NHS England has published a contract worth an estimated £600,000, aiming to source an “evaluation partner” for the Federated Data Platform (FDP) programme.
According to the contract, the evaluation partner will be required to demonstrate the programme’s current and future impact, assessing whether it has achieved its objectives.
The scope extends to capturing key learnings, and demonstrating value for money and accountability to its stakeholders, NHS England continues. Submissions are invited until the 5 January 2026, and will be assessed first on technical criteria (quality), before commercial (price) and social value (quality) criteria.
An award decision is expected around the end of January 2026, with contract dates running from February 2026 to February 2029.
A separate contract worth £35,000 was awarded earlier this month by NHS England to London-based Akeso and Company Limited, with research objectives to understand customer needs and motivations, and identifying challenges faced by NHS trusts and how the FDP can address them.
The four month contract, which is due to end on 31 March 2026, also looks to assess awareness and understanding of the FDP, and to explore attitudes and sentiment toward the platform “including perceived benefits and drawbacks”.
Wider trend: The role of data in health and care
For a recent HTN Now webinar on the role of data and digital in supporting population health management (PHM), we were joined by a panel including Victoria Townshend, portfolio director (associate) with the GIRFT Elective Team; Mayur Vibhuti, CCIO and GP clinical lead for digital at Kent and Medway ICB; and Harry Thirkettle, director of health and innovation from Aire Logic. Our panellists explored and discussed approaches to PHM, successes, challenges, what works and what doesn’t, through to measuring the impact of PHM interventions.
East London NHS Foundation Trust has outlined its use of data in informing patient care and patient flow, deploying digital screens, interactive dashboards, and PowerBI. 22 wards across the trust now have digital screens showcasing real-time data on aspects of flow, safety, care plans, observation status, Mental Health Act status, key assessments, and expected discharge date. Co-designed with clinicians and service users, the screens update every 15 minutes, supporting safety huddles, team meetings, and handovers.
The Our Dorset digital strategy to 2030 has been published, sharing plans around interoperability, data sharing, and building digital skills. Our Dorset aims to improve use of data for neighbourhood health, population health management, and moving from a reactive to a proactive model of care. This will involve eliminating data siloes and strengthen data sharing across all sectors, embedding analysts in clinical teams, aligning with the Federated Data Platform, and to develop a “robust and scalable” data architecture across the ICS, leveraging cloud technologies to share datasets between providers and partners.
