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Published 29 Sept 2026, 16:40 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Secondary Care Medicines Data Pre-Market Engagement

Official notice Competition analysis

Authority: NHS England (Central government)

Framework agreementServicesAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Software Packages & ERP (48)IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline value£6,750,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Framework period 1 yrends 31 Mar 2028 · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

NHS England is seeking to procure capability and/or related tooling for data processing of data from hospital pharmacy systemsassociated licensing and implementation support. The initial high-level objectives would be to provide:

  • reporting function to Trust and a national data set on the stock position and daily issuance of medicines in secondary care; and
  • a price comparison tool that compares the prices paid by a Trust with those of national NHS procurement framework for medicines

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · IT software development services · IT software package · Software package and information systems

How this framework works

From the published notice
Framework period
1 yr · up to 2 yrs from 1 Apr 2027

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 1 yrSME
Contract period: 1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2028 (1 yr) · up to 31 Mar 2029 with extensions
Eligibility: SME eligible
Extensions: Extension options published
48000000 Software package and information systems48517000 IT software package72000000 IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support72212517 IT software development services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add more
What this means for your bid
  • “Secondary Care Medicines Data Pre-Market Engagement” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How NHS England buys Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221), and who usually turns up

NHS England’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerNHS England · division 72
The marketProgramming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221)
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
i

How often small and medium firms win.

Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.

The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 of 10 known-size awards · market: CPV 7221 · UK-wide, n=10
30%20%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Greater London (authority’s region).

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 3 known-location awards · market: CPV 7221 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=6
1 of 333%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: no decision dates published · market: CPV 7221 · UK-wide, n=9
—113 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 113 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

The buyer’s share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 4 of 8 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7221 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=5
50%60%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

How many bids did past lots attract?

i

How many bids past lots received.

Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.

Past bids do not predict this tender.

Last 36 months.

This buyer102 lots with bid counts · all categories
15% had one bid
The market5 lots with bid counts · CPV 7221 · Greater London (authority’s region)
60% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid15% / 60%
Buyer: 15 of 102 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
2–325% / 20%
Buyer: 25 of 102 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
4–617% / 0%
Buyer: 17 of 102 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
7+44% / 20%
Buyer: 45 of 102 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 5 lots with published bid counts.

How did awards compare with estimates?

i

Where winning prices landed against estimates.

Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.

On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

Not comparable on a framework or DPS: the price is set later, on each call-off.

2

Assess each lot
i

What past awards tell you about each lot.

See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.

No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 722112 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£6.8m
Expected competition
i

How many bids this lot may attract.

The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.

Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 17 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet29% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 17 similar lots
1 bid29%
5 of 17 similar past lots received 1 bid (29%).
2–318%
3 of 17 similar past lots received 2–3 (18%).
4–66%
1 of 17 similar past lots received 4–6 (6%).
7+47%
8 of 17 similar past lots received 7+ (47%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 6 bids.
Commercial price forecast
i

Where the award price may land.

The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.

No comparable awards for this lot yet.

A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.

—Priced at call-off
On a framework or DPS the price is agreed on each call-off, so there is no award price to forecast here: the published figure is a ceiling.

Who has supplied this buyer on similar work?
i

Who has done similar work for this buyer.

Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.

A past supplier may not bid again.

No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.

Who could compete for this lot?
i

Who could compete for this lot?

Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.

None is confirmed as a bidder.

Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.

About this data
  • Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
  • Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
  • Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
  • Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Framework agreement
Who may use this agreement
Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
29 Sept 2026, 16:40 BST
Last source update
14 Oct 2026, 16:07 BST
Authority reference
C473207
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097171
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and supportIT software development servicesIT software packageSoftware package and information systems
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077ce3 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Appointment period ends
—

Timeline

29 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published28 days ago
    29 Sept 2026, 16:40 BST
  2. Latest notice published13 days ago
    14 Oct 2026, 16:07 BST
  3. Today
    28 Oct 2026
  4. Market engagementin 4 days
    1 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT

    Suppliers interested in this opportunity are requested to sign up

    A webinar will be held on Tuesday 13th October 2026 at 11:00am (BST) for 1:00 hours to further explain the requirements and aims of the programme. To book a slot for the webinar, please submit your details using the link below.

    [events.teams.microsoft.com/event/f1b29a05-4cb0-… ↗]

    If you experience any difficulties accessing the documents, please write to england.supplier@nhs.net

    To access and download the RFI “Appendix A – RFI Response Questionnaire Secondary Care v161026” please follow the link provided (as shown below). For ease this information will be provided to your registered email address. Please follow instructions on how to register with Atamis.

    To register on the NHS England’s e-Tendering portal and to access this opportunity, please go to health-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗. You can then search for the opportunity and access any further information.

    The RFI documents and questionnaire can be found on Atamis by searching

    “C473207 – Secondary Care Medicines Data Pre-Market Engagement”

    The overall deadline for submitting questions relating to this RFI will be 17:00, 21/10/2026.

    This preliminary market engagement exercise is due for return by 17:00, 30/10/2026.

    Please note all communication including your submissions should be via Atamis

  5. Contract startsin 154 days
    1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 29 Sept 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    29 Sept 2026, 16:40 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    29 Sept 2026, 16:52 BST
    UK2
  3. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    14 Oct 2026, 16:07 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (2)

Updated Webinar link

Updated with RFI information

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

NHS England

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PDPT-3135-BWWY Wellington House, 133-135 Waterloo Rd, London, London, SE1 8UGContact email

Official documents & specifications (3)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure