Frequently asked questions for suppliers

A framework agreement is a list of pre-approved suppliers that have been assessed as capable of delivering products and services. This assessment is based on quality and commercial criteria, as well as sustainability and social value weighting. Most of our framework agreements offer the options to either direct award or hold a further competition with the list of approved suppliers.  

Suppliers interested in joining a framework must submit their bid within a limited window. Once this window is closed, no new suppliers will be added for the duration of the contract. 

A DPS is a contract similar to a framework agreement, but with more flexibility built in. A DPS allows suppliers to join at any time, increasing competition and enabling new businesses, innovations and emerging technologies throughout the life of the DPS.  

While a framework is limited to four years, there is no such limit applied to a DPS. There are no restrictions to how many suppliers may be awarded to a DPS, whereas with a framework agreement, supplier limits can be applied. 

A direct award is when the terms of a framework agreement are precise enough to award the contract directly to a supplier on the relevant lot of a framework agreement without any further competition. The contract must be awarded to the top ranked supplier in accordance with the assessment criteria when the framework was established, and the framework terms and conditions cannot be amended.

When the terms of a framework are not precise enough to make a direct award, the buyer must run a further (or mini) competition. In this situation, all suppliers on the relevant lot will be invited to submit a bid and will be evaluated on project-specific requirements.

Potential suppliers are welcome to respond to any current tender opportunities with the East of England NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub. Tender opportunities are published in line with the Public Contracts Regulations and can typically be found at the following locations:  

• Current tender opportunities for high value contracts (above £138,760 including VAT) are published via the Find a Tender service, which replaced the EU Tenders Electronic Daily (TED) on 1 January 2021 

• Lower value contracts (over £12,000 including VAT) can  typically be found via Contracts Finder  

• In addition to the above locations, suppliers can register to receive notifications of East of England NHS Collaborative Procurement Hub’s tender opportunities (and those of many other NHS organisations) via the Health Family Single eCommercial System (Atamis)  

We work with the very best suppliers in the market to provide value to the NHS, encourage innovation and improve patient care. Our contracts are used and trusted by a large number of NHS organisations in the East of England region and across the country, and are also available to all public sector organisations in the UK. 

Our framework agreements and DPSs provide our NHS customers, as well as wider public sector organisations, with a list of pre-qualified suppliers that are able to provide specific goods and/or services; our customers then award contracts to suppliers on that list via either direct-award or further competition. This means that suppliers only have to apply once to be awarded to our agreements, rather than bidding multiple times for individual contracts.

Whilst the use of frameworks isn’t mandated, it is strongly encouraged, meaning that becoming an awarded supplier could give you access to contracts that you wouldn’t otherwise have.

Atamis is a single eCommercial system for procurement used across the NHS. This system allows onboarded organisations to manage their planned procurement activity, tender activity, contracts, suppliers and related procurement value and savings in one location.

Many NHS organisations historically used their own procurement systems to buy goods and services. This meant that most procurement teams were previously working in local systems with different data standards which were unable to integrate. This led to there being little shared insight into planned procurement activity, tender activity, or about contracts and suppliers, making it harder for teams to make effective commercial decisions. 

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has tendered for and procured a single e-commercial system to enable NHS organisations to replace the large variation in sourcing and contract management systems across the health family with one platform.

It brings the commercial activities of the health service together in one place, including business case generation and sign off, tendering, evaluation, digital contract awards and performance management, supplier management and P2P interface.

We are active on X/Twitter and LinkedIn. If you would like to promote your place on one of our frameworks on social media, do tag us so we are able to like and repost your content as appropriate.  

Non-NHS organisations are not permitted to use the NHS lozenge in any of their promotional material; this includes the use of the Hub’s logo. As an alternative, approved suppliers are entitled to an EOECPH Awarded Supplier logo. If you would like to request one of these logos, please get in touch with your contact at the Hub and they can provide you with one, along with guidelines for their use.

We are supportive of press releases announcing your award to one of our frameworks; however, we do ask that public communications are sent to us for review prior to their release to ensure that any information relating to our organisation is factually correct. 

No, suppliers never need to pay to submit a bid or be awarded to one of our contracts. However, many of our contracts require the payment of activity based income (ABI). ABI is a percentage charged to the supplier for any work they obtain through one of our contracts.

There are a number of ways we have tried to help suppliers in working with the NHS.

• We use one eProcurement system for all of our procurements so suppliers don’t need to learn and manage multiple systems
• We conduct pre-market engagement so suppliers are aware of opportunities in advance and have adequate time to prepare
• We use a standard selection questionnaire so suppliers can have responses prewritten
• We adhere to legal obligations that requirements to suppliers are proportional to their size, so SMEs are able to bid

The NHS has committed to becoming carbon net zero by 2040 for the emissions the NHS controls directly, and by 2045 for the emissions the NHS has the ability to influence.

As of April 2022, all NHS procurements must include a minimum 10% net zero and social value weighting, and ask a fighting climate change question.

From April 2023, for all new contracts above £5 million per annum, the NHS requires suppliers to publish a Carbon Reduction Plan for their UK Scope 1 and 2 emissions and a subset of scope 3 emissions as a minimum. The Carbon reduction plan and net zero commitment requirements for the procurement of NHS goods, services and works guidance outlines what is required from suppliers and how it should be implemented.

In April 2024, these requirements will be extended to cover all new procurements in the NHS.

The Evergreen Sustainable Supplier Assessment is a tool for suppliers to engage with the NHS on their sustainability journey and understand how to align with NHS net zero ambition. It serves as a pathway for communications and data gathering between suppliers and NHS decision makers across NHS organisations and will provide a mechanism for suppliers to showcase their net zero progress and wider sustainability efforts.