Procurement

Our Procurement team

We have a team of procurement professionals who oversee all aspects of our procurement activity and provide a comprehensive and compliant commercial service.

The team is responsible for the whole procurement lifecycle, including:

  • from identification of business need and engaging the market through to supplier selection
  • contracts and relationship management
  • contract expiry/termination
  • starting to plan for the next contract lifecycle

Procurement regulations

NHS England and the wider NHS are governed by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Our NHS England procurement policy applies to all NHS England purchasing arrangements, including:

  • purchasing goods and services from an existing or new supplier
  • call off orders under existing NHS or government frameworks
  • renewals, variations and extensions to existing contracts
  • proof of concept trials
  • third party data supply arrangements
  • contract tender and renegotiations

Transforming public procurement

UK procurement rules are set to change on Monday 24 February 2025. The implementation of these reforms is owned and managed by the Cabinet Office.

The Transforming Public Procurement Programme aims to improve the way public procurement is regulated in order to:

  • c​reate a simpler and more flexible, commercial system. A system that better meets our country’s needs while remaining compliant with our international obligations
  • open up public procurement to new entrants, so that small businesses and social enterprises can compete for and win more public contracts
  • embed transparency throughout the commercial lifecycle, so that the spending of taxpayers’ money can be properly scrutinised

Provider Selection Regime

The Provider Selection Regime (PSR) is a set of rules for procuring health care services in England by organisations termed relevant authorities (NHS England, integrated care boards, NHS trusts and NHS foundation trusts, local authorities and combined authorities). The PSR does not apply to the procurement of goods or non-health care services (unless as part of a mixed procurement), procurements in scope of the PSR are not in scope of other procurement regulations and will not be in scope of the Procurement Act 2023.

Relevant authorities must follow 1 of 5 provider selection processes when awarding contracts for health care services – these include direct award processes A, B, and C, the most suitable provider process or the competitive process. The PSR statutory guidance sits alongside the PSR regulations, supporting relevant authorities to understand and apply the PSR. Relevant authorities must have regard to the statutory guidance.

Our eCommercial System (Atamis)

Atamis is the single Health Family eCommercial System that enables the large majority of NHS organisations to undertake procurement planning, tender, contract and supplier management. For suppliers, Atamis is the tool that allows suppliers to find and access procurement opportunities with the majority of the NHS directly. It also allows suppliers to complete the Evergreen sustainable supplier assessment. This enables suppliers to engage with the NHS on their sustainability journey and understand how to align with the NHS net zero and sustainability ambitions, including those set out in the NHS net zero supplier roadmap.

No pre-requisites are required before registering for Atamis. Once registered, the system provides access to published tender notices, user guides and allows business alerts to be set up to notify suppliers about relevant business opportunities as and when they appear on the system.

The NHS England procurement pipeline

The NHS England procurement pipeline is a forward look at potential procurement activity across 5 core categories, including:

  • digital data and technology
  • clinical services
  • workforce
  • training and education
  • professional and corporate services
  • estates

The information presented is in line with Cabinet Office guidance and is to help ensure the widest possible population of potential suppliers can be sighted on upcoming public sector contracting opportunities.

Neither the publication of this pipeline, nor any of the information presented in it, should be taken as a commitment or representation on the part of NHS England (or any other organisation) to enter into a contractual arrangement or to proceed with a procurement. Circumstances may change and we cannot guarantee that the requirements, sourcing route, contract value, and/or timeline will be as stated. There may also be further contracting activity that takes place that we are not currently aware of, and which may therefore not appear on this pipeline.

How frameworks are used

Framework agreements are the most common way of buying products in the NHS. They enable buyers to place orders without running a lengthy full tendering exercise and to draw from a predetermined list of accredited suppliers. It also means that buyers do not have to approach all suppliers in the market, and should, as a result, make the buying process easier and more cost effective.

To help simplify the landscape, remove duplication, and reduce costs, NHS England’s Central Commercial Function started a Framework Accreditation Programme in August 2023. It requires NHS buyers to buy relevant products, services and works, via nationally accredited frameworks and framework hosts.

How we manage supplier contracts

There are 4 categories of supplier contracts, each with different levels of management:

  • gold: contracts which have a high supply risk and high-cost impact
  • silver: contracts which have a high-cost impact and low supplier risk
  • bronze: contracts which have a low-cost impact and low supply risk
  • transactional: contracts which are administrative in nature, failures are undesirable but can be tolerated

To ensure suppliers perform well and deliver best value we hold regular management reviews and establish strong relationships with suppliers that are focused on continuous improvement from all parties.

Our approach to supplier relationship management

Suppliers are critical to NHS England’s ability to deliver for the wider NHS and to the public. To ensure we build effective strategic relationships we are establishing a strategic supplier relationship framework, a deliverable of the Strategic framework for commercial. The strategic relationship programme follows the Government Commercial Function standard, using an evaluation and assessment process to identify suppliers as strategically important.

Further useful information

Purchase orders

Suppliers will need an NHS Shared Business Services account. The contract manager should be provided with their company information including banking information and contact details.

The supplier should be in receipt of a valid purchase order (PO), or as a minimum the PO number, before providing the goods or services. The email contact details provided are used to issue the electronic copy of the purchase order.

Accounts payable

NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) is NHS England’s accounts payable partner and sets up the purchase to pay (P2P) invoice process. Suppliers must submit all invoices via a pan-European public procurement online (PEPPOL) compliant e-invoicing system. NHS England standard terms are 30 days from receipt of an acceptable invoice. The resolution of non-compliant invoices is led by NHS SBS in the first instance.

Please note, for any changes in supplier contact information and bank details, a supplier amendment request form needs to be submitted to NHS SBS, who will perform rigorous checks.

Commonly used terms and conditions

It’s important that any supplier wishing to bid for work reads through the tender and associated specification and make sure they understand and can adhere to the proposed contract over the whole scope of the work before bidding. The terms and conditions applicable to a contract will vary depending on the requirements and the procurement approach. The proposed contract terms and condition are supplied at the tendering stage. Any questions suppliers have concerning the contract can be asked through the Atamis procurement system, to ensure process transparency.

The NHS standard purchase order terms and conditions apply to procurements below £10,000 and non-clinical services  or where no specific terms and conditions have been issued.  For clinical services, the NHS Standard Contract is applied.

Open competition

This is a brief overview of a typical open competition:

Advertisement of opportunity

NHS England identifies what needs to be purchased and advertises the opportunity via the e-commercial system, Atamis. If the requirement is below current threshold but above £10,000 excluding VAT, NHS England will also advertise on Contracts Finder; if the provision is above current thresholds, NHS England will advertise on the Find a Tender Service. Sign up to Atamis to receive alerts about when new procurements start.

Standard selection questionnaire

For procurements above threshold, companies must submit a standard selection questionnaire to take part in the procurement. This assesses a company’s capability and financial and economic standing. Company responses are evaluated and those shortlisted are invited to submit tenders.

Invitation to tender

Suppliers will receive an invitation to tender (ITT) along with all the appropriate documents that require review and/or completion. It is imperative that upon receipt of tender documentation you review information for accuracy and raise any discrepancies immediately. The ITT assesses the company’s proposal for delivering the specific goods and/or services and hence it is imperative to follow the instructions as provided to ensure you are compliant in your bid submission.

ITT evaluation and contract award

The commercial team works with colleagues across NHS England to agree the evaluation criteria and methodology for a competitive tender process. Evaluation criteria will be published with a tender. Criteria and their methodology are used to assess technical merit, risk, and other key areas including social value. NHS England assesses bids using pre-agreed criteria and select suppliers using objective evaluation. Feedback is provided for all bids and a debrief is available for suppliers if requested.