Central East ICB has announced its award of a contract worth up to £1.7 million for a clinical decision support tool to Ardens Health Informatics Limited, to help the ICB meet digital pathways capabilities to support modernising general practice.
The contract, awarded following a call-off process from the CCS G-Cloud 14 Framework (RM1557.14) Lot 2: Cloud software, is initially awarded for a period of 12 months at a value of £870,296.91, before a further optional 12-month extension at the same cost.
The newly-created Central East ICB, formed from Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes ICB, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICB, and Hertfordshire, revealed its five-year approach from strategy to delivery earlier this year, highlighting the role of digital and data in achieving objectives and improving outcomes for the local population.
Committing to adopting modern, digital mechanisms such as the NHS App by default, and to supporting its population in safely managing their own health with digital access and remote monitoring, the ICB sets out ‘five layers’: prevention and screening, supported self-care, proactive outreach and risk mitigation, care coordination for complex needs, and crisis response and recovery.
On re-procurement and service redesign, the ICB shares plans to re-procure diabetes and dermatology services in 2026/27 on a whole-pathway basis, emphasising prevention and supported self-management, and enabling digital access, triage, and advice models to improve flow and experience. From 2027 onwards, it notes ambitions to begin commissioning neighbourhood health teams, and to prioritise contracts looking to increase access, manage deterioration proactively, coordinate care, and support people at home or in the community.
Wider trend: Health tech procurement
NHS England has published two pipeline notices indicating upcoming opportunities for digital delivery partners to support its urgent and emergency care agenda, and to provide DevOps services for NHS England Directorates. The first notice, which seeks a digital delivery partner to provide DevOps services into a variety of NHS Directorates, is expected to run from the end of September 2026 for a total of two years. The total value is anticipated to be £19million excluding VAT.
NHS England has also awarded a contract with a value of up to £160 million to IBM as a strategic delivery partner for the future of the NHS App. “Following the completion of a competitive procurement process and due governance, IBM has been formally appointed as a strategic delivery partner as we continue to develop secure, reliable and user-centred pathways and services at scale,” NHSE states. The contract is due to begin on 1 May 2026, ending on 31 March 2028.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has procured a new patient-focused intranet and internet solution for £725,000, with the aim of reducing digital deprivation for patients. The contract, awarded to Made Purple Limited, is designed to offer patients the tools to learn new skills, research their medical needs, and locate information on the trust and CQC reports. The trust highlights the importance of this in improving patient experience and supporting their journey.
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust has awarded a ten-year EPR contract with a value of £52 million to Epic, taking the trust up to 2036. The trust’s board in its January meeting covered the board assurance framework, noting issues with IT infrastructure, digital maturity, and technical debt. “Lewisham and Greenwich NHS has had a phased roll out over several years of its existing EPR system which has left the trust with a partially deployed EPR for acute services and a separate community EPR with only 80 percent of our clinical systems integrated and linked to the Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Patient Master Index,” it stated.
