NHS dangles £1.5B carrot to be outfitted with everything from PCs to printers
- Reference: 1725273248
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2024/09/02/nhs_hardware_procurement/
- Source link:
NHS Shared Business Services Limited (NHS SBS), a joint venture between the NHS and French outsourcer Sopra Steria, and North of England Commercial Procurement Collaborative (NOE CPC), an NHS buying organization, have launched [1]the tender for a framework deal dubbed "Tech Devices - Link 4."
The agreement is expected to last four years. Potential bidders need to request participation by October 2.
[2]
The two buying organizations are set to act as a combined agency on behalf of customer organizations in the NHS and social care who might themselves form consortia. The resulting framework – which gives buyers discounts in return for an in indicative volume – is set to replace the existing IT Hardware and Services framework called Link 3.
[3]
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Link 3 was awarded in 2021 with a maximum value of £1 billion. According to [5]public sector procurement research organization Tussell , only £131 million in call-offs were made from the framework.
Link 2, worth up to £504 million, [6]was awarded without competition in the COVID era because "framework continuity is required during a period of high demand and priority to support the operational needs of the NHS in procuring these particular products and services at short notice," The Register reported at the time.
[7]Prior UK goverment planned £485M four-year budget for Palantir-based healthcare system
[8]UK health services call-handling vendor faces $7.7M fine over 2022 ransomware attack
[9]Second NHS IT system confirmed to be affected by CrowdStrike issues
[10]Cancer patient forced to make terrible decision after Qilin attack on London hospitals
The latest buying agreement is to be split into four Lots with a maximum of 15 suppliers awarded onto Lot 1 and a maximum of ten suppliers awarded to Lot 2, Lot 3, and Lot 4.
Most of the spending is available in Lot 1, for devices, peripherals and associated services. In it, up to £1.2 billion could be spent on all forms of desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets, and wearables. The framework also includes financing options.
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Lot 2 addresses specialist healthcare-related IT hardware, such as medical workstations and built-in devices, and mobile clinical assistant devices, for use in point-of-care and mobile environments. It might be worth £150 million. Printing and scanning devices make up Lot 3, which could be worth up to £50 million. Lot 4 gives buyers the option of procuring refurbished devices at a maximum of £100 million.
If you're in the NHS or elsewhere in the UK public sector, this framework is not the only game in town. Last year, [12]the Cabinet Office launched the tendering process for an agreement set to be worth up to £12 billion ($14 billion) including deals for hardware . ®
Get our [13]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027266-2024
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2ZtXhIvIJtK6Z1C2LyflJYwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZtXhIvIJtK6Z1C2LyflJYwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33ZtXhIvIJtK6Z1C2LyflJYwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://client.tussell.com/frameworks/521550-ef2e8877298baed64862edcfde4639a1-sbs10044-digital-workplace-hardware-link-3/suppliers?direction=DESC&order=sme
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/01/25/nhs_noe_cpc_504m_contract/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/21/conservative_palantir_nhs_budget/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2024/08/07/ico_plans_to_fine_nhs/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/19/crowdstrike_update_nhs_it_outages/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2024/07/05/qilin_impacts_patient/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44ZtXhIvIJtK6Z1C2LyflJYwAAAZc&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2023/03/13/uk_12b_tech_procurement/
[13] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Costs
And that's based on what experience?
Re: Costs
Cost reflect the environment it's used in, the expected failure rate (due to users/environment) and the required lifespan of and support for the equipment. If a customer buys kit with an OEM support shelf life of 5 years and we're in years 3 now, then that means carrying spares for an extra 3 -5 years (the OEM migh only carry the spares for EOL+3, ie standard max warrenty period, with a short tail after that). It's even more pronounced in military contracts where they commonly want 10 years or more of support. Speed and quality of support also factors in the upfront costs too.
A notable one of our contracts includes support for some IT kit supplied to military that went OEM EOL over 5 years ago now. It's getting much more expensive to maintain it so we frequently need to do board level repairs that would normally have been swap-outs, and anything faulty stays in stores so bits can be scavenged to extend the "life" of the new/old stock spares. (part of the reason is that the system as a whole only works with certain kit, as specified by the systems designers at the start, and no options were allowed for to replace one model with a newer model, no drivers etc)
Hmm
Good job the UK isnt short of money...
Computers AND printers, oh my.
Not for handing to, er, ESPECTED SUPPLIERS of whitebox hardware at premium prices. For hiring nurses and doctors with, though.... That's evidently very different.
Something something emergency medical hologram but I can't quite make the math work.
So they can find a billion and a half for this...
...but paying their staff something that isn't an insult is too difficult?
This is the shit you get when you replace the matrons with bloody management wonks.
Re: So they can find a billion and a half for this...
Well it is different if you pay monies to rich owned big corporations versus paying to working class unwashed staff.
Working class can't have too much money, because what if they can afford members' club fees?
Can you imagine sipping your favourite vintage and enjoying a cigar and seeing a doctor bothering the waiter with his lack of proper taste?
Costs
Are they finally going to get the NHS's costs for IT equipment below what a consumer pays, rather than N times?