NHS Blood and Transplant is looking to procure a CRM platform and software, as well as strategic delivery partners to work with them on developing its donor and session platform programme.
The programme is intended to be a “transformative digital programme that aims to modernise donor engagement and session delivery”. With this in mind, NHS Blood and Transplant has announced plans to work alongside three delivery partners and secure a CRM platform and all software components for £4.8 million.
Interested suppliers are encouraged to submit their enquiries by 9 January 2026 and complete tender submissions by 23 January 2026. The contract is said to start on 16 March 2026 and end on 15 March 2029, with the possibility of extending to 2030 for a full 4 years.
Last year, NHS Blood and Transplant teamed up with Marvel Studios for an online awareness campaign around how to donate blood and why it matters. They used the opportunity to highlight how NHS hospitals rely on 3,700 blood donations daily and released a video featuring actors Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds encouraging people to sign up to give blood.
Digital transformation in blood and transplant health services
NHS Blood and Transplant also released a virtual reality training app in 2024, designed to simulate the process of testing blood for transfusions. The immersive training lets users enter a virtual transfusion lab and meet a patient, with the processing emulating real life as they follow procedures to test the blood group of the sample and select the correct unit of blood. Feedback is then provided on the outcome of the transfusion within a virtual environment.
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust has launched an app to provide patients and healthcare staff with additional information and guidance around blood transfusion procedures and appointments. Co-created with the help of patients, the My Transfusion app covers key information on blood transfusions, other options available, consent and preparing for transfusions, when to seek medical help following a transfusion and the safety checks required.
NHS Shared Business Services recently published a framework agreement intended to bring together the “wealth of experience” produced from current AI offerings to help “take the NHS above the foothills of digital transformation”. Lot 2 is designed to support the delivery of “a compliant route to market for the analysis of samples for rapid diagnosis”, including haematology AI tools to assist in diagnosing blood disorders; virology AI to detect, identify, and monitor viral infections; and dermatology AI to analyse skin samples and “improve the diagnosis and management of skin conditions”.
