Terminology Server · UK public procurement notice

Single supplier - technical reasons

The procurement is for a centrally hosted Terminology Server solution to support the management and distribution of clinical and administrative coding systems (e.g. SNOMED CT, ICD-11, OPCS) across Health and Social Care Northern Ireland (HSCNI). The solution will be cloud-based, delivered as a managed service, and accessible to clinical and operational systems in real-time or via scheduled synchronisation.

Dedalus is the only supplier with a proven, national-scale Terminology Server solution (Ontoserver) currently deployed and operational across the UK and Ireland. It supports terminology infrastructure for:

NHS England, covering SNOMED CT, dm+d and national content distribution;

NHS Scotland, aligned to their national digital strategy;

HSE Ireland, selected following open competition in 2025.

Dedalus was previously the sole supplier on the now-expired NHS England terminology server framework, and whilst it is expected that they will succeed in the renewal framework, given the timing of this procurement, no active framework is available.​​

We wish to rely on schedule 5 section 6 (a) due to Dedalus being the only supplier for technical reasons. They are the only supplier able to provide the services.