IT supplier sought for £9m NHS framework

New framework to cover trusts across the UK

An NHS procurement partnership is on the hunt for an IT provider it hopes will provide it with a £9m IT solution.

The NHS Collaborative Procurement Partnership (NHS CPP) consists of the NHS North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative, NHS Commercial Solutions, NHS East of England Collaborative Procurement Hub, and NHS London Procurement Partnership.

The group represents about 60 per cent of NHS trusts across England and aims to harness the power of collective procurement to deliver best value.

The group requires a range of technology, for its "e-Catalogue and Requisitioning Solution" and the framework will be worth £9m over a four-year period, according to a recently published contract notice.

"Four NHS collaborative procurement organisations... wish to establish a framework to provide an e-catalogue and requisitioning solution for use by... their respective members and the wider NHS and public sector," said the document.

"The framework to be established will provide a pricing management and e-catalogue tool, with optional requisitioning functionality to allow the management, sharing, control and use of complex framework pricing data. The solution will automate the use of catalogue data while also improving the quality of data and information to better inform procurement decision making."

Five bidders will be invted to particiate in the invitation to tender stage of the process, and one provider will be awarded a place on the framework.