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Tag: Healthcare contracts

Navigating Healthcare Bids: Key Considerations for Winning Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

Navigating Healthcare Bids: Key Considerations for Winning Tenders

The UK healthcare sector is a thriving market, with opportunities ranging from providing medical services to delivering healthcare technology and supplies. However, securing contracts through public sector tenders requires a clear understanding of the process, as well as a strategic approach to writing compelling bids. Whether you’re a new business or an experienced healthcare provider, navigating these complex tenders can be daunting, but with the right guidance, success is within reach.

At Healthcare Tenders, we have a team of 30 dedicated bid professionals ready to help you secure your next healthcare contract. With deep expertise across the healthcare sector, our experienced bid writers, researchers, and compliance experts work closely with you to craft compelling proposals that meet every requirement. Whether it’s navigating complex regulations, highlighting your strengths, or ensuring full compliance, our team is here to guide you every step of the way. Trust our professionals to give your business the edge it needs to stand out and win the bid.

Types of Healthcare Bids

In the UK, healthcare bids cover a wide range of services, each with its own unique requirements and opportunities. These include NHS contracts for clinical services, such as nursing care, physiotherapy, and GP services, as well as non-clinical services like facilities management, medical equipment supply, and IT support. You will find non-clinical services bids located on our other platforms like www.technology-tenders.co.uk or www.facilitiestenders.co.uk.

Local authorities also issue tenders for social care services, including home care, mental health support, and community health initiatives. Private healthcare providers may seek bids for outsourcing partnerships or innovation projects. Each bid type requires a deep understanding of compliance, regulations, and service delivery standards in the healthcare sector.

Here are some key considerations when navigating healthcare bids and how Healthcare Tenders can help you succeed:

  1. Stay Informed and Locate the Right Opportunities

 

One of the biggest challenges businesses face is locating the right healthcare bids to pursue. Public sector tenders are published across a range of platforms, including Contracts Finder, Tenders Electronic Daily (TED), and local procurement portals. With the sheer volume of opportunities available, it’s crucial to focus your efforts on those that align with your services, capabilities, and business growth goals.

Healthcare Tenders can help by providing access to a wide range of healthcare-specific tenders across the UK. Our platform filters opportunities based on your specialisms, making it easier to focus on the most relevant contracts. We help you locate the bids that are the best fit for your business, giving you a head start in the process.

  1. Understand Healthcare-Specific Requirements

 

Healthcare tenders come with specific compliance requirements. From clinical governance and safeguarding to data protection and patient confidentiality, it’s essential that your bid addresses these regulatory standards. Failure to meet these requirements can result in disqualification, even if the rest of your bid is strong.

At Healthcare Tenders, we understand the complexity of healthcare regulations and can help you ensure your bid is fully compliant. Our team of bid experts is well-versed in healthcare standards, helping you articulate how your business meets these criteria in a clear and compelling way.

  1. Highlight Your Experience and Capacity

 

When reviewing bids, evaluators want to see evidence of your capability to deliver on the contract. This includes showcasing your experience in the healthcare sector, relevant case studies, and details of your team’s qualifications. You also need to demonstrate that you have the resources, infrastructure, and scalability to meet the contract requirements.

Our team at Healthcare Tenders works closely with you to gather and present this evidence in a way that strengthens your bid. We can help you highlight your track record, ensuring that your business stands out from the competition and instilling confidence in the buyer.

  1. Emphasise Quality and Innovation

 

In the healthcare sector, quality of care and service delivery is paramount. Buyers are often looking for innovative solutions that improve patient outcomes, streamline processes, or reduce costs. Your bid should clearly outline how your approach will meet or exceed the buyer’s expectations, with measurable outcomes and value-added services.

With Healthcare Tenders, we can assist in crafting a narrative that positions your business as a leader in quality and innovation. Our bid writers have extensive experience in articulating these key differentiators, helping you present a winning solution that resonates with evaluators.

  1. Competitive Pricing Without Compromising Quality

 

Pricing is a critical element in any tender, but in healthcare, it’s important to strike a balance between being competitive and maintaining the high standards required by the sector. Buyers often scrutinise bids to ensure that low costs aren’t achieved at the expense of quality or compliance.

While Healthcare Tenders does not offer pricing advice, we ensure that your bid focuses on demonstrating the value you provide. We help you communicate how your pricing structure reflects the quality, reliability, and expertise your business brings to the table, making your bid more compelling.

How Healthcare Tenders Can Help You Succeed

 

At Healthcare Tenders, we offer more than just a list of healthcare contract opportunities—we provide full support throughout the bidding process. From locating the right tenders to writing and refining your bids, our dedicated team is committed to helping you win. We tailor our services to your needs, ensuring that each bid reflects your strengths, meets the buyer’s requirements, and stands out in a competitive marketplace.

By working with Healthcare Tenders, you can save valuable time, gain expert insights, and increase your chances of success. We make the bidding process less stressful and more effective, giving you the confidence to secure healthcare contracts that will drive your business growth.

Occupational Health Tenders: Finding the Perfect Tender FAST

Posted on by John Hudson

Here’s how you can quickly find occupational health tenders that are perfect for your business…

Occupational health is incredibly important across countless industries and businesses. Therefore, there are plenty of tendering opportunities for occupational health tenders.

In this blog, we will give you some information on what they are and how to find them. Keep reading to learn more…

What are occupational health tenders?

Occupational health tenders are contracts concerning the health and wellbeing of employees in the workplace. They encourage and ensure positive relationships between work and health. Having access to specialist occupational health practitioners, allows businesses and their teams to thrive.

These tenders will be for services such as:

  • Supporting and assessing employees on sick leave, and promoting an effective return to work
  • Assessing fitness to work
  • Advising employers on preventing or minimising exposure of workers to hazardous agents – such as, noxious chemicals or excessive noise
  • Helping employers fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010. (This includes disability, pregnancy, and age discrimination, for example)
  • Advising any changes to the workplace
  • Advising employers on mental health risks, such as, excessive pressure and stress, bullying, and harassment
  • Providing confidential health advice and counselling to employees
  • Advising employers on preventing or minimising exposure of workers to hazardous agents – such as noxious chemicals or excessive noise
  • Advising employers on preventing or minimising exposure of workers to hazardous agents – such as noxious chemicals or excessive noise.

Where can you find occupational health tenders?

If you are looking for occupational health tenders, you’ll likely search the term via Google. It may be how you came across this blog! The great news is that you are in the right place, and we have the information you need.

If you simply use a search engine like Google to find tenders, you’ll be met with thousands of sites. All of these sites will feature contracts differently. Many of them will only be the lengthy tender documents, that will take ages to read. The key details you’re looking for will be buried within these pages. This could be the information that determines whether you are even eligible for the contract. Having to do this over and over can quickly become tedious. Thankfully, there are tools available to make this stage of the tendering process far easier, and faster.

You can use tender portals to locate contracts based on your requirements. For example, our Healthcare Tenders portal allows users to adjust search results based on filters. This can include budget, keywords, and location. We don’t use CPV codes, so there is no risk of our users missing the perfect contract due to a code error. Plus, we send daily tender notifications to keep you up to date!

Want to save even more time? Discover Elite can help…

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite via your chosen portal. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portalsof your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Examples of occupational health tenders found on our portal

National Highways Occupational Health Services

National Highways – Yorkshire and Humber – Budget: £660,000

Occupational Health Services

Wokingham Borough Council – South East – Budget: £80,000

City of London & City of London Police Occupational Health Physician Contract

City of London Corporation – London – Budget: £400,000

Invitation to Tender for the Supply and Provision of Occupational Health Services

Historic England – South West – Budget: £80,000

Occupational Health Services for Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation NHS Trust

Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – West Midlands – Budget: £1,030,000

Summary

Here is a summary of everything we covered on occupational health tenders.

Occupational health tenders can include services such as:

  • Supporting and assessing employees on sick leave, and promoting an effective return to work
  • Assessing fitness to work
  • Advising employers on preventing or minimising exposure of workers to hazardous agents – such as, noxious chemicals or excessive noise
  • Helping employers fulfil their duties under the Equality Act 2010. (This includes disability, pregnancy, and age discrimination, for example)
  • Advising any changes to the workplace
  • Advising employers on mental health risks, such as, excessive pressure and stress, bullying, and harassment
  • Providing confidential health advice and counselling to employees
  • Advising employers on preventing or minimising exposure of workers to hazardous agents – such as noxious chemicals or excessive noise
  • Advising employers on preventing or minimising exposure of workers to hazardous agents – such as noxious chemicals or excessive noise.

To find occupational health tenders, you can use tender portals. Healthcare Tenders don’t use CPV codes, so there’s no risk of missing a contract due to an error! You can also upgrade to Discover Elite to have an Account Manager find your tenders for you.

Need help writing your next occupational health tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect occupational health tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Contact us for more information regarding our bid management consultancy services.

Nursing Tenders: Instantly Find the Most Suitable Contracts for You!

Posted on by John Hudson

Here’s how you can INSTANTLY find the perfect nursing tenders for your business…

Finding nursing tenders can seem tricky. In a sense, it is, if you are searching manually. However, there are tools available that make the process a lot faster and simpler. This can save you precious hours that you could spend being more productive.

In this blog, we will share with you the easiest way to find nursing tenders! Keep reading to learn more…

Finding nursing tenders

Most people, when searching for nursing tenders, will simply type those words into Google. Afterall, most of us are used to counting on search engines for results. When you search ‘nursing tenders’, you’ll be met with countless results. There will be thousands of sites alone that feature possible opportunities. The issue is scouring through them all to find a contract suitable for your business.

Most of these websites will not feature a system of making it easy to find out details. You may be looking for a contract specifically in Yorkshire, for example. You may have to spend hours reading tender documents trying to find out where each contract is based. This process can quickly become tedious. You could be spending this time more effectively. Running a business is hard enough without having to stress over finding nursing tenders.

This is where the Hudson Discover portals come in…

Discover the Healthcare Tenders portal – Instantly find nursing tenders

Finding nursing tenders is incredibly easy with Hudson Discover. Healthcare Tenders is one of our 11 sector-specific tender tracking portals. These portals streamline the process of finding relevant contracts for healthcare services. For example, when searching for nursing tenders, you can use the keyword, ‘nursing services’. You can then see all the relevant results on our portal. We have further filters so that you can view tenders based on location and budget. You can easily see the deadline date too, so you’ll know straight away if you have time to bid.

These portals are updated daily by Opportunity Trackers that manually search for tenders. They don’t use CPV codes. This means there is no risk of missing opportunities that may have been given the wrong code. They also send tender notifications each day, so users are updated with any new opportunities!

Discover Elite

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite via your chosen portal. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Previous nursing tenders on our portal

Below are just a few examples of past nursing tenders that have been featured on our portal:

Children’s Public Health Nursing Service Market Engagement

EU Supply Limited – Yorkshire – Budget: £49,000,000

Expression of Interest – Nursing EMI Beds

St. Helens Council – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of Nursing Home and Domiciliary Services for Children and Adults for North West London Clinical Commissioning Group

North West London Clinical Commissioning Group – London – Budget: Undisclosed

National Foundation Education Programme in Critical Care Nursing

Health Service Executive (HSE) – Republic of Ireland – Budget: £1,500,000

Supply of Theatre Nursing Staff Teams

NHS Lanarkshire – Scotland – Budget: Undisclosed

Summary

Here’s a recap of our nursing tenders blog so you don’t forget any key details!

Finding nursing tenders

To streamline the process of finding nursing tenders, you can use the Healthcare Tenders portal. It is designed to make it easy to find the opportunities relevant to your business and requirements.

Discover the Healthcare Tenders portal – Instantly find nursing tenders

The Healthcare Tenders portal is an excellent way of finding tenders perfect for your business. It allows users to navigate tenders with keywords and filters. This way, users can locate specific tenders, rather than scouring through hundreds that aren’t right.

If you still have questions about nursing tenders, contact us! We are always happy to help.

Need help writing your next tender?

The tendering process can be difficult to wrap your head around, and if you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Contact us for more information regarding our bid management consultancy services.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portalsof your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Contact us for more information.

Capitalise on an £11 billion Industry with Emergency Services Tenders

Posted on by John Hudson

Help to save more lives by winning emergency services tenders

Emergency service tenders play an important role in healthcare procurement. Indeed, according to Ibis World, the British ambulance industry is worth more £11 billion. Alongside this, the British emergency services purchase £1.2 billion worth of services and goods annually.

This data ultimately means that emergency services tenders represent a lucrative opportunity for business growth and expansion. Luckily, you’ve found Healthcare Tenders. With our insights, you’ll find tips around the tendering process, and grow more confident when tackling emergency services tenders.

The industry can cover anything, including:

Where can I find emergency services tenders?

Healthcare Tenders

If your business would benefit from bidding for emergency service contracts, then our Healthcare Tender portal is here to help.

Unlike other portals, we don’t use CPV codes. Our Opportunity Trackers manually scour hundreds of websites every day. When they find new healthcare contracts, they upload them to Healthcare Tenders using industry-focused keywords. With your subscription, you can find all these opportunities from hundreds of portals, in one place.

What’s more, we will assign you a dedicated Account Manager to manage your subscription. They will be on hand to answer your tendering or portal-related queries. You will also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox. This will contain contracts for healthcare services found that day.

Schedule a free live demo of Healthcare Tenders to see how the portal can help your business.

Below are previous emergency services tenders sourced on our portal:

 CP2151-21 Emergency Beds for Care Leavers Experiencing Homelessness

Devon County Council – South West – Budget: £35,000

Emergency Care Response Service

Hampshire County Council – South East – Budget: £300,000

West Midlands Out of Hours Urgent Dental Care Service Based in Birmingham

NHS England and Improvement – Midlands – West Midlands – Budget: £600,000

PRJ1075 – Urgent Treatment Centres – Bromley – Market Engagement Questionnaire (MEQ)

NEL Commissioning Support Unit – London – Budget: £6,500,000

The Provision of Integrated Urgent Care Services on Behalf of the South West London Integrated Care System

NHS Shared Business Services – London – Budget: £81,872,366

The tendering process for emergency services contracts

Although each emergency service may practice a slightly different procurement process, there are generally unifying documents. When you’re tendering for contracts, you need to know what the process will look like. Knowing what’s ahead will help you prepare your tender documents.

PIN

A Prior Information Notice (PIN), this is where the purchasing authority states their intention for goods/services. This could be issued up to 12-months in advance.

SQ

The Selection Questionnaire is produced for suppliers to complete. This would cover the basic and intermediary requirements of the supplier. This process ensures that only suitable suppliers progress to the next stage.

ITT

Once the supplier has been successful with the SQ, they will go on to the invitation to tender stage (ITT). Arguably, this is the heart of most emergency service tenders, as it’s where you’ll do the most work. The main way this document will be evaluated is by selecting the MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender).

Evaluation criteria can be tricky to understand but MEAT is relatively simple. The idea is that the purchasing authority is looking for the lowest priced tender that still upholds the quality requirements.

Who commissions emergency service contracts?

Each of the emergency services shapes its procurement policy around the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. However, this doesn’t mean that their procurement structures are the same…

Ambulance Service

For the ambulance service, the procurement authority is generally Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). These groups exist on a regional level to keep procurement tight, cost-effective and relevant to the area.

Fire Service

Across the U.K, all 45 fires and rescue services (FRS’) perform their own procurement. These services are in turn are advised by Fire and Rescue Authorities, which help them procure goods and services.

Police Service

Each of the 43 police services in England and Wales procure their own goods and services. However, 25 of these forces have entered into collaborative agreements with each other, which help cost-savings and ensure effective procurement. The Home Office further ensures effective spending, acting in a support role to help procurement.

In summary

So, we’ve reached the conclusion to this blog on emergency service tenders. Now you’ve got all the information you need to bid for these contracts. What if you’re still unsure about writing an emergency services tender?

Need help with a bid proposal? 

Hudson Succeed is our sister company of expert Bid Writers who can handle the whole tendering process for you. So, if you have found an emergency service tender you would like to bid for, Hudson Succeed can help. Their tender support packages are designed to help your business succeed. Find out how our Bid Writers can support you on your tendering journey.

Get in touch with our expert team.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help you find emergency services tenders – even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages are particularly useful if your business runs across two sectors like Healthcare and Technology. A dedicated Account Manager will carefully consider which tenders are most suitable for your business. This will help improve your bid success rate and your competitor awareness.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management. This includes registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • All the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of five years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information regarding our bid management consultancy services.

We also source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Do You Know the Difference Between Public and Private Contracts for Healthcare Services?

Posted on by John Hudson

Are you looking for public or private sector contracts for healthcare services? That is the first question you need to answer.

Securing contracts for healthcare services can be tricky to navigate if you don’t know where to begin.

Ask yourself, what can you and your business offer? And do you meet the criteria the contract is asking for?

Answering these initial questions is the starting point when looking at contracts for healthcare services. In this blog, we will look at how to secure these contracts and explore the differences between the sectors.

What healthcare services can you tender for?

Healthcare Tenders are published by a variety of buyers both in the public and private sector. Ultimately, these organisations are seeking to procure healthcare services, goods or support for their constituents or service users.

Buyers procure healthcare services including:

However, there are a lot more services that buyers can procure. For example, women can seek IVF care and maternity care. Then there’s children’s healthcare to consider. Meaning tendering for contracts for healthcare services can vary in specialisms. This means that there is a broad range of contracts available. It’s important to establish what you’re looking for to make the tracking process more efficient.

What do you need to have in place to be able to tender for healthcare services?

Due to the nature of the healthcare industry, there will be limitations regarding securing some contracts. If you are intending to go for healthcare contracts, it is important you know what requirements the buyer has stipulated.

We recommend healthcare companies to be CQC (Care Quality Commission) registered before tendering for work. This shows to the buyer that you are legitimate, and will deliver a professional, high-quality service. In some instances, there will also be, Pre-Qualification Questionnaires (PQQ). PQQ’s are used by buyers to determine the suitability of suppliers tendering for their contracts. You will be required to complete the questionnaire alongside submitting evidence to validate your business. Buyers could also use a Selection Questionnaire (SQ). These are more liberal when it comes to the questions. No evidence is required, but you need to ‘self-certify’ why you are suitable.

The 5 main differences between private and public sector healthcare contracts:

Contracts for healthcare services can be procured in both the public and private sector.

  • With public contracts, buyers publish through the government, or public sector bodies, including the NHS. This means companies bid for the contracts, following the framework set out by the government.
  • A private contract for healthcare services is published directly by the buyers. They are open to all, and the guidelines can differ from each new contract.
  • Private contracts, tend to focus more on the budget above all, looking at who can deliver their services cost-effectively. Whereas public contracts will often focus on your quality responses also and whether you meet their requirements.
  • In the public sector, you’re guaranteed to be paid as per the Prompt Payment Code. The private sector is not bound by these regulations.
  • The public sector now places a 10% weighting on social value. This score evaluates how you’re helping to improve the local community, the environment and aid Covid recovery.

To summarise

Before diving into contracts for healthcare services, ensure you are ready with all the necessary requirements that will be considered. Think about what the buyer is asking and what it is that you can do better than others.

Ensure you have the correct accreditations to fit the contract. Are you CQC registered, or at least in the process of becoming so? Do you need to answer a PQQ or SQ? Planning ahead will enable you to prepare, giving you a better chance of winning healthcare contracts.

Healthcare Tenders

If your business would benefit from bidding on healthcare contracts, then our Healthcare Tender Portal is here to help.

Unlike other portals, we don’t use CPV codes. We have our Opportunity Trackers who physically scour portals every day. If they find new healthcare contracts, they then upload it to Healthcare Tenders. With your subscription, you could view all these opportunities from hundreds of portals, in one place.

What’s more, we will assign you a dedicated Account Manager to manage your subscription. They will be on hand to answer your tendering or portal-related queries. You will also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox. This will contain contracts for healthcare services found that day.

Schedule a free live demo of Healthcare Tenders to see how the portal can help your business.

Below are previous healthcare tenders sourced on our portal:

Children and Young People Speech Therapy Services
Cheshire west and Chester Borough Council – North West – £1.9 Million

Domiciliary Care Package
Durham County Council – North East – Budget: Undisclosed

Early Years Assessment Provisions
Gloucestershire County Council – South West – Budget: Undisclosed

Residential Placements for Young Males
The Isle of Man Government – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

Acute Hospital Setting
London Borough of Hounslow – London – Budget: Undisclosed

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help you find more healthcare contracts – even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages are particularly useful if your business runs across two sectors such as Healthcare and Technology. A dedicated Account Manager will carefully consider which healthcare service contracts are most suitable for your business. This will help improve your bid success rate and improve your competitor awareness.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management. This includes registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • All the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of five years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

For further information, contact us today.

Need help with a bid proposal?

Hudson Succeed is our sister company of expert bid writers who can handle the whole tendering process for you. So, if you have found a healthcare contract you would like to bid for, Hudson Succeed can help. Their tender support packages are designed to help your business succeed. Find out how our Bid Writers can support you on your tendering journey.

Contact us for more information regarding our bid management consultancy services.

Contracts In the Healthcare Industry – What You Need to Know

Posted on by John Hudson

Get closer to winning contracts in the healthcare industry with this blog!

Contracts in the healthcare industry are somewhat feared for their complexity. There seems to be some real confusion around these contracts, so in this blog, we aim to dispel that. Read below to discover the tendering process behind contracts in the healthcare industry.

Who procures contracts in the healthcare industry?

People might state simply that the NHS is the ‘buyer’, but there’s more to this than you’d think. Local clinical commissioning groups play a vital role in creating contracts in the healthcare industry. After significant mergers, there are currently 106 CGGs in the U.K, playing central roles in the creation of healthcare contracts. On average, these commissioning groups are serving 250,000 people in their area of service.

Where can I find healthcare contracts?

Look no further than Healthcare Tenders.

By removing unreliable CPV codes, we’ve created a portal that infinitely smoothens the process of searching for tenders. We upload a wide range of tenders in the healthcare industry, across the UK. This helps to streamline the process, saving you time and resources.

What is Healthcare Tenders?

Healthcare Tenders is a time-saving tool. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search hundreds of sites for the latest healthcare leads and opportunities. They upload a whole range of opportunities such as single-provider contracts, NHS frameworks and DPS’. Once they are uploaded to our portal, you can filter the results by budget, keyword, location and more.

Below are previous healthcare tenders sourced on our portal:

GB-Newcastle Upon Tyne: T21-0055 Modular Benchtop
Northumbria University – North East – Budget: £50,000

Provision of Community Step Down Services on Behalf of Central and North West London NHS Foundation
NHS Shared Business Services Ltd (NHS SBS) – London – Budget: £3,900,000

Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Young People’s 16+ Supported Accommodation Service
Nottinghamshire County Council – East Midlands – Budget: Undisclosed

Soft Market – Mental Health Recovery Framework
Sheffield City Council – Yorkshire – Budget: Undisclosed

Community Care Supplies & Services – Adult
Wirral Borough Council – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

What does the healthcare tendering process look like?

1.   PIN (Prior Information Notices)

We start contracts in the healthcare industry with PINs. This is simply the announcement of procurement by the CCG or NHS foundation. These generally take place far before the contract notice, in some cases up to a year beforehand. At this point, you may be asked to provide an expression of interest.

2.   Contract notice

This aspect of the tendering process fleshes out the PIN by stating basic information about the contract. The contract then provides contact details to the suppliers.

3.   SQ

The selection questionnaire is where things really get going in the bid writing process. Although large responses aren’t usually required, it’s dependent on the buyer and the size of the contract.

4.   ITT

You’ve passed the SQ, and you’ve now been invited to tender. In some cases, the buyer may jump in with the ITT. Things to expect as the supplier are:

  1. A cover letter – A generic letter covering what’s to be expected.
  2. A scope of procurement – Things such as the dates, length, value, etc. It’s likely that the contract winner will be chosen based on the MEAT (Most Economically Advantageous Tender). Your response to this is the most important part of winning contracts in the healthcare industry.

5.   Presentation

Your company has been shortlisted for the final stage. You may be invited for a final interview. You can expect 5% of marking to be attributed to this stage.

6.   Contract Award

You’ve done it. You’ve won! This isn’t the time to rest on your laurels, however. You need to act on the promises made during the presentation and prior to that.

In summary

Here we are, at the conclusion to this blog on contracts in the healthcare industry. You now have a greater knowledge when it comes to the healthcare tendering process. You also now know where to find these contracts.

Need help writing your next healthcare tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This four-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next healthcare tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a healthcare bid and need someone to proofread, it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch for more information.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity, even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable healthcare leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Contact us for more information.

What’s Different About NHS Bid Writing?

Posted on by John Hudson

3 tips to upgrade your NHS bid writing process

NHS bid writing informs an integral cog in the wheel of UK healthcare procurement. In 2020, The DHSC recorded £70 billion in expenditure, and since the pandemic, this is sure to have skyrocketed. This has created unprecedented levels of demand for healthcare services across the board.

So, where does this leave you when it comes to the NHS bid process?

With serious opportunities for growth and development!

In this blog, we’ll look at sources of NHS tenders, alongside tips to help your NHS bid writing tactics.

Where can I find NHS tenders?

Through our extensive searches for NHS contracts, we’ve developed one central portal…Healthcare Tenders.

By removing unreliable CPV codes, we’ve created a portal that infinitely smoothens the process of searching for tenders. We upload a wide range of tenders in the healthcare industry, across the UK. This helps to streamline the process, saving you time and resources.

What is Healthcare Tenders?

Healthcare Tenders is a time-saving tool. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search hundreds of sites for the latest healthcare leads and opportunities. They upload a whole range of opportunities such as single-provider contracts, NHS frameworks and DPS’. Once they are uploaded to our portal, you can filter the results by budget, keyword, location and more.

Below are previous NHS tenders sourced on our portal:

Provision of Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, Individual CBT Waiting List Support

Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS FT – Yorkshire – Budget: £150,000

Early-Stage Products Strategic Design Support

NHS England – Yorkshire – Budget: £75,000

CLCH – Podiatry Support Merton

Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust – South East – Budget: Undisclosed

RA314325 – NWL CCG – Blood Pressure Monitors

NHS Shared Business Services (SBS) – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

Operate, Maintain, and Improve the Learn from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) Service

The National Health Service Commissioning Board (NHS England and Improvement) – London – Budget: £2,000,000

3 tips to improve your NHS bid writing

Make sure you’re eligible

Eligibility is a core element in healthcare tender evaluations, and without it, your chances of winning are dashed. You need to ensure that your qualifications, standards, and policies match the requirements of the NHS. Check out the NHS Procurement & Commercial Standards which includes the requirements suppliers need to meet to qualify for tenders.

Proofreading and reviewing

The gap between success and failure can be very slight, especially when it comes to NHS bid writing. Detail is incredibly important, so understanding the tender documents is essential to winning the bid. Take time to digest the contract, and really get to grips with the terminology. Once you’ve written the response, and reviewed it a few times, you can pass the document onto f colleagues. If the work is clear and easy to read, you’ve won half the battle. Ask them to be as critical as possible, in order to catch any stray errors. If you still don’t feel confident enough in the document, send it to a professional Bid Writer. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, actually offers this service through Tender Mentor.

Bid and time management

Bid management is crucial to NHS bid writing. You should always be mindful of the deadline, especially when it comes to healthcare. If your bid is too late, it will simply not be considered.

So, how do I achieve good bid management?

  • Set internal deadlines with both your company and yourself
  • Organise progress meetings so that everyone is on board with what’s going on in the wider team and project
  • Track the progress of the teams through project trackers.

In summary

So here we are, at the end of this blog on NHS bid writing! If you need it, here’s a short recap of the blog. You now know about the importance of eligibility when it comes to healthcare, alongside always keeping on top of time management. You also know about methods for proofing/reviewing to ensure that your finished bid is the best version it can be. As well, you’ve been informed about solid sources for tendering.

Need help writing your next NHS tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This four-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next NHS tender.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written an NHS bid and need someone to proofread, it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information about our bid management consultancy services.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity, even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable healthcare leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Contact us for more information.

 

What is the Government Social Care Plan and How Does It Affect You?

Posted on by John Hudson

With a new Government social care plan on the horizon, what should you know?

Recently, the Government unveiled a government social care plan to tackle healthcare staffing issues over the next 10 years. This follows Boris Johnson’s 2019 promise to “fix the crisis in social care once and for all”. This is the largest government social care plan in recent history, so here is an outline for how it’ll be used.

From the £36 billion health and care levy, the government outlines how they will use £5.4 billion over this period.

  1. Part of the £1.7 billion allocated to improve social care will fund a repairs service. This will help older and disabled people live for longer with their families or independently in their own homes.They will receive more money to enable adaptations such as stairlifts, wet rooms and home technologies.
  2. At least £300 million will be invested to increase the range of supported housing.
  3. Following from this, £150 million to drive greater adoption of technology, which can support independent living and improve care.
  4. £25 million will be invested to change the services provided to support unpaid carers.
  5. A previously announced £500 million will go towards ensuring the social care workforce have the right training and qualifications.

What does this government social care plan mean for you?

Ultimately, this means that lot of new contracts are expected to go out to tender. If you need help, Healthcare Tenders can support you. If you need bid writing or tender sourcing support, we’re your people.

How can Healthcare Tenders help?

  • Our Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sources daily to ensure our clients never miss a tender. This means each opportunity is current and relevant to your organisation.
  • We post opportunities on our portal,  , and tag them with accurate keywords manually. We don’t rely on CPV codes, which are often incorrect and cause tenders to be missed.
  • You can filter results easily by keyword, region, budget, service and more.
  • You can receive daily alerts when tenders are released for services in their sector
  • You’re provided with a dedicated Hudson Account Manager. They are on-hand to answer any questions about the portal or tendering process in general.
  • You can have a free 20-minute phone consultation with our bid writing experts from Hudson Succeed. We will answer specific questions and provide advice and guidance related to your tendering journey.

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Get in touch today for a free live demo.

Bid Writing Support

Once you’ve found a healthcare tender for your business, we can support you through the process. We offer a variety of healthcare bid writing services to suit your requirements. From passing the PQQ to finalising your ITT response, our team are ready to help.

Our bid writers have an 87% success rate and over 60 years of bidding experience. We offer tender support through four services:

Tender Writing

Simply send the bid specification to our team and they’ll write your healthcare tender. They’ll even submit the bid on your behalf. This service is priced per bid, and we provide a full breakdown. You’ll know how long it’ll take, what we’ll need from you and when you’ll see an initial and final draft.

Tender Improvement 

Our bid writers will assess your previous tender responses and work with you to improve your success rate.

Tender Mentor

Our team will analyse your content and check for any errors before you submit your tender response. Think of Tender Mentor as your second pair of eyes.

Tender Ready

Tender Ready helps businesses that are new to the tendering process. We offer a three-stage process and a 4-week programme.

Tender VLE

Our Tender VLE platform provides expert masterclasses and fact sheets covering many aspects of tender. From technical writing tips to design elements, you’ll find clear answers to almost any question about tender writing. Our team shares their expert knowledge through video tutorials.

Medical Tenders: The Fundamentals

Posted on by John Hudson

Medical tenders and where to find them

Medical tenders could be used to procure a wide range of medical goods or services. They can range from the provision and installation of medical equipment to medical services and medical insurance.

Within the UK, the largest procurer of medical services is the NHS. The responsibility of the procurement of medical tenders is split between several organisations. These are:

  • The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
  • NHS England
  • Public Health England.

Medical tenders for the NHS are commissioned by:

  • Local Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • The Crown Commercial Service
  • The NHS Supply Chain and NHS Procurement Hubs.

Before starting your tendering response for any medical tenders, you should ask yourself the following questions:

  • Do I have the time and resources to fulfil the contract?
  • Does my business meet the economic and financial thresholds required?
  • Do I have enough experience?
  • Can I produce a high-quality submission?

If the answer to any of the above questions is no, then it’s probably not right for you. Tendering for work takes a lot of time and resources. It can be a lucrative line of business to go down however, particularly in Healthcare.

This is because healthcare and medical tenders are often comprised of framework agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS). These can run for years at a time and, when working in the public sector, can guarantee income for your business. 

Need help with writing your next medical tenders?

If you don’t have the resources or time inhouse to write a winning medical tender, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. We offer four bid writing support packages that can get you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully. It includes a 12-month subscription to Healthcare Tenders.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next medical tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a medical tender response and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect medical tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Where can I find medical tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find medical tenders. You likely don’t have the time to trawl through thousands of websites, relying on inaccurate CPV codes. Searching for the right opportunity for your business can turn into quite the headache. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Our Healthcare Tenders portal uploads all the relevant tenders in the healthcare industry across the UK. This helps to streamline the process,  saving you time and resources.

What makes Healthcare Tenders different?

Healthcare Tenders is a time-saving tool. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sites for the latest healthcare leads and opportunities. They upload a whole range of opportunities such as single-provider contracts, NHS frameworks and DPSs. Once they are uploaded to our portal, you can filter the results by budget, keyword, location and more.

A dedicated Account Manager is on-hand to answer any questions you may have about the tendering process. You’ll also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox containing all the new healthcare tenders uploaded that day. This will save you even more time, allowing you to find the perfect medical tenders for your business.

Below are previous medical tenders sourced on our portal:

Alternative Provider Medical Service — Windermere and Bowness Medical Practice

NHS England and NHS Improvement North West- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

16-12-2020

Devon CCG – Primary Medical Services in Sherford (ITT)

NHS SCW CSU- South West- Budget: £819,700

01-12-2020

Forensic Medical Services (Children’s and Archway)

NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

08-01-2021

General Medical Services (17J)

NHS Highland- Scotland- Budget: £300,000

01-12-2020

Provision of Primary Medical Services at HMP Kilmarnock

NHS Ayrshire & Arran- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

25-02-2021

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages are particularly useful if your business runs across two sectors, such as Healthcare and Technology.

A dedicated Account Manager will carefully consider which medical tenders are most suitable for your business. This will help improve your competitor awareness and bid success rate.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable medical leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information.

What are Supporting People Contracts?

Posted on by John Hudson

Supporting people contracts FAQ’s

You may be wondering what supporting people contracts are? Basically, it’s just another name that buyers could use to procure for supported living services.

Supporting people contracts can be extremely varied in budgets, scope and the needs of the service users. Due to this, you need to be able to find the right opportunities for your business. Ultimately, those who use these services are looking to live as close to an independent life as possible. They just need a little help.

Who commissions supporting people contracts?

The procurement of supported living and supporting people services are typically done via the public sector. Local Councils are often the ones who release tenders for supporting people contracts. NHS procurement hubs have also been known to procure supporting people and supported living services.

Who are supporting people contracts for?

Supported living and supporting people contracts are released to cater to many different demographics. They may be comprised of one or more of the following groups:

  • Homeless people
  • Adults with mental health illnesses/needs
  • Young people with mental health illnesses/needs
  • Young people with learning disabilities
  • Adults with learning disabilities
  • Care leavers aged 16+
  • Young offenders.

Supporting people contracts can be grouped into the following categories:

  • Standard
  • Floating or flexible support (for those who require less/varied levels of support)
  • Complex support (for those who display harmful/risk-taking behaviours of some sort requiring high levels of support).

What are the challenges of supporting people contracts?

There are some challenges associated with tendering for this type of service and need. One is identifying what defines supporting people contracts, as they can often be confused with accommodation-based services. They can also be mixed up with residential support or other extra care schemes. However, the key difference is those using supporting people service are responsible for their own living costs.

This allows a greater deal of independence whilst still receiving support. They are able to get help with managing their finances, bills accessing the community and maintaining their home, for example.

Another challenge is the varied nature of service users who may be housed in supported living premises. Providers should demonstrate experience in providing care for specific needs in their tender response. This evidence is crucial as a buyer may not think you’re appropriate to fulfil the contract or understand what’s required.

The differing levels of risk and support required by service users will influence the accommodation requirements. This will likely be specified in the tender documents, so it’s worth reading all of the specification thoroughly. This will help you to decide if the opportunity is right for your business. There’s bound to be a tender specification that’s asking for the service you provide.

So, what exactly is required from supporting people contracts?

Supporting people contracts often have an emphasis on the following:

Safety

Bidders must have a focus on keeping people safe within their responses and robust management measures should be in place. This is required in order to safeguard people from any risks or harm within a supported living setting.

Allowing independence

Of course, allowing independence is one of the main aims of supporting people contracts. Buyers want bidders to demonstrate that they have the necessary means in place to allow as much independence as possible. You must show that you are actively encouraging people to take on daily life tasks through upskilling.

Moreover, you will need to state how you will include those who you’re catering your services to in the process. You should demonstrate how you will work together, supporting them to live autonomous lives.

Measurable outcomes

Within your response for supporting people contracts, you will likely need to state your measurable outcomes. This could include how you will cater to each person and how you’ll work towards achieving their long-term goals. 

Need support?

It you’re stuck as to what to write in your response for supporting people contracts – we can help. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, are experts in bid writing. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bidding experience collectively. Whether you’re completely new to tendering, or need a response proofreading, we’ve got you covered.

We offer four bid writing support packages:

Where can I find supporting people contracts for my business?

Finding the right supporting people contracts for your business can be somewhat of a minefield. Spending hours searching multiple websites and using unreliable CPV codes isn’t producing the results you’re after. Luckily for you, we can streamline the process saving you hours of our time.

Enter…our Healthcare Tenders portal!

Healthcare Tenders is a time-saving tool that hosts hundreds of healthcare leads and opportunities from across the UK. Our Opportunity Trackers manually source and upload healthcare tenders, frameworks and contracts from over 1,000 websites daily. You’re able to filter the results by keyword, budget, location and more.

Below are previous supporting people contracts sourced on our portal:

DBC Request Bids for a Supported Living Placement for an Adult

Darlington Borough Council- North East- Budget: Undisclosed

04-01-2021

MKC – Supported Living Services – Market Engagement and Provider Feedback Opportunity

LGSS- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

11-12-2020

On Island Supported Living and Outreach Services for Adults with Physical Disabilities and/or Complex Neurological Conditions

The Isle of Man Government- International- Budget: Undisclosed

08-02-2021

Soft Market Testing – Design & Build and/or Housing management of a Supported Living Service

Brighton and Hope City Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

26-02-2021

Supported Living Approved Provider List

Calderdale Council- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

26-02-2021

A subscription to our Healthcare Tenders portal offers your business:

  • Unlimited access to all unique, public and private healthcare tendering opportunities.
  • A daily bulletin sent straight to your inbox containing all the new healthcare tenders uploaded that day.
  • An on-hand Account Manager who can answer any questions you have about supporting people contracts or the healthcare tendering process.
  • A free 20-minute phone consultation with our bid writing experts at Hudson Succeed.

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Start a free trial

Want to save even more time?

Upgrade to one of our two Discover Elite packages. They can help optimise your tendering opportunities, even when you’re busy. The Ultimate Time Saver and Become and Pre-Bid Master packages can improve your bidding success rate and competitor awareness.

The Ultimate Time Saver package offers:

  • A maximum of five tender breakdowns per month.
  • Weekly phone calls with your dedicated Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Hudson Discover sector-specific portals. This option best suits a business that overlaps two industries such as Healthcare and Technology.
  • Buyer portal management including registration, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid or no-bid
  • Pre-market and award engagement notices monitored on your behalf.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • A Bid Strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us to find out how we can help your business grow.

How to Find & Win NHS Contracts for Tender

Posted on by John Hudson

NHS contracts for tender and where to find them

NHS contracts for tender can seem daunting if you’re unfamiliar with the process. Public sector tendering in general can be a bit of a minefield and you’re bound to have plenty of questions. Notoriously, securing NHS contracts can be a rather lengthy and arduous procurement process. However, there is a constant and steady stream of NHS contracts for tender being released.

What type of NHS contracts for tender are there?

The NHS procures many goods, works and services via a range of different tendering procedures. NHS tenders are very diverse. They could range from the maintenance of lifts with their hospitals to the procurement of beds for patients.

The Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), Public Health England and NHS England are responsible for NHS procurement. Various streams within the NHS and government commission NHS contracts for tender. These include:

  • Local Clinical Commissioning Groups
  • The Crown Commercial Service
  • The NHS Supply Chain.

The NHS uses various NHS procurement hubs in order to buy whatever they need. Largely speaking this is done via framework agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS).

What is a framework agreement?

A framework agreement allows for multiple suppliers on the same contract. They are often used when the buyer has a large scope in multiple locations. Having multiple suppliers across multiple locations can help meet demand and ensure the buyer’s client’s needs are met.

Frameworks often run for longer terms than single supplier contracts. Hopeful suppliers will have to pass the PQQ or SQ stage. Then they will need to pass the ITT in order to secure a place on a framework. Successful applications will then be awarded a place on a shortlist of chosen suppliers. After that, a buyer will then release an additional ITT or mini competition when they need something.

Suppliers on the framework agreement will then compete, submitting an ITT response. This saves time for both the supplier and the buyer. This is because they do not need to go through the PQQ stage again.

Goods and services on frameworks are often divided into multiple Lots. These can be for a specific good, service or location. Instead of being required to deliver all aspects of a contract, you only deliver your business’s speciality.

What’s the difference between a framework agreement and a DPS?

A DPS is almost the same as a framework agreement. The main difference is that you can apply to be a supplier on a DPS any time that it is open. They, too, can run for multiple years at a time.

How are NHS contracts for tender awarded?

NHS contracts for tender are awarded to the most economically advantageous tender, known as the MEAT. The MEAT does not mean that the cheapest bid wins. Buyers are looking at more than just price. Other aspects that they could be considered independently or in combinations are:

  • Accessibility
  • Patient quality, care and safeguarding
  • Health and safety
  • Risk management
  • Equality, diversity and environmental policies
  • Ability to deliver on time.

Does my written response for an NHS contract matter?

In short yes. Buyer’s care about the quality of your writing and NHS contracts are no exception. Overall weightings can vary, and your response is split between price and quality. Obviously, you want to score as highly as possible for both. In order to do this for your quality response, it’s not exactly ground-breaking that the quality of your writing matters.

A few things to consider when writing your response to NHS contracts for tender are:

  • Focus on being persuasive. Why are you the best business for the job?
  • Be as clear and concise as possible while hitting as close to the word or page count as possible.
  • Have attention to detail, but don’t be overly descriptive.
  • Don’t allow room for the buyers to make assumptions. This could risk allowing the buyer to make the wrong assumption.

Need support?

Writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit, and that’s ok. If you have found NHS contracts for tender but don’t have time, our sister company, Hudson Succeed, can help. They boast an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of bidding experience collectively.

We offer four bid writing packages to suit every tendering need.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business grow.

Where can I find NHS contracts for tender?

You may be wondering where you can find NHS contracts for tender. You likely don’t have the time to trawl through various websites relying on inaccurate CPV codes. Our Healthcare Tenders portal can help streamline the process saving you time and resources.

What makes Healthcare Tenders different?

Our Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sites for the latest healthcare leads and opportunities. They upload a whole range of opportunities such as NHS frameworks, DPS and single-provider contracts. Once they are uploaded to our portal, you can filter the results by budget, keyword, location and more.

A dedicated Account Manager is on-hand to answer any questions you may have about NHS contracts for tender. You’ll also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox containing all the new healthcare tenders uploaded that day. This will save you even more time, allowing you to find the perfect NHS contract for your business.

Below are some examples of NHS contracts for tender that we recently sourced on our portal:

GB-Poole: FootPrints Continuous Support Renewal

Dorset Health Care University NHS Foundation Trust- London- Budget: £100,000

22-02-2021

St/H FH Comms Room

Epsom & St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

18-02-2021

Service Maintenance of Lifts

Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: £12,000

23-02-2021

Privacy/Medical Screens for COVID-19 Vaccination Programme

NHS England- North East- Budget: £ 718,500

16-02-2021

Community Beds – Partnership

West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust- Eastern- Budget: Undisclosed

19-02-2021

Deputy Heads of Midwifery and Deputy Directors of Midwifery leadership accelerator programme

NHS England (Commissioning Board)- London- Budget: Undisclosed

16-02-2021

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help you find more NHS contracts for tender – even when you’re busy! Our two upgraded packages are particularly useful if your business runs across two sectors such as Healthcare and Technology. A dedicated Account Manager will carefully consider which NHS contracts are most suitable for your business. This will help improve your bid success rate and improve your competitor awareness.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management. This includes registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

The Become a Pre-Bid Master package offers your business:

  • All of the above.
  • Up to seven tender breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information.

3 Things to Consider When Writing Your Ambulance Tender Response

Posted on by John Hudson

Answers to your ambulance tenders FAQ’s

It can seem daunting when writing a response to an ambulance tender. The public sector requires a lot of additional policies and requirements to be in place when tendering. This blog hopes to answer all your FAQ’s to do with ambulance tenders and the NHS Ambulance Service tendering procedure.

What are the UK Ambulance Services?

The UK Ambulance Service is comprised of 10 individual NHS Ambulance Trusts in England:

  • East Midlands Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • North East Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
  • London Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • South Western Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust
  • Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • North West Ambulance Service NHS Trust
  • West Midlands Ambulance Service University NHS Foundation Trust
  • South Central Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust
  • South East Coast Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust
  • East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Then you have the following services covering the rest of the UK:

  • The Welsh Ambulance Services NHS Trust
  • The Scottish Ambulance Service
  • The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service Health and Social Care Trust

The London Ambulance Service alone spends approximately £78 million annually procuring a range of goods and services. They work with a range of public organisations such as:

What are NHS ambulance tenders used for?

The NHS may put ambulance tenders out to procure many goods and services. Their principal areas of spending include:

  • Frontline staff and services

Information technology

  • Desktops and services
  • Communications technology
  • Networks

Fleet and logistics

  • Emergency vehicles
  • Accident damage repairs
  • Fuel

Medical

  • Defibrillators and associated medical equipment
  • Medical gases
  • Medical consumables such as bandages and gloves

Professional services

  • HR recruitment
  • Travel and accommodation
  • Insurance 

What are ambulance tender framework agreements?

Framework agreements and Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) are common ways that the NHS uses to procure ambulance goods and services. Framework agreements are used to appoint multiple suppliers to provide various services and goods. They can run for several years at a time with the possibility of extension. Many frameworks and DPSs will enable you to choose a ‘Lot’. A Lot is used for specific goods, service or location. It enables you to work alongside other service providers on a contract. Businesses are typically able to apply for three Lots. This is as long as you’re able to prove you have the capabilities to fulfil the contract if successful.

3 things to consider when writing your ambulance tender response

  1. Be in keeping with the general standards

An ambulance tender response will likely require you to have certain accreditations, qualifications and policies. These will vary depending on the goods or service being procured. Some examples that could be required are:

  • ISO 9001; 14001; 23001; 27001
  • OHSAS 18001
  • COSHH
  • RMADS

  1. Be the MEAT

Public sector organisations have a responsibility to ensure all public money received is used as resourcefully as possible. Due to this, successful tenders achieve the best value for money and contracts are awarded to the MEAT. MEAT stands for the most economically advantageous tender.

A MEAT means that the buyer is looking at more than just the price. They will be looking at a range of factors which could include:

  • Accessibility
  • Innovation
  • Customer service
  • Technical ability
  • Quality
  • Ability to deliver on time
  • Environmental benefits

  1. Sustainable development

Coinciding with MEAT, sustainable development, also referred to as social value is important for any public sector contract. You must comply with all applicable environmental, social and labour law requirements. The NHS and public sector, in general, take this seriously. As of January 2021, there is a mandatory 10% weighting on social value within all public contacts. Bear in mind 10% is the minimum, some can have a weighting of up to 30%.

This should not be an afterthought when writing your ambulance tender response. You should be including policies that you can actually deliver on and maintain. Social value responses expect you to demonstrate the social, environmental and economic aspects. They want to know you’re committed to aiding things such as:

  • COVID-19 recovery
  • Climate change
  • Reducing waste
  • Paying the Living Wage of all staff and supply chain subcontractors
  • Helping fight economic inequality
  • Creating a diverse and fair workplace
  • Introduce learning opportunities to help fight unemployment

The NHS will be looking to see tender responses that encourage the NHS Long Term Plan and sustainability.

5 tips for responding to an ambulance tender

  1. Read the information for providers and the specification carefully. Always ask clarification questions.
  2. Give a full response. Don’t assume that the buyer knows anything, they can only evaluate what’s written down in your answer.
  3. Focus on answering the questions asked. They can only evaluate what’s relevant. You should demonstrate how you will meet the requirements of the tender.
  4. Be clear on your pricing model and provide full costings.
  5. Before submission, double-check you have signed and returned the declarations.

How can we help?

Once you’ve found the right ambulance tender for your business, we can help you write the response. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, have 60 years of collective experience of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. Our Bid Writers can help your business win its next ambulance tender. We offer four bid writing and support packages.

Tender Writing

If you’re interested in a specific ambulance tender you’ve seen why not send it our way? Our Bid Writers will take care of the bid response for you and they’ll even submit it on your behalf. They’ll provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown.

Tender Mentor

Our Tender Mentor service analyses your tender content, double-checking it for any errors before you submit.

Tender Ready

The Tender Ready package is for those who have never tendered before. We offer a three-stage process that makes sure you have everything in place to tender successfully. This package includes a 12-month subscription to a Discover portal of your choice.

Tender Improvement

If you’ve written an ambulance tender response but aren’t seeing the results you want, Tender Improvement can help. Our Bid Writers will assess your supporting documents and previous tender submissions. They’ll give you some guidance and feedback on how to improve next time.

Where can I find ambulance tenders?

Our Healthcare Tenders portal is home to hundreds of live healthcare contract opportunities, frameworks and DPS’ from across the UK. These can be lucrative opportunities for your business. They are a fine way to secure a pipeline of work for your business.

What makes Healthcare Tenders different?

Good question. A subscription to Healthcare Tenders allows you to view all opportunities from multiple UK portals in one, central, easy-to-navigate place. We don’t rely on often mislabelled CPV codes. Our Opportunity Trackers manually trawl through thousands of sites daily, uploading them via keyword. This means you’ll never miss an opportunity for your business again.

You’re able to filter the results by keyword, budget, location and more. This saves you even more time, allowing you to tailor the results to suit you. You’ll also receive a daily email bulletin straight to your inbox containing all the live tenders found that day.

Here are some recent ambulance tenders that we sourced on our Healthcare Tenders portal:

Tender for the Provision of Frontline Ambulance

States of Jersey – International – Budget: Undisclosed

26-01-2021

Framework Agreement for the Supply of Non-Emergency Patient Ambulance Transport

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust – West Midlands

Budget: Undisclosed

25-04-2019

Non-Emergency Ambulance Transport Service

Procurement and Logistics Service – Northern Ireland- Budget: £19,620,000

09-01-2019

Specialised Critical Care Ambulance Transport Service for The East Midlands Region

NHS England and NHS Improvement (Specialised Commissioning) – East Midlands

Budget: £12,250,000

14-08-2020

Market Engagement Event For Specialised Critical Care Ambulance Transport Services Related Procurement

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit – East Midlands – Budget: Undisclosed

12-02-2020

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

Upgrade to Discover Elite

We know how busy you are running your own business. That’s why we want to make life even easier for you with our new Discover Elite packages. This upgraded feature is particularly useful if your business runs across two sectors such as Healthcare and Technology, for example. It helps streamline the tendering process, even more, eliminating the frustrating, time-consuming pre-bid admin aspect of tendering.

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool package does what it says on the tin. This package includes:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover tender portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns to help you make bid or no-bid
  • A dedicated Account Manager to help track the perfect tender opportunities for your business.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable tendering opportunities.
  • Public and private buyer portal management. This includes registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.

Become a Pre-Bid Master

Become a Pre-Bid Master package includes all the perks above, plus the following two perks:

  • Up to seven breakdowns per month.
  • The development of a bid strategy delivered by a Senior Bid Manager with a minimum of 5 years of experience. It will also be managed by our Global Bid Director.

Contact us for more information.

5 Tips for Writing a Successful Orthodontic Tendering Response

Posted on by John Hudson

The orthodontic tendering process explained

The majority of orthodontic tendering opportunities are for the public sector, specifically the NHS. The Midlands, North and East of England are the regions where most orthodontic tendering opportunities lie for the NHS.

NHS England commissions orthodontic services in the NHS England Midland and East via managed clinical networks (MCNs). These are slightly different from other NHS services that are procured via NHS procurement hubs.

There are quite a few hoops you must jump through if your business is considering the orthodontic tendering process. They’re there for good reasons, as providing the best patient care should be at the heart of any healthcare procurement.

Orthodontic tendering can seem like a daunting process if you’re new to it. A combination of quality improvement and lower cost agendas can make it difficult. The ever-changing landscape of patient care and clinical skills is tough to keep on top of. Providing trustworthy and safe dental care is unfortunately no longer enough to win.

With that in mind, this blog includes some helpful tips on how to succeed at orthodontic tendering.

Before you even begin you need to read the specification carefully and ask yourself the following:

Does my business meet the minimum economic and financial thresholds? 

Do I have the resources to deliver the goods, works or services that are required?

Do I have the necessary experience and qualifications required?

You should always ask yourself these questions before you begin your tendering response. It’s the ultimate question: to bid or not to bid?  You must establish your answers to these questions before you proceed.

If the answer is no to any of the above, it may not be the right opportunity for your business. If the answer is yes, you should carry on and start planning your response. 

What is the orthodontic tendering process?

PQQ

Typically, the orthodontic tendering process starts when NHS England commissions a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). This is released when they’re looking to procure orthodontic works, goods, or services. A PQQ can also be known as a selection questionnaire (SQ). They are essentially where you provide your company’s information and a box-ticking exercise. You’ll need to confirm non-collusion and establish your environmental and equality and diversity policies.

ITT

If you meet all the minimum criteria at the PQQ stage, you will be then sent an invitation to tender (ITT). This is where the serious work begins. It’s within the ITT that you detail how to plan to carry out and fulfil the contract if you win. The suppliers with the best chance of winning will read the specification, and formulate a response that demonstrates:

“Yes, I can do that, here’s how and here’s the benefit to you if you pick me”.

You have to persuade the buyers into thinking you’re the best business for the job. You must show that you not only meet the service requirements but will deliver:

  • Outstanding quality
  • Improved patient outcomes
  • Value for money

Once you’ve submitted your bid the buyer will then review each one. They will then award the contract to the highest scoring tender response based on both quality and price.

Dynamic Purchasing Systems

Orthodontic tendering opportunities often are presented in Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPSs). There are also Personal Dental Services Agreements and Pseudo Dynamic Purchasing Systems (PDPS). These are similar to framework agreements that are frequently used within the healthcare sector and the NHS. The main differences are that a business can join at any time, and there’s no limit on numbers of suppliers.

Traditional tendering contracts will be awarded to one supplier. However, DPS’ are multi-supplier agreements that are used when a buyer wants to procure multiple goods or services. Once a business has passed both the PQQ and ITT stages, the buyer will create a shortlist of approved suppliers. Then, for each new project, they will hold a mini competition (or call for competition) with the pre-approved suppliers. Suppliers don’t have to re-do the PQQ stage, saving time they can skip straight to the ITT stage.

Securing a place on a DPS can be a lucrative opportunity for your dental business. They can run for multiple years with the possibility of extensions.

Lots

Orthodontic tenders are often broken down into Lots. Each Lot may be a different service, product or location. They can be defined either by value per Lot, or a defined quantity of UOAs (Units of Orthodontic Activity). Your orthodontic tendering response needs to be Lot-specific and aligned to the number of UOAs. A business is able to bid for multiple Lots. However, you will need to demonstrate that you can fulfil the needs or service of multiple Lots. You will also have to prove that you have the financial stability to undertake the work of multiple Lots.

5 tips for writing successful orthodontic tendering responses:

  1. Have a patient-focused approach

As mentioned above, the NHS has a customer-centred approach. They want to know how you will provide the best patient care while meeting their eligibility criteria. The patent care must be robust, and your quality assurance processes must be watertight.

  1. Evidence is key

Proven evidence is key when submitting a bid in the public sector. Buyers want to be reassured that you have the necessary experience and completed work of similar scope. Often, they’ll require up to three case studies of similar contracts you’ve completed within the last five years. The NHS wants to have concrete evidence that demonstrates you have previously delivered successful services. You may be required to attach testimonials and the contact information of previous clients.

  1. Adhere to best in practice

Your business must demonstrate the uphold best in practice as with any business in the healthcare sector. You must ensure that all aspects of your clinical governance are as robust as possible. For example, you must adhere to:

  • Regulatory standards
  • Clearly defined roles
  • Clinical audits
  • Safeguarding procedures
  • Patient safety
  • Health and safety
  • Complaints procedure
  • Responsibilities and accountabilities
  • Incident reporting procedures
  • Feedback mechanisms
  • Sustainable practice
  • Equality and diversity practices

You should establish the most appropriate governance mechanisms and networks. These could include, but aren’t limited to:

  • NHS England
  • Orthodontic MCN
  • Local Dental Network (LDN)
  • Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG)
  • Sustainability and Transformation Partnerships (STPs)
  • British Dental Association (BDA)
  • Local Dental Committees (LDC)
  • Local Authority Health and Wellbeing Boards and Scrutiny Commissions
  • Healthwatch
  • British Orthodontic Society
  • Community Dental Services

  1. Have a comprehensive mobilisation plan

Your mobilisation plan needs to demonstrate potential risks and how they are to be mitigated. The NHS is risk-averse so you will have to take the needs of patients into consideration. You must show how you’ve incorporated all the elements into a thorough and comprehensive mobilisation plan. The NHS is focused on sustainability so it’s worth considering how you can factor that in.

  1. The quality of your writing matters

Most UOAs and orthodontic tenders have set prices. This means there’s little room to gain a competitive edge via pricing. This means the quality of your written response matters. You should never assume the buyer knows anything. Leaving room for assumptions can allow for the wrong assumptions to be made. Explain everything clearly and concisely. Leave the overly technical jargon out.

We get that you don’t always have the time to formulate an orthodontic tendering response – writing isn’t everyone’s strong suit. So, we offer bid writing support packages that can help get you on the path to winning your next tender.

Our Bid Writers at sister company, Hudson Succeed, are experts in producing winning bids. They have 60 years of bid writing experience and an 87% success rate. They offer four bid writing services:

Where can I find the right orthodontic tendering opportunities for my business?

Finding the right orthodontic tendering opportunity for your business can take a large chunk out of your day. There are thousands of sites that host tenders across multiple sectors all throughout the UK. It can turn into a full-time job.

Luckily for you, we have a solution that can save you time. Our Healthcare Tenders portal is a tendering platform that hosts hundreds of new healthcare opportunities from across the UK. We don’t reply on mislabelled CPV codes to bring you leads. Instead, our Opportunity Trackers manually search and upload industry relevant tenders to our portal.

You are then able to filter the results via keyword, budget, location and more. This means you get access to all available live tenders that are relevant to your business. 

Below are some past orthodontic tendering opportunities that we sourced on our portal:

Expression of Interest for Specialist Led Orthodontic Services in the Colchester Area, Essex.

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit- Eastern- Budget: Undisclosed

Expressions of Interest for the Provision of Orthodontics in Lincolnshire

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands Commissioning Support Unit- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

Provision of Orthodontic Services North Ceredigion

NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership-Procurement Services (hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust)- Wales- Budget: £1,369,922

Supply of Orthodontic Consumables

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust- West Midlands- Budget: £73,000

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

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