Award

National Breast Screening System (NBSS) Contract Extension

NHS ENGLAND

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

10 Jun 2025 at 09:30

Award

16 Apr 2025 at 09:32

Summary of the contracting process

NHS England has extended the National Breast Screening System (NBSS) contract with Hitachi Digital Services UK Limited. This extension, occurring under the 'direct award' procurement method, aims to ensure service continuity for the IT platform essential to breast screening operations across England, Wales, and the Isle of Man. The current contract, initially expiring on 31st May 2025, now extends to 31st May 2027, with a value of up to £36 million excluding VAT. This service provision falls within the IT services category and supports over 70 breast screening offices, highlighting its critical nature. The contract, signed on 7th May 2025, remains active, ensuring continued support and development of the NBSS platform, with substantial IT and software development elements.

This tender presents significant business growth opportunities, particularly for IT firms specialising in complex software solutions and system support services. Companies adept in handling large-scale, legacy IT systems like NBSS, which has evolved over 15-20 years, would be well-suited for such opportunities. Businesses offering robust IT infrastructure, advanced programming expertise, and those capable of managing administrative complexities involved in large-scale deployment will find this sector beneficial. The direct award process underscores the strategic importance of established expertise and continuity in service provision, emphasising the value placed on technical proficiency and demonstrated capability in sustaining critical public health IT systems.

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Notice Title

National Breast Screening System (NBSS) Contract Extension

Notice Description

NBSS is the core IT software platform that is critical to the day to day operations of routine breast screening across England, Wales and Isle of Man. Since 2015 the NBSS Solution has been supported and delivered by Hitachi Digital Services UK Limited. Direct Award to restate and extend the existing contract which is an agreement for software support and development. The current contract has a term expiring on 31st May 2025, with an option to extend for a further 2 years to 31st May 2027. This contract is not being awarded by reference to lots. The value of this 2 year extension is up to PS36m excluding VAT. Contact for enquiries: england.contractmanagement.DDAT@nhs.net

Procurement Information

National Breast Screening Service (NBSS) is a national system critical to the provision of Breast Screening services in England, Wales and IoM and provides the facility for making bookings, onwards referrals where needed and is the start of the complete patient journey where treatment may be needed. NBSS technology is 15-20 years old and has been developed during this time using VB6 as the basis for programming and development. NBSS is extremely complex due to the volume of (VB6) development that has accumulated over the 15+ years that the system has been in place. It is utilised by over 70 different Breast Screening Offices meaning that, for example, the process of rolling out new releases is time consuming and administratively complex. This new contract award (which is a restating of the previous contract) will provide service continuity while the future long term strategy for NBSS continues to be developed and subsequently implemented. It is justified under Section 41 (1) (a) and paragraph 6 (b) of Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 on the basis that there are no reasonable alternatives for the provision of this service.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0503b9
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031164-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support


CPV Codes

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£36,000,000 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
£36,000,000 £10M-£100M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Jun 20258 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
16 Apr 202510 months ago
Contract Period
31 May 2025 - 31 May 2027 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active, Pending
Contracts Status
Active

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NHS ENGLAND
Contact Name
Rob Elliott
Contact Email
england.contractmanagement.ddat@nhs.net
Contact Phone
03003112233

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SE1 8UG
Post Town
South East London
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI4 Inner London - East
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI45 Lambeth
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Lambeth
Electoral Ward
Waterloo & South Bank
Westminster Constituency
Vauxhall and Camberwell Green

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

HITACHI DIGITAL SERVICES

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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