Award

NICHS Cache Support Services 26/27

BUSINESS SERVICES ORGANISATION ITS

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

11 Mar 2026 at 15:57

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

11 Mar 2026 at 14:15

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process for the "NICHS Cache Support Services 26/27" by Business Services Organisation ITS aims to ensure the continued operation of the NI Child Health System in Northern Ireland. The contracting authority is based in Belfast, United Kingdom, and operates under public authority - central government guidelines. This process falls under the services category, with a direct award to INTERSYSTEMS for its unique ability to provide necessary support for the Caché licenses, essential to the system's operation. The contract, valued at £34,180.96 net, runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, with the next significant milestone scheduled on 29 March 2026.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in IT services, particularly those offering consulting and software development solutions, mirroring the service needs of the NICHS. Companies with expertise in information systems related to public health would find this contract particularly beneficial, as it supports major public health initiatives. Since the procurement utilises a direct award method due to intellectual property rights, businesses should explore partnerships or sub-contracting opportunities with INTERSYSTEMS to leverage the ongoing demand for support services and contribute to health system enhancements within Northern Ireland.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

NICHS Cache Support Services 26/27

Notice Description

This DAC is needed to procure support services to permit the continued operation of the NI Child Health System (NICHS) and hence the continued delivery of Child Health services to the population of Northern Ireland. The NICHS is an information system used by all 5 HSC Trusts to record and manage the information needed to provide Child Health services to the population of Northern Ireland. The system provides essential support to staff involved in health appraisal, screening, vaccination and immunisation of children - both before they go to school and during the period of school attendance. CHS supports the business of a wide range of stakeholders. Trusts rely on the system to support the delivery of services. Other organisations, including HSCB, PHA and DHSSPS rely on the information generated by the system for the monitoring and planning of services. NISRA use CHS data for analysis and reporting and GPs rely on CHS data for the scheduling of preschool services. CHS data is also used for research and audit purposes and it is a feeder of information to the Electronic Care Record. As a unique and comprehensive population based register of all - 0 to 19 years of age - children in N. Ireland, the CHS has facilitated numerous Public Health initiatives in the areas of teenage pregnancy, childhood obesity, special needs, breastfeeding, low birth weight, infant mortality, smoking in pregnancy and monitoring progress in tackling health inequalities. There are 4 instances of the NICHS in use - one in each of the WHSCT, NHSCT and SHSCT one in BHSCT serving the needs of both BHSCT and SEHSCT. In addition, there is a "NICHS Hub" that facilitates the interchange of data between Trusts. Cache is the technology used for both the NICHS application software and for the NICHS database. Without Cache, the system would not exist. The version of Cache used must be compatible with the hardware on which it runs. The NI Child Health System is hosted on the HSC Consolidated Servers which have 64-bit processors. The new licence for the 64 bit of Cache was purchased on 1st April 2020 along with the yearly revenue costs for Cache support services. At that time the yearly percentage uplift to the ongoing yearly revenue costs was not applied to these costs. This DAC is, therefore, required to ensure that the ongoing Cache support services remain in place, for the duration of the contract, to enable the staff in the organisations cited above to use the CHS and to ensure that the technology used to provide the application and the database is suitably upgraded and supported.

Procurement Information

The support of the Cache licences is required to permit the continued operation of the NI Child Health System (NICHS) and hence the continued delivery of Child Health services to the population of Northern Ireland. Without ongoing support for the licences access to the NHCHS system would not be available. Cache is owned, maintained and supported solely by InterSystems. Only InterSystems can provide Cache licenses and support services. Appointing an alternative organisation to provide Cache licenses and support services is therefore not an option.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-066753
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021929-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award 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
£34,180 Under £100K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
11 Mar 20263 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
11 Mar 20264 days ago
Contract Period
31 Mar 2026 - 31 Mar 2027 6-12 months
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
BUSINESS SERVICES ORGANISATION ITS
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BELFAST
Postcode
BT2 8DQ
Post Town
Northern Ireland
Country
Northern Ireland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLN Northern Ireland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLN0 Northern Ireland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLN06 Belfast
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Belfast
Electoral Ward
Central
Westminster Constituency
Belfast South and Mid Down

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

INTERSYSTEMS

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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