The NHS is in the midst of one of the most ambitious transformations in its history.
In July this year, the Prime Minister launched the government’s 10 Year Health Plan, entitled ‘Fit for the Future’.
At the heart of the plan are three strategic ‘shifts’ that the government say will help to create ‘a neighbourhood NHS’:
- Moving from delivering care in hospitals to delivering care closer to home, in communities and in primary care
- Implementing a digital transformation of service delivery
- Changing from a service treating sickness, to one focused on preventing illness occurring in the first place
A new operating model for the NHS
The 10 Year Health Plan also sets out a new NHS operating model, with a system centre at the Department of Health and Social Care. There will also be changes to Integrated Care Boards (ICBs). These will be smaller and more focussed on strategic commissioning and population health outcomes.
Under this new operating model, the plan envisages a greater use of multi-year budgets and financial incentives to enable investment in preventative services, and to achieve better outcomes.
How will these changes affect NHS tender bids?
In the new 10 Year Health Plan, it states that there will be a £29 billion ‘real terms increase’ in day-to-day spending for the NHS over the next three years (as announced in the Spring 2025 Spending Review). There will also be an additional £10 billion allocated towards technology and digital transformation.
For tendering organisations, this presents both challenges and opportunities.
There is bound to be more tender opportunities as the NHS looks to procure products and services that will help it to achieve these three goals: community care, digital transformation, and illness prevention.
Therefore, organisations who bid for NHS tenders over the next three years should demonstrate in their tender bids that they understand the new NHS priorities and vision and how they can help the NHS to achieve them over the course of the contract.
However, the changes to the operating model will see a new system of ‘earned autonomy’ introduced for providers. This will include a new failure regime to address poor performance, as well as systems to reward the best performers.
The government has also stated that ‘transparency, data and choice will be used to drive performance, with providers and commissioners to be measured against clear metrics and ranked on performance, with that information then provided to patients’. Patient reported outcomes, experience and feedback will also be used as key measures of performance, and a new patient choice charter will be introduced.
If you need support with NHS tender bids, we can help. To talk to a member of our team, call 0330 133 8823 or email info@klowconsulting.com.