At the time of writing, there are over 7,500 healthcare notices published on Tenders Direct in over 300 categories from aprons to vascular dilators and power tools to vaccines. The total healthcare spending in England in 2018/19 was around £129 billion and is continuing to rise. Despite the financial pressures in the NHS, it’s clear that there are is an abundance of opportunities in the UK healthcare sector.

Blurred lines for innovation in public and private healthcare

We’ve been keeping an eye on recent news and trends in the UK. The Financial Times looks at how the lines are blurring for public and private healthcare with digital tools and advice websites changing how patients engage with medicine. In 2018 the NHS launched a tech funding scheme to help bring the public health system up to date with latest innovations emerging from the healthcare start-up community. Health tech start-ups are looking to sell their services directly to consumers in private markets, as well as rolling them out in the public sector. Read the full article here.

A call for designers and providers of digital and mobile health interventions and programmes

On the topic of technology, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) have release a draft guideline in which it suggests health professionals can consider digital and mobile interventions as a supplement to regular services to support behaviour changes in people at risk of developing chronic conditions. A consultation on the draft recommendations is open until 6 March 2020, the NICE are inviting comments from designers and providers of digital and mobile health interventions and programmes. Read the full article here.

Looking at new ways of care

Backed by £14 million of investment, seven ‘accelerator’ sites will be the first to deliver new standards for care. As part of the NHS’ longer term plan to support England’s aging population and those with complex needs, local health service and council teams will begin the roll out of Urgent Community Response teams. Further areas across England are to receive extra funding to begin work to the new standards from 2021, with every part of the country covered by 2023. Read the full story here.

Staffing, recruitment and training

As often reported, there is a shortage of nurses in the NHS. There are currently 40,000 nursing roles currently unfilled will the NHS are looking for overseas nurses to fill some of these gaps. Staff from the Philippines and India now make up most of overseas nurses, providing opportunities for recruitment agencies. Read the full article here.

Tenders Direct provides hundreds of keyword categories covering every health-related product and service tendered for, including all those procured which are related to the above articles. From health and social staff recruitment to the provision of new digital technology and everything in between. Thousands of notices are sorted using our unique category system so that we can deliver relevant notices on a daily basis, and you can quickly and easily find relevant opportunities.

Search our categories on Tenders Direct, or contact our team on 0800 222 9009 to see how we can help you find new business for your company.

Winning new business is difficult. Often it’s most difficult for new and emerging companies to challenge the established order, especially if they’re doing things in a different way. As businesses expand and develop, they begin to examine different avenues, moving away from ad-hoc smaller pieces of work to looking at more formal access routes to substantial contracts. 

Here we arrive at the wonderful world of bidding, proposals and tendering (you’ll see these terms being used interchangeably, but don’t worry they all mean the same). As potential contract sizes get larger, the demands placed on prospective bidders become ever more arduous and detailed, formal submissions are required for public and private sector buyers alike. 

As you might expect, larger companies have more resources to dedicate to business development and specifically to bidding for work. A recent survey of bid professionals showed just 20% worked in organisations of less than 100 employees and only 12% were the sole responsible resource in the organisation*. 

Unfortunately for smaller organisations, research has repeatedly shown a direct correlation between the level of resource employed in preparing proposals and success rates. The good news for developing organisations is that there are some relatively easy steps to take to improve proposals. A recent industry study shows that nearly half of all procurement professionals believe suppliers are letting themselves down with their proposals and that they are of poor quality. With the general standard being low, smart thinking and some effort can make a big difference.

If you are at the stage where you are or soon will be submitting proposals as part of your business development strategy then we can support you. We offer a range of support from analysis of current bid strategy and support with a live bid to a review of a past proposal.

To discuss, contact Andrew Watson, Bid Consultancy and Training Manager at Proactis Tenders Limited – Andrew.Watson@proactis.com

*APMP UK Compensation Report 2019

Social value has gained more and more prominence in public procurement in recent years and moves are now underway to further prioritise and standardise these requirements.

Following the government’s decision to obligate central government organisations to take account of social value in procurement as of this summer, the Cabinet Office is holding a consultation on proposals for a new evaluation model that finishes on the 10th June.

It is open to interested suppliers, public sector buyers, and any other stakeholders in public procurement. Follow the link above to have your say.

What is changing?

Central government departments will be required to take account of social value in the award criteria of above-threshold contracts, with the proposed evaluation model providing for a minimum weighting of 10%.

A variety of themes and policy outcomes are outlined in the new model but purchasing organisations will retain freedom over how and when to apply them based on the subject matter of any given procurement and their own commissioning priorities.

There will be a standard set of questions and evaluation criteria for each of the policy areas outlined in the new model, along with a scoring methodology similar to that already used to gauge quality in tender submissions.

Why the consultation?

Sub-central and third sector bodies and their suppliers have been the main drivers of innovation in terms of social value up to this point, so input from experienced stakeholders will help to determine if the proposed model is workable.

Improving SME access to public contracts is also a major policy area and some of the key feedback requested in the consultation is focused on whether or not the new model helps or hinders the government’s objective of “levelling the playing field” for suppliers.

The questions posed in the consultation are:

• Do you agree with the proposed policy metrics in the model in the attached annex? Do you have examples of such metrics being successfully used in public procurement?
• Do you agree that the proposed minimum 10% weighting for evaluating social value in the bid is appropriate?
• Does the proposed approach risk creating any barriers to particular sizes or types of bidders, including SMEs or VCSEs? How might these risks be mitigated?
• How can we ensure government’s existing procurement policy mandates (for example on levelling the playing field for SMEs) take precedence in designing the procurement?

Want to know more?

If you’re a supplier in need of advice on how best to approach the social value aspects of your public sector bids  – or a buyer looking for guidance on how to evaluate social value in procurement exercises – we’re ready to help. Visit our consultancy page or call 0800 222 9009.

Questions? Leave a comment! 

Meet our Review Team: (from left to right) Carol Davidson, Kirsty Macdonald-Ross, Ewan MacAskill and Cameron Masson.

They provide something truly unique in our market: they read, analyse and categorise every english-language contract published in the Official Journal of the European Union as well as every below-threshold notice from across the UK and Ireland.

Their efforts serve to simplify the convoluted public sector marketplace, giving suppliers fast and easy access to suitable contracts and peace of mind that opportunities won’t pass them by.

Why do our keyword categories and review process matter?

Ewan

“We use our own unique category system to classify every tender that we send to our customers. This provides a greater level of accuracy than the standard CPV codes. It is the review team’s responsibility to apply the most appropriate categories to each tender.

“We do this for two main reasons: Firstly, to reduce the amount of tenders customers might receive that are not relevant to their business. More importantly, to ensure that customers do not miss out on potential tender opportunities.”

Kirsty

“Our bespoke category system and review process are the backbone of our service – they differentiate us from our competitors who use CPV codes and individual keywords.

“So for every notice that we read and review each day, we know that we’re providing the best possible service for our customers by helping them to quickly find what they need without wading through irrelevant information.”

Cameron

“We review hundreds of tenders each day, saving time and money for customers who may spend hours every week trawling through lists of tender notices that are not relevant to their business.

“We’re always looking for ways to stay up to date with advancements in technology and sector terminology. We continuously update our category system to ensure it stays relevant to today’s market and generates accurate alerts for our customer base.”

Carol

“Between us we read through hundreds of notices each day to make sure they are correctly categorised – this is a time-consuming and difficult task but thousands of companies appreciate what we do!

“Many of the contracts we see have unusual or vague descriptions. It is vital that we investigate these further to understand exactly what the contracts entail so our customers don’t miss opportunities.”

Queries? Leave a comment or find out more about our solutions for suppliers here.