Official UK procurement notice
Pharmacy Service for Inpatient Medicines Supply for SPFT
Authority: Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust (Central government)·On behalf of: Surrey & Boarders Partnership NHS on behalf of NHS Commercial Solutions
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDelivery of medicines supply services across Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust.
CPV: Pharmacy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust buys Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514), and who usually turns up
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Miscellaneous health services (CPV 8514) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means registered in South East England (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South East England.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 51 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid14%
2–333%
4–643%
7+10%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate38%
Within ±2%56%
Above estimate6%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 8514Published estimate£2.2m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 21 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid14%
2–333%
4–643%
7+10%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 23 Dec 2025, 14:38 GMT
- Last source update
- 31 Dec 2025, 10:57 GMT
- Authority reference
C409112- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-086537- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05fcadFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
23 Dec 2025 → 1 Apr 2026 · 5 dates- Planning notice published303 days ago23 Dec 2025, 14:38 GMT
- Latest notice published295 days ago31 Dec 2025, 10:57 GMT
- Tender notice expected289 days ago6 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Market engagement289 days ago6 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
Relevant authorities are able to follow three different provider selection processes to directly award contracts for relevant healthcare services under the PSR, or use a most suitable provider (MSP), or retain full procurement (5 options in total).
MSP process is the most suitable route to market, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust or the Trust (relevant authority) has identified potential suitable providers and can award the contract without running a competitive process, the Risk Assessment has undertaken sufficient assessments and market information to identify which providers are the most suitable.
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust published this Intended Approach Notice for transparency reasons which will remain open for a minimum of 14 days. During this period, interested parties are able to access information and make use of open Q&A facility within the Atamis Supplier Portal.
The service specification is attached with this notice.
Interested Tenderer will require obtaining a document pack, that contains the detailed evaluation criteria and submission process, by sending an email to –
Lorne Fricker
Associate Procurement Director, NHS Commercial Solutions
Email: [email protected]
No separate webinar or physical event will be held; all interaction will occur through the portal Q&A function.
The project timeline is provided below:
24/12/2025 - Publish Intended Approach Notice – Allow at least 14 days
08/01/2026 – Deadline for submission of an expression of Interest and responses to the Service Capability Assessment.
24/12/2025 – 08/01/2026 – Service Capability assessment period. Assess the potential providers, considering the selection criteria and choose the most suitable provider
30/01/2026 - Recommendation report and approval
04/02/2026 - Publication of the intention to award a contract notice – Commencing 8 days standstill (from the day after the notice is published)
12/02/2026 - Award contract
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust publishes this notice to ensure Suppliers Market Engagement, transparency in the process in selecting one/more than one Most Suitable Provider (MSP) and support decision-making under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR).
Please Note:
This engagement does not constitute a call for competition or a tender process.
Any future decision will follow PSR criteria (continuity, integration, quality, value, and provider capability). Participation does not confer any advantage in subsequent decisions.
Key Decision Makers:
Chief Pharmacist, Contract Owner
Deputy Chief Pharmacist, Contract Manager
Deputy Director – Contracts, Contract Support
Lorne Fricker Associate Procurement Director - NHSCS Procurement Support
- Contract starts205 days ago1 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 Dec 2025- Preliminary market engagement notice published23 Dec 2025, 14:38 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published31 Dec 2025, 10:57 GMTUK2
Published amendments (1)
To amend the timeline
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
2 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- Surrey & Boarders Partnership NHS on behalf of NHS Commercial SolutionsProcuring entityRun the procurement process on behalf of SPFT
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender