ProCure23: A new route to market for NHS capital works

ProCure23 (P23) is the fourth generation of NHS England’s route to market for the provision of design and construction services to NHS capital projects.

NHS England have collaborated with Crown Commercial Service (CCS) to deliver P23 as part of the CWAS2 procurement framework to ensure that NHS capital works adopt the principles of the government’s Construction Playbook, modern construction delivery and a focus on sustainability and social value. CCS supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2020/21, CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits equal to £2.04 billion – supporting world-class public services that offer best value for taxpayers.

P23 has an expected cumulative spend of £9 billion during its 4-year lifespan and it builds on the successes of three previous iterations of ProCure that have delivered over £10 billion of projects for the NHS.

There are 12 national suppliers and 21 regional suppliers available via P23 and it is the primary route for NHS trusts and integrated care systems (ICSs) to undertake NHS capital works procurement. Through this route to market, NHS trusts and ICSs in England can quickly access experienced and proficient partners to support excellence in all aspects of NHS capital project delivery including business case development, sustainability, design, construction, disruption mitigation, benefit realisation and optimised occupation.

Why use P23? Benefits for the NHS

P23 offers a number of key benefits to NHS clients:

  • Confidence that all suppliers are proficient with health/complex project design and construction.
  • Increased supplier capacity, including access to regional suppliers.
  • Use of modern methods of construction including a range of standardised, project share and repeatable rooms options to provide reliable, evidence-based designs and to reduce capital cost.
  • Call-off options to suit differing project needs, values and complexities while ensuring clients’ post-construction review (PCR) compliance.
  • A fast track process, without the need to open tender, making the approvals process more efficient and reducing associated costs.
  • The ability to set the quality/price ratio for call-offs according to project needs.
  • Free of charge training for all project team members to enhance project proficiency (more than 25 hours each).
  • All projects will use tried and tested NEC contract processes, enabling collaboration and collective risk sharing between partners.
  • Implementation advisor support, offered in a neutral capacity, free of charge.

How to contact

Further information on how to use this framework can be accessed via the Crown Commercial Service website.

To access guidance and templates, join the ProCure23 Collaboration Hub. You may need to register first if you are accessing for the first time.

General operational enquiries should be sent to the team at nhse.procure23@nhs.net.