendering contract. Tenders often focus on a single supplier delivering the required goods or services. However, if you’re a new or small business, this might not be appropriate.

Frameworks aim to establish a multi-supplier agreement. This means there are more places available. These agreements are often over longer-terms, usually between 2 – 10 years. Buyers release a framework opportunity and award places to the best suppliers. Goods/services on frameworks are often divided into multiple lots. Therefore, instead of delivering the whole contract, you only deliver your section.

  1. End-user Engagement

If you’re applying for digital healthcare and hospital tenders, the implementation and end-user engagement are always worth paying attention to. You want the emphasis on support for whatever you’re providing. If you can get the end-user engagement right, you will be highly successful.

  1. Time

NHS tenders are often large, complex and notorious for being a lengthy procurement process. The NHS can be a difficult place to implement your solution. It takes time. Remember that there are many people involved in the process.

  1. Portal Notifications

It’s worth keeping an eye out for amended documents – don’t ignore portal notifications! If there are numerous clarification questions about the same clause, the procurement teams may make some changes. These amendments may significantly affect quality responses and/or pricing. 

Here are just some of the past hospital tenders we have sourced on our Healthcare portal:

On-site Perfusion Services Embedded within the Hospital

Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust- Wales- Budget: £14,000,000

23-11-2020

Enteral Nutrition Services for Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

HealthTrust Europe LLP (HTE)- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

19-11-2020

GB-East Grinstead: Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust require a replacement   Nurse Call System 

Queen Victoria NHS Foundation Trust- South East- Budget: £100,000

05-11-2020

Framework for Adult Mental Health and Adult Learning Disability Hospitals

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership-Procurement Services (hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust)- Wales- Budget: Undisclosed

05-11-2020

Hospital Intervention ‘Navigator’ Service РViolence Reduction

Greater Manchester Combined Authority- North West- Budget: £180,000

18-11-2020

If you want to enter the world of healthcare and hospital tenders but don’t know where to start, we can help.

What we can offer you:

Bid Writing Support

Once you’ve found a hospital tender for your business, we can support you through the NHS tendering process. We offer a variety of healthcare bid writing services to suit your requirements. From passing the PQQ to finalising your ITT response, our team are ready to help.

Our bid writers have an 87% success rate and over 40 years of bidding experience. We offer tender support through four services:

Tender Writing

Simply send the bid specification to our team and they’ll write your hospital tender. They’ll even submit the bid on your behalf. This service is priced per bid and we provide a full Tender Writing breakdown. You’ll know how long it’ll take, what we’ll need from you and when you’ll see an initial and final draft.

Tender Improvement

Our bid writers will assess your previous tender responses and work with you to develop improved content.

Tender Mentor

Our team will analyse your content and check for any errors before you submit your tender response. 

Tender Ready

Tender Ready helps businesses that are completely new to the tendering process. We offer a three-stage process and a 4-week programme.

Tender VLE

Our Tender VLE platform provides expert masterclasses and fact sheets covering many aspects of tender writing. From technical writing tips to design elements, you’ll find clear answers to almost any question you may have about tendering. Our team shares their expert knowledge through video tutorials.

Why join Healthcare Tenders?

  • Our Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sources daily to ensure our clients never miss a tender. This means each opportunity is current and relevant to your organisation.
  • We post opportunities on our portal, Healthcare Tenders, and tag them with accurate keywords manually. We don’t rely on CPV codes, which are often incorrect and cause tenders to be missed.
  • You can filter results easily by keyword, region, budget, service and more.
  • You can receive daily alerts when tenders are released for services in their sector as well as 24hr access to our Healthcare Tenders portal.
  • You can have a free 20-minute phone consultation with our bid writing experts from Hudson Succeed. We will answer specific questions and provide advice and guidance related to your tendering journey.

Get in touch with Healthcare Tenders today for a free live demo.

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Want to receive all care frameworks, direct to your inbox? Book a free live demo today.

Let us help you to help others.

Now is the time for Healthcare Tenders.