Co-Developing the 'Digestive Disease Centre' at University Hospital Southampton, Hybrid Procurement and Sponsorship Opportunity

UHS is seeking to engage with interested parties to discuss and refine an opportunity to become a strategic endoscopy partner to the Trust. UHS provides a regional endoscopy service to a population of 3m+, offering a comprehensive range of diagnostic and therapeutic interventions.

Following a fire earlier this year, UHS has reviewed its long-term endoscopy requirements and is considering a new purpose-built regional diagnostic endoscopy centre situated close to the main hospital.

UHS has existing endoscopy equipment to the value of approximately £8-10m. This will need to be refreshed throughout this contract. UHS has an indicative budget of £20-25m for the design and construction of the new centre.

This will be designed to meet current and projected future endoscopy and motility needs, 'a one-stop-shop' and be an important centre to both trial new technology and techniques and provide training for the next generation of the endoscopy workforce.

This opportunity is to explore and discuss how a partnership approach may drive better outcomes for patients, for innovation, for UHS clinicians, and for the partner[S(1.1][L(1.2]. This opportunity may include, but not necessarily be limited to:

1: Provision of endoscopy equipment to a new offsite location, both for the use of clinicians undertaking NHS clinical activity, and for use as a test bed for innovation and new technique development, and for use within a training environment.

2: Regional Training Centre: The physical co-location of experienced UHS staff, clinicians, data, patients with an industry partner seeking to promote best practice and create future workforce.

3: Joint Innovation Deal & Test Bed: The provision of a live, data-rich NHS environment to validate new technology, and techniques, for example artificial intelligence (AI) diagnostic tools and ergonomic designs and potentially the exploitation of emerging shared Intellectual Property. This would also include SME and VCSE participation for research and innovation.

4: Commercial Sponsorship Opportunity with Associated Rights and Benefits:

In addition to the core procurement opportunities above, there is potential to explore a complementary commercial sponsorship arrangement, which may include the provision of value-in-kind goods and/or services that support contract delivery.

This strategic partnership approach would identify and agree a range of associated rights and benefits for suppliers who also become sponsors. These may include appropriate sponsor recognition, opportunities for collaboration and innovation, shared learning, thought leadership engagement, and other mutually agreed activities that support the objectives of all parties.

UHS, with support from the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), is trialling the integration of commercial sponsorship into this procurement opportunity to explore how strategic partnerships can deliver additional value while supporting the successful delivery of contract outcomes.

Whilst this notice is not intended to create a commitment to a contract, it is running alongside a live funded NHS capital project to develop designs and take forward the concept of a regional endoscopy centre.

This hybrid procurement and sponsorship model is being piloted by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and UHS, offering potential suppliers a unique opportunity to play an active role in delivering a best-in-class new facility for patients: supporting improved care, championing innovation and delivering lasting benefits for all parties.

To ensure fair and open competition in any future procurement, the developing design and specification will remain supplier-neutral and will not be tailored to any specific manufacturer, supplier or solution.