NHS England launches £300m tender for brand spanking new Digital Pathways Framework

NHS England has launched an open procurement contract price virtually £300 million to determine a framework settlement for the supply of Digital Pathways options and related capabilities for major care IT.

The contract notice, revealed on 18 October, places the estimated worth of the procurement at £297,600,060 excluding VAT. It’ll start on 24 January 2024 and final for 4 years earlier than ending on 24 January 2028.

The scope of the Digital Pathways companies and techniques, the discover states, covers the next capabilities and companies:

• Care Navigation – supporting the power to get sufferers the precise help on the proper time to assist handle a variety of wants.
• On-line Consultations and On-line Affected person/Service Person Request Reporting – supporting the supply of knowledge assortment, reporting and show (‘dashboard’).
• On-line Affected person/Service Person Request – supporting the power to boost and reply to administrative requests from sufferers (or their consultant) or a service consumer.
• On-line Affected person/Service Person Session – supporting the interplay between a affected person (or their consultant) and a service consumer, together with requests for help, capturing data on behalf of a affected person and verifying their particulars.
• Cross-Organisational – Appointment Reserving  – enabling appointments for sufferers and repair customers to be booked by well being/care professionals throughout organisational boundaries.
• Prescription Ordering – Citizen – permits sufferers to request for a repeat remedy (recorded within the ‘Prescribing’ functionality) to be issued on-line.
• Video Session – permits well being or care professionals to conduct safe dwell distant video consultations with particular person or teams of sufferers/service customers, making certain they’ll obtain help referring to healthcare issues when a video session is most applicable.
• View File – Citizen – permits residents to view content material from their EPR on-line (to combine with ‘Affected person Data Upkeep – GP Answer’ functionality).
• Communication Administration – helps the supply of communications to recipients.

The contract is topic to renewal, with an preliminary time period of 12 months and a possible extension for 36 months.

Value shouldn’t be the one award criterion for the contract with appropriate financial and monetary standing and technical {and professional} capacity additionally required.

The deadline for the receipt of tenders or requests to take part is 16 November 2023. The tenderer should preserve the tender for a length of at the very least six months from the date acknowledged for receipt of tender.

This NHSE tender comes after NHS Shared Enterprise Companies (NHS SBS) issued a Prior Data Discover (PIN) in August signalling its intention to start out negotiating with suppliers on a Framework Settlement for the supply of Digital Office Options.