Organisations are to be equipped with a procurement vehicle providing access to a range of automated tools for analysing imaging and pathology, as well as the services of expert consultants
The NHS is planning to establish a near-£200m framework for health-service entities to invest in artificial intelligence technology to support diagnostics, as well as predictive tools to help anticipate service demand and costs.
The Healthcare AI Solutions agreement is expected to open for bids in summer 2025, before going live early next year. The commercial vehicle will be comprised of six lots.
The first of these will cover the use of AI to analyse medical imaging. The segment will be divided into nine sub-lots addressing a range of specialised areas, including oncology, neurology, and cardiology.
A newly published market-engagement notice says that the technologies available through this lot “will support the NHS to adopt life-changing technologies and provide a better outcome for patients”.
The document adds: “These technologies use AI algorithms, deep learning models [that] are trained on a large dataset of medical images, enabling them to identify patterns that may be missed by the human eye.”
The second lot covers AI systems that can analyse “biopsies, tissue, cells, blood, [and] bone marrow, to help detect cancer and other diseases optimising workflow in pathology labs”.
This lot is also split into various specialised sub-sections, and is intended to support “early detection” of cancer and other diseases.
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The third lot is focused on predictive analytics to help organisations foresee trends in hospital admissions and missed patient appointments.
The notice says: “AI can forecast volumes by predicting number of patients likely to be admitted in the coming days or weeks, optimise staffing levels, and ensures resources are adequately aligned to patient needs. Predictive analytics can help healthcare organisations estimate future healthcare costs, allowing better budget management and financial planning. The system [can] send notification when a risk is identified, alerting healthcare professionals to intervene before a patient requires admission.”
The fourth lot will feature providers of research and development services for the use of AI in drug discovery processes and clinical trials, while the penultimate section will contain automation tools intended to support “operational efficiency”.
The final lot will offer access to AI consultants to advise NHS entities in three areas: adoption of technology; integration with existing systems; and training for staff.
“Consultants work with healthcare organisations [in] specific areas where AI can provide value, [and] they develop strategic plans on how AI can be integrated into existing workflows,” the engagement notice says. “This process includes the support which focuses on selecting appropriate vendors in the market insuring the offering is in line with requirements. An important aspect of AI adoption is collaboration with different stakeholders and IT teams, clinical staff during implementation of an AI solutions into existing systems. Teams support with data integration and workflow alignment whilst specialists training sessions for the healthcare professionals on how to use AI tools.”
The framework is forecast to be worth £180m, inclusive of VAT.
Procurement 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.
Ahead of launching a formal tender process, NHS SBS is planning to run a series of “market-engagement sessions” during March and April. Suppliers and other interested parties wishing to take part in these exercises have until 21 February to fill out and submit a request for information document.