Official UK procurement notice
Drug Knowledge Base for Electronic Health and Care Record
Authority: Somerset NHS Foundation Trust (Central government)·On behalf of: UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS DORSET NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSomerset NHS Foundation Trust awarded a contract to First Data Bank (FDB)UK for the provision of FDB Multilex. Multilex is FDB UK's proprietary software which provides medicines optimisation and clinical decision support for medicines management for the purposes of embedding within the Healthset Programme for Epic electronic health and care record.
FDB Multilex drug knowledge base is used in all UK Epic installations and is the only drug knowledge base product available with the core functionality required by encompass. The Authority is relying on egulation 32(2)(b)(ii) as the contract can only be supplied by FBD UK as competition is absent for technical reasons.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedProcedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Cancelled
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 9 Jul 2026, 09:14 BST
- Last source update
- 21 Jul 2026, 08:28 BST
- Authority reference
C457749- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-068480- Latest notice
- Procurement termination notice (UK12)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c6f3Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
The procurement falls outside the scope ofapplication of the regulations
Explanation:
First Data Bank (FDB) UK is the provider of Multilex. The FDB Multilex drug knowledge base embeds with existing Epic workflows to enable barcoded medicines administration, clinical decision support and inventory management. FDB Multilex drug knowledge base is used in all UK Epic installations and is the only drug knowledge base product available with the core functionality required by Healthset Programme. The Authority is relying on Regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) as the contract can only be supplied by FBD UK as competition is absent for technical reasons.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
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Timeline
21 Jul 2026 → 21 Jul 2026 · 2 dates- Notice published99 days ago21 Jul 2026, 08:28 BST
- Standstill ends98 days ago21 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 9 Jul 2026- Transparency notice published9 Jul 2026, 09:14 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published9 Jul 2026, 09:41 BSTUK6
- Procurement termination notice published21 Jul 2026, 08:28 BSTUK12
- Contract signature expected22 Jul 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| First DataBank UK LtdDrug Knowledge Base for Electronic Health andCare Record22 Jul 2026 – 31 Mar 2036 | £2,898,280 | 8 Jul 2026 | Cancelled |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
4 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- DORSET COUNTY HOSPITAL NHS FOUNDATION TRUSTProcuring entityCollaborative contract covering Healthset Programme
- DORSET HEALTHCARE UNIVERSITY NHS FOUNDATION TRUSTProcuring entityCollaborative contract covering Healthset Programme
- UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS DORSET NHS FOUNDATION TRUSTProcuring entityCollaborative contract covering Healthset Programme
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- FIRST DATABANK UK LTDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Procurement termination notice Procurement termination notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender