The second iteration of the Patient Communication and Engagement Solutions buying vehicle will be cut down to six core lots, with bidding expected to open in March of next year
The NHS is preparing to launch a new £300m framework for technology to support better engagement with patients.
The Patient Communication and Engagement Solutions 2 deal will be the second iteration of an agreement first launched in 2021 and which features 25 suppliers. The new version will cut down the nine lots of the incumbent framework to six sections.
The first of these will be dedicated to “digital (online) communication” tools, and will cover “the provision of automated one- and two-way internet-based online digital communication services such as patient portals and smartphone applications… managing outgoing and incoming documents and data in a digital format”, according to a newly published early-engagement notice.
The aim of these tools will be to “introduce new working practices, technologies, and innovation to improve document and data workflow [and] easily access all information for example, via a single log in or system so that all communications can be collaborated and accessed via a single solution”.
The second lot is dedicated solely to SMS and messaging tools, while the third will feature providers of telephony and call-centre services.
The fourth segment will enable the purchase of “hybrid mail” services, “including traditional and electronic options”.
The notice adds: “Solutions shall provide digital alternatives to physical print, providing use of templates and electronic data-management processes. The platforms shall be self-service with the ability to schedule communications and volume-based deviation alerting.”
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The penultimate lot is for technologies that address “patient/citizen experience” – including the Friends and Family Test (FFT) service: a survey launched by the NHS in 2013 to gather anonymous patient feedback on their levels of satisfaction.
Suppliers hoping to feature on this lot will be expected to offer “digital first… solutions [that] ensure GDPR compliance, and provide anonymous feedback processing for discharged patients”.
The final section of the new framework covers “workforce communications”, including “mobile audio messaging, paging and alerting services”. The increased use of these technologies “is intended to replace outdated workforce communication methods such as fax machines and analogue pagers, [and] solutions shall be capable of handling inbound and outbound communications with scheduling of communications and analytics”.
The existing framework – which came into effect in 2021 and runs until 31 October 2025 – features a lot dedicated to managed email, which has been excised from the second iteration. The current version’s final lot, which covers “all-in-one combined solutions and advisory/digital transformation” services, has also been dropped from the upcoming replacement. Two incumbent lots covering voice-based technologies – dedicated to “agent calls” and “interactive voice response systems” – are to be converged into a single segment.
The estimated value of both frameworks is £300m, once tax is included.
The tender process for the new agreement is being led by NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), a joint venture between the health service and Sopra Steria, which provides the NHS with procurement support, and other centralised corporate services.
The buying organisation expects to open bidding for Patient Communication and Engagement Solutions 2 around the end of March 2025. The aim is for the new deal “to go live shortly after the expiry of the existing framework agreement”. Once it is in place, all NHS and social care bodies will be able to use the arrangement to buy tech products and services.
In the meantime, NHS SBS “intends to hold market engagement sessions during October and November 2024 with industry experts and suppliers interested in potentially bidding for the resulting framework agreement” once the formal tender is issued next year.
Those interested in taking part in this engagement process are asked to complete a request for information process, according to the notice.