Healthcare, NHS and medical procurement in the UK is highly complex. A formal procurement process is utilised for most government and private sector contracts in the healthcare and medical sector. A quality bid or proposal is now almost a pre-requisite for winning any NHS, healthcare or other medical industry bid and most contracts are highly competitive. You need to score well on every question in order to gain a high overall score based on the weighting criteria that is generally adopted for most public sector contracts.
On the positive side, winning new contracts can help your business unlock growth and new revenue that is both substantial and stable. Our team of bid writing consultants here at Tsaks Consulting provide bid writing services focused on the healthcare industry. We provide NHS (National Health Service) bid support, tender and bid management for healthcare bids and bid writing services for organisations looking to secure medical industry contracts.
Types of healthcare industry contracts in the UK we can help you win
Given the diverse range of services, products and projects within the UK healthcare and medical industry, there are a variety of tenders that arise which our team of experience health bid writing consultants in the UK will assist with. Some of these include:
- Hospital services bids: These contracts are usually for the provision of healthcare services inside hospitals. A lot of them are associated with the NHS although there are other bids. The types of services our writers have helped clients bid for include clinical services, diagnostics services and patient care. These services often extend to include aged care and nursing homes.
- Primary care services: These contracts, PPQs and bids are generally associated with providing general practitioner (GP) services, dental services and community healthcare. We have extensive experience helping our clients write and win dental services contracts. In addition, our medical contract bidding specialists have helped GPs bid for primary care GMS contracts to the NHS including for example the NHS Lothian. We work closely with GPs and doctors to guide them through the process, particularly when they have not had any experience bidding and need our help to submit the bid and secure the contract.
- Medical equipment and devices bids: There are many medical equipment and device tenders that cover a broad range of devices and medical equipment used in the healthcare industry in the UK. These include both NHS and private sector contracts and cover a broad range of products and services. For example, our NHS bid writers have written bids for the provision of radiology equipment, hospital bedding and medical equipment and devices such as syringes.
- Health Information Technology (HIT) bids: These contracts combing the IT and ICT contracts with the unique requirements and challenges of the health industry. More often than not, one of our bid writers who focuses specifically on IT bids and proposals will assist our clients with this tender. They bring a combination of IT and health sector experience which is generally needed for these types of bids. These range from software (such as practice management software) to the supply of computer, telephone and other equipment.
- Ambulance Services: Most of these contracts are for the provision of emergency medical services and patient transport services. These contracts can become more challenging when looking to win bids in regional areas. In our experience, it is important to focus on local knowledge as well as equipment and fleet management in order to secure patient transport services contracts.
- Healthcare construction and infrastructure tenders: Similarly to IT tenders, construction and infrastructure tenders are generally delivered by our bid writers who specialise in construction. Having said that, there are some considerations which need to be taken into account in the methodology that are specific to working in the hospital and healthcare space. For example, for maintenance contracts in healthcare, there are special considerations and safety precautions that need to be implemented when working in a live hospital environment as well as specific training for the trades and other personnel to ensure they comply with the licensing and other protocols of working in a live hospital. Dust management is also a key issue. For larger construction projects such as the construction of new medical centres and hospitals, the building process needs to take into considerations the unique requirements of healthcare buildings.
- Mental Health Services Bids: These bids are generally associated with mental health services such as counselling, therapy and psychiatric care. Within these three areas there are a broad range of sub areas depending on the specific demographic of patients who require that care. Over the years, our bid writing consultants have written a range of mental health services bids. We take the time to focus on your CVs, the depth of resources in your team, and the methodology and process of how you plan to deliver the services. It’s important to also demonstrate insight into the unique challenges faced in providing mental health services and provide solutions around how you will foresee and overcome them.
- Public Health Service: There was an increase in public health service tenders throughout the Covid outbreak, although contracts are consistently released. These include contracts for public health initiatives, disease prevention programs and some health promotion campaigns. Generally speaking, it’s not your typical health and medical companies who apply for these types of tenders. We have assisted PR and Communications firms as well as other boutique consultancies apply for a broad range of public health services contracts across the UK.
- Nursing and Care Services: Nursing and care services operators, including nursing agencies tender for a range of difference nursing and care services tenders. These often include the provision of home care, long-term care and other support services specifically tailored for the elderly or those with disabilities. We have helped nursing agencies as well as private providers bid for contracts with the NHS as well as other private organisations to provide care support services. The unique issues that face people with a disability are different to the elderly and other groups. Our bid writing consultants will help you tailor your bid to these specific groups so that you submission demonstrates your knowledge and resonates with the reader.
- Rehabilitation Services: There are different disciplines within the rehabilitation sphere. These include physiotherapy, occupational therapy and general rehabilitation programs. A long-term focus, as well as the ability to deliver real results is critical when writing rehabilitation services bids. You need to not only write a compelling bid that demonstrates your skillset and experience, but you need to present a detailed methodology and program about how you are going to consistently deliver the rehabilitation services over the full term of the contract to a high quality.
- Diagnostics and Pathology: A highly specialist area there are many contracts for the provision of diagnostics imaging services, pathology services and laboratory testing across the UK. From multinational operators and large national providers, to smaller firms looking to provide pathology services in some rural areas, our writing professionals have helped clients win services for contracts large and small. A focus on equipment and innovation including AI is only exceeded by operational details such as the proposed team for providing such services and the system and processes for managing and delivering diagnostics and pathology services. We also provide services for respiratory bids and contracts.
- Telemedicine and Telehealth: With the increase in technology and receptivity for remote and telehealth solutions amongst the general UK public, telemedicine and telehealth contracts have been increasing in volume over recent years. They are highly applicable in providing health services to remote locations. Examples of contracts including tenders for the development, implementation and operations of telehealth and telemedicine services as well as contracts with the NHS and other organisations to deliver remote and out of hours healthcare services.
- Medical Waste Management: More often than not, our generalist tender writers write waste management tenders. These include proposals and bids for waste management services in hospitals and medical centres. Medical waste has its own unique challenges and requirements. Innovative products are often useful to win bids and the service and implementation of the waste management contracts are also important. The procurement team want to know that you have a smooth and efficient operation for collecting waste. Our healthcare bid writing consultants take the time to demonstrate not only your product and services but also your ability to consistently service the contract for an extended period of time.
- NHS Workforce recruitment: There is a critical need for qualified healthcare professionals in the NHS. As a result, workforce recruitment tenders are often high in volume and also highly competitive. Service providers need to focus on recruitment methodologies, their talent pool and how they nurture it, diversity and inclusion and your ability to source candidates for in-demand roles. Having a presence in the local area and having built a pool of resources with which to retain talent is also critical to winning NHS workforce recruitment contracts.
- Integrated Community Health contracts: To win a integrated community health contract, you need to demonstrate that you will bridge the gap and ensure seamless collaboration and communication between healthcare entities to deliver a quality service. You also need to demonstrate that your proposed care model is patient-centred and that your organisation leverages on technology to optimise data sharing and collaboration.
- Supported living bids and contracts: These contracts have a strong focus on providing a personalised service. Given these services are provided to vulnerable members of the community, you must demonstrate robust quality assurance protocols that ensure you will provide high-quality services over the full term of the contract. When writing bids for supported living tenders for our clients we take the time to tailor the bid on the specific demographic that will be supported and demonstrate insight into their unique needs, as well as how our personalised care will address them. Demonstrating that tailored care plans will be put in place to increase their independence and overall quality of life is also critical.
- GP APMS (Alternative Provider Medical Services): These are often complex and challenging bids. You need to demonstrate a deep understanding of the local area and there local healthcare needs throughout your bid. The primary care solutions you propose need to be patient-centric and deliver real ease of accessibility for patients. In addition, your services have to align with the NHS’s values and ethos, and you need to demonstrate that you will excel in patient engagement.
- Dermatology: The provision of top-tier skincare and dermatology services is critical for the general population. We have helped dermatologists write and win contracts to provide services across the UK. It is important to demonstrate a focus on continuous education and your commitment to using innovative and cutting-edge treatment modalities. When bidding for larger contracts, you also need to show your depth of resources and the size of your practice and demonstrate how this puts you into a good position to deliver the contract.
- Sexual Health: These contracts cover services to address a broad range of sexual health challenges including education programs, prevention programs and treatment. When bidding for sexual health contracts, you need to demonstrate that your program or services have processes in place to maintain confidentiality and are inclusive. In addition, there are diverse community needs which need to be addressed. [Read more…] about Healthcare, Medical and NHS