Prior information notice
This notice is for prior information only
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Velindre University NHS Trust
Unit 2 Charnwood Court,, Heol Billingsley, Parc Nantgarw
Cardiff
CF15 7QZ
UK
Telephone: +44 2921501377
E-mail: Gemma.Roscrow@wales.nhs.uk
NUTS: UKL
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://nwssp.nhs.wales/ourservices/procurement-services/
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA0221
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
I.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the abovementioned address
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
I.5) Main activity
Health
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Provision of a Blood Establishment Computer System (BECS)
II.1.2) Main CPV code
48000000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership are seeking to appoint a strategic partner on behalf of Velindre University NHS Trust to deliver and maintain a Blood Establishment Computer System (BECS) for use by the Welsh Blood Service (WBS). The contract will be awarded for a period of up to 20 years.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
72212100
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKL
Main site or place of performance:
Welsh Blood Service, Llantrisant
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership are seeking to appoint a strategic partner on behalf of Velindre University NHS Trust, to deliver and maintain a Blood Establishment Computer System (BECS) for use by the Welsh Blood Service (WBS), replacing their current BECS.
WBS is responsible for the collection of blood in Wales, and for the distribution of blood products to hospitals, as well as other related functions. In common with the other UK Blood Services and other NHS diagnostic laboratories, the WBS faces significant challenges for the future, such as changing donor behaviours and demand for blood products, challenges in respect of the recruitment and retention of new donors, the need to develop a more individualised donor care package, as well as wider population and system challenges, including the need to deliver services in a challenging economic climate. A failure to recognise, understand and analyse these challenges, and to identify options for the future, could jeopardise the security of the blood supply and specialist services in Wales.
WBS aims to collect in excess of 100000 donations each year, necessitating around 300 blood donations every day to meet patient need. Future demand for blood will be influenced by advances in cancer care, the changing population demographic with an ageing population and a more diverse case mix of patients. The UK ambition to increase self-sufficiency in plasma-derived medicines will further increase demand for donations.
WBS currently work with 4000 community influencers to help promote the importance of donating and utilise over 200 locations across Wales by providing a community-facing blood collection service.
As well as whole blood products the WBS also supply platelets, enabling patients to help fight chronic diseases, cancers and to aid recovery from traumatic injuries. WBS aims to collect around 11000 platelet donations each year for transfusion into NHS Wales patients, of which around 40% come from apheresis donation. In the future, WBS plans to introduce additional apheresis services to collect approximately 30,000 donations of plasma per year for the manufacture of medicines, in partnership with the pharmaceutical industry (fractionation partner).
WBS also supports transplantation services in Wales, via the Welsh Bone Marrow Donor Registry (WBMDR) and the Welsh Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics (WHAIS) services. The WBMDR and WHAIS enable solid organ, bone marrow and peripheral stem cell transplantation by supporting the matching of potential donors to transplant recipients, as well as providing testing services to confirm a donor/patient matching. These services interact with the wider WBS blood supply chain via its BECS platform.
BECS is a business-critical system and is the enabler for the delivery of key service and business objectives identified within the Welsh Blood Service 5-year ‘Blood and Transplant Services for the Future’ strategy. A central pillar of that strategy is an ambition to “deliver a more person-centred service and experience for our donors”, to provide individualised and tailored services to our users. The expectation is that the BECS will provide the Welsh Blood Service with a future-proof system, which allows for progressive and iterative change, in accordance with regulatory and statutory guidelines and the ever-evolving opportunities provided through the adoption of new and innovative digital technologies.
WBS has identified 3 options for the delivery of its BECS:
- Option 1 – Blood Management System (minimum viable product). This option would ensure the delivery of BECS solution equivalent to the solution currently in use within the WBS.
- Option 2 – Blood Management System (minimum viable product) plus Patient management (platelets) and hospital ordering
- Option 3 – Blood Management System (minimum viable product) plus Patient management (platelets) and hospital ordering, plus Appointments Management & Customer (Donor) Relationship Management (CRM)
II.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice:
02/09/2024
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
The following functions form the minimum scope of a BECS (option 1)
- Donor Management, including eligibility management – maintenance of a database of active, historical/inactive, including donation, testing history and any donor communications
- Blood Collection, Manufacturing, Testing and Distribution – supply chain management from donation to distribution of blood and blood products;
- Availability of business data and information to support resilience, planning and operational activities
In order to deliver the WBS 5-year strategy ‘Blood and Transplant Services for the Future’, a number of strategic objectives are considered to be dependent on key enablers delivered during the contract period, of the new BECS. In addition to the minimum scope (option 1) identified above, the new BECS will need to consider the following additional functions/modules:
- Option 2 Patient management (platelets) and hospital ordering
- Hospital Ordering –ability for customer hospitals to order electronically directly and for WBS and customer hospitals to track orders. In future, this function could fully automate the ordering process based on stock levels at hospital/blood bank site;
- Patient Management (Platelets) – functionality to support management of platelet transfusion requests for patients.
- Option 3 - Appointments Management & Customer (Donor) Relationship Management (CRM)
- Customer (Donor) Relationship Management – management of donor engagement activities, recruitment of donors, bespoke communications, automated communication pathways;
- Donor Portal – an online co-designed portal for donors to access, manage and contribute to their donation record, view personal information and donation history, book appointments, access support;
- Appointments Management – allowing management of appointments and session planning;
The list of additional functions/modules above is not exhaustive and may be subject to variation and/or change during the period of the contract, in line with statutory and regulatory changes to blood supply and blood product services.
Suppliers seeking to supply a BECS solution must demonstrate their ability to provide services that align to all the above functions/modules.
A cloud-hosted BECS solution is desirable. Suppliers will be expected to describe the hosting arrangement for the BECS. If solutions are not currently provided via the cloud, a plan for the future delivery of the service in the cloud will be required. Suppliers must set out the development roadmap for the solution throughout the proposed length of the contract.
Stakeholder events will be held in person between 24th June 2024 and 5th July 2024, to seek the view of the market on the requirements outline above and to allow Procurement Services and WBS to seek advice in the planning and conduct of the procurement.Dates will be confirmed following expressions of interest. Suppliers will be provided with further insight into the requirement and given the opportunity to ask questions.
Further details on the engagement sessions will be shared following receipt of expressions of interest sent to Gemma.Roscrow@wales.nhs.uk
Please confirm by Wednesday 5th June 2024 whether you require any materials in the medium of the Welsh Language.
Suppliers should note that this engagement event including any other soft market sounding in relation to this proposed procurement, may not necessarily lead to a formal procurement and/or award of any contracts. Any information provided by suppliers during this engagement event, may be used by WBS to help to scope the proposed procurement/services and may also be shared widely with other potential bidders. Participants are advised not to share any confidential information and/or information they would not wish to be shared more widely. WBS and Velindre University NHS Trust accept no liability for any costs incurred by bidders as a result of attending the event.
(WA Ref:141634)
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
31/05/2024