Official UK procurement notice
Use of Drones for delivery of Aseptic Pharmacy Medication - Trial
Authority: United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUnited Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has an interest in the potential use and benefits of drone delivery for aseptic pharmacy drugs, in support of chemotherapy treatment, particularly for short notice delivery requirements. The Trust is keen to review the market for advances in the field and innovative solutions that support: - Drone delivery of aseptic pharmacy drugs from Aseptic unit in Lincoln to acute care sites across the County. - Potential ability for drones to reach distances of up to 45 miles. - Potential to fund a pilot scheme with the Authority. The Trust initially intends to undertake a trial to assess the feasibility of using drone technology in Lincolnshire to transport aseptic pharmacy drugs, augmenting existing road transportation, and to have the ability for short notice delivery of ready to administer drugs. The Aseptic unit currently supports our 4 main hospitals, with 2 peripheral sites. From the trial the Trust needs to understand if delivery between two locations is possible and ideally explore the plausibility of wider deliveries to the other sites. The measure would be effectiveness/cost versus the continued use of third-party transportation via the road network (for those drugs currently delivered by this method). Through this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice, the Trust would like to understand: - The level of interest in the market from suppliers who may be interested in working with the Trust on a trial. - What solutions are currently available and / or available soon that the market can offer. - Airspace controls and restrictions that may impact drone flights. - Real-time tracking, reporting or analytics that are available. - How the integrity of payloads is maintained including but not limited to temperature control and security - Commercial operating models for both a trial and any longer-term contract that the Trust may procure should any trial prove to be successful.
CPV: Transport services (excl. Waste transport)
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Planned
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Past planning notice
- 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
- 25 Jun 2025, 15:55 BST
- Last source update
- 27 Jun 2025, 09:26 BST
- Authority reference
C371124- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-035591- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05539dFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
25 Jun 2025 → 1 Nov 2025 · 5 dates- Planning notice published25 Jun 2025, 15:55 BST
- Latest notice published27 Jun 2025, 09:26 BST
- Market engagement25 Jul 2025, 23:59 BST
The purpose of publishing the Preliminary Market Engagement Notice for Drone Delivery Service for Aseptic Pharmacy Medication – Trial is to engage with the supply market to assess the level of interest and for United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to engage with the market to understand solutions and commercial models available. For clarity, this is not a call for competition and no contract(s) will be awarded to any supplier as a result of participating in this exercise. Suppliers who express an interest are also asked to complete the preliminary market engagement questionnaire published alongside this notice in the Atamis tendering portal. Please complete and submit your completed preliminary market engagement questionnaire via the portal no later than 25th July 2025 at 12pm. The purpose of publishing the Preliminary Market Engagement Notice for Drone Delivery Service for Aseptic Pharmacy Medication – Trial is to engage with the supply market to assess the level of interest and for United Lincolnshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to engage with the market to understand solutions and commercial models available. For clarity, this is not a call for competition and no contract(s) will be awarded to any supplier as a result of participating in this exercise. Suppliers who express an interest are also asked to complete the preliminary market engagement questionnaire published alongside this notice in the Atamis tendering portal. Please complete and submit your completed preliminary market engagement questionnaire via the portal no later than 25th July 2025 at 12pm. Suppliers can register an interest and access the questionnaire via the following link atamis-1928.my.salesforce-sites.com/ProSpend__CS_Contrac… ↗ The Trust may seek clarifications on Supplier submissions or engage in further market engagement relating which may include additional questionnaires or face to face meetings. The Trust may seek clarifications on Supplier submissions or engage in further market engagement relating which may include additional questionnaires or face to face meetings.
- Tender notice expected15 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts362 days ago1 Nov 2025
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 25 Jun 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published25 Jun 2025, 15:55 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Jun 2025, 09:26 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
Including link to the tendering portal which was omitted on the original notice
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
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender