RCI Manual and Automated Test Systems

Please note this is NOT the start of a procurement process. A separate contract notice will be published to cover this requirement.

Prior to commencing the formal procurement process, and to help inform our strategy, NHSBT would like to consult the market to improve our knowledge of all current offers available in the market place, identify further opportunities and potential issues, as well as gauge market interest in the proposed service.

Red Cell Immunohaematology (RCI) is a specialist function within the Clinical Services Directorate of NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT). The RCI Laboratories provide antibody resolution and red cell phenotyping on samples referred from Hospital Transfusion Laboratories and other Laboratories within NHSBT. Reference services are provided from Barnsley, Birmingham, Colindale, Filton (Bristol), Liverpool, Newcastle, and Tooting.

NHSBT is seeking to engage with suppliers on the market who can provide a system to support, as a minimum, manual and automated blood grouping (ABO, Rh D, C, c, E, e, K), antibody screening and identification, consistent with the workload and case mix of RCI laboratories. RCI would expect to be able to undertake trials of the system on NHSBT premises. The test system is required to identify, sample, dispense and test blood samples and include all items required to analyse, interpret, transmit and store results on those tests. Automated testing is required for simpler high-volume tests, manual testing is required for low volume complex tests. It is a requirement that the system is compatible with NHSBT Reagents, and would meet regulatory requirements in the UK for the duration of its use.

Information gained from this exercise will be used to inform production of a detailed specification and subsequent advertisement through the FTS route. Interested organisations are requested to send an expression of interest via email to [email protected] by no later than 17:00 hrs (GMT) on 9th February 2021.

If you do not respond by this date you aren’t excluded from taking part in the forthcoming tender, this date is to allow for supplier engagement to be organised.

Further information (e.g. the draft technical specification, award criteria, timescales etc) may be released, for consultation purposes only, to organisations who express an interest.

Please note that all details are subject to change.