A new £800m framework is being set up for IT services in the NHS and social care.
Crown Commercial Services (CCS) has issued a contract notice for the framework, and is looking for up to 12 suppliers to provide services including DevOps, digital definition and data management.
The chosen 12 will work with NHS Digital, the IT arm of the health service, as well as other social care and public sector bodies. NHS Digital wants companies “with whom it can develop strategic relationships over a sufficient period of time.”
“CCS intends to put in place an agreement for the provision of digital capability for health for use by NHS Digital and other public sector health and social care bodies for the provision of digital outcomes and supporting services,” states the notice.
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DevOps will be required to provide support for ongoing live services, while CCS is also on the look-out for data management partners to provide support “primarily targeted at building, enhancing and maintaining data assets, migrating data from one system to another and analysis and reporting from such data assets.”
Developers prepared to work on end-to-end projects with “the ability to combine the full set of agile phases of discovery through to live” are also being sought, as well as companies that can offer “build and transition services: either separately combining beta phase and/or retirement phases, including transition to live.”
The framework will cover various technology stacks within NHS Digital, including platforms and infrastructure, product development and data services. Any development work will follow the typical digital development will follow Government Digital Service (GDS) life cycle, the notice says.
The contracts run for four years and the closing date for bids is September 24. The framework marks the latest big digital spend from the NHS, which in May awarded contracts worth £250 million to 25 companies to provide a range of cyber-security services.
