Procurement

The NHS has run an independent Federated Data Platform procurement exercise, done by the NHS, for the NHS. The choice of preferred supplier is not made by a single person but is the result of assessment by thirty individuals. This includes clinicians, chief operating officers and chief information officers at trusts and ICBs, and experts working in information governance and security.

The award of a contract for the FDP continues to go through a rigorous and transparent governance process.

Patient and public involvement

As we move into implementing the Federated Data Platform, there will be national engagement on the use of health data, listening to seldom-heard groups and with the public and professions on a large scale as part of the Department of Health and Social Care’s Data Strategy.

We have also set up an engagement portal where you can:

  • Register you interest in taking part in future FDP engagement activity
  • Leave feedback on any aspect of the FDP programme
  • Ask a question.

Federated data platform procurement update

The contract notice and standard selection questionnaire was published on 10 January 2023.  Participants that passed the standard selection questionnaire moved to Stage 2 of the procurement and were required to submit outline solutions for evaluation by 3 April 2023.

Following evaluation of initial solutions, NHS England shortlisted the three highest scoring participants and invited them to participate in dialogue with NHS England before proceeding to the next stages of the procurement process.

Associated procurement activity

Data Platform Transition Contract

On 20 June 2023, NHS England published a new 12 month contract to support the successful transition from the current Palantir Foundry platform to the new Federated Data Platform and Associate Services (FDP-AS) supplier. This is to provide the safe and smooth transition and exit service of critical products that were developed to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic (for Covid-19 and elective recovery purposes), to alternative provisions including the transition of products to the new FDP-AS supplier following completion of the procurement process and contract award.

This contract references the future Federated Data Platform and Associated Services (FDP-AS) contract for context, however it should be noted it is a separate contract and procurement process.

NHS Privacy Enhancing Technology (NHS-PET)

NHS England is committed to keeping patient information safe and being transparent about how it is used. NHS Privacy Enhancing Technology (NHS-PET) will provide robust protection and deliver a standard approach to support safe data access and use. The first use of the new NHS-PET will be for the Federated Data Platform Programme (FDP).

NHS-PET is a standalone service and will be used across various NHS data platforms, therefore, the successful supplier will be required to scale the use of the solution across the enterprise.

The 3-year NHS-PET contract will have an additional option to extend by 24 +12 + 12 months with a total estimated value of up to £35,000,000 over the contract period. The actual contract value will depend on the extent of the use of the service.

More information about the PET procurement can be found on the GOV.uk website.