Planning

Outpatient Pharmacy Services

PORTSMOUTH HOSPITALS UNIVERSITY NHS TRUST

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

10 Apr 2026 at 15:13

Summary of the contracting process

The Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust is initiating a procurement process for the delivery of outpatient pharmacy services at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham. This tender, identified by the reference C398277, is currently in the planning stage with a focus on pharmacy services as its primary industry category. The procurement is set to adhere to CELEX legal basis regulations. Key dates for the process include the issue of the RFI PIN on 10th April and deadlines for requesting and submitting additional documentation on 20th and 24th April 2026, respectively. The service is expected to offer a comprehensive, seven-day provisioning including dispensing, retail pharmacy, and other health-related services, aligning with NHS contract standards.

This tender represents significant business growth opportunities specifically for companies experienced in or equipped to handle the demands of providing pharmacy services within a large hospital setting. The focus on continuous, flexible service provision and the potential for long-term contracts mean that businesses adept in logistics, medicine procurement, and customer service are in a strong position to benefit. Additionally, the requirement for sourcing medicines through NHS contracts via the PHU Regional Drug Purchasing Centre ensures cost-effectiveness and compliance, favouring firms with established processes that can integrate seamlessly with NHS purchasing protocols. Businesses capable of integrating detailed KPI management and support systems to optimise patient experience will find this tender particularly advantageous.

Find more tenders on our Open Data Platform.
How relevant is this notice?

Notice Title

Outpatient Pharmacy Services

Notice Description

Delivery of the outpatient pharmacy services within the Queen Alexandra hospital at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust,

Lot Information

Lot 1

Outpatient Pharmacy Services - Procurement approach. The current contract is going to expire on the 31st of January 2027 The contract was awarded for 2 years to Rowlands Pharmacy LTD, for a total Value of circa PS28,000,000 The Contracting Authority preferred option is to undertake a Direct Award Process C under the PSR regulations and award a new contract to the incumbent supplier but the Contracting Authority is also observing other options. So if your company is interested in delivering the services to the Contracting Authority in the long term or short term please reply to this RFI Additional information: Outline requirements The Supplier shall: Ensure provision of a seven day dispensing service in support of the Contracting Authority 's provision of a seven day service including A&E and Discharge as appropriate. Contracting Authority will reserve the right to renegotiate service hours under change control to meet changes in local demand. However, for the purposes of pricing, please base your tender on the current opening hours of the in-house service, which are: Monday to Friday 08.30 - 17.00 Saturday and Sunday 08:30 - 16.00 Provide an onsite retail pharmacy service at the North Entrance with opening hours to be negotiated in keeping with the Contracting Authority 's plans for provision of seven day services. Provide a comprehensive range of ethical health and beauty products to customers subject to the approval of the Contracting Authority (including any proposed amendment or promotions/events etc.). The Supplier is required to source all medicines against NHS national, regional and local contracts from the Regional Drug Purchasing Centre(RDPC) The Contracting Authority will facilitate access for the Supplier to purchase medicines at NHS national, regional and local contract prices. The majority by value of Authorities' medicines are currently purchased at NHS contract prices, some direct from manufacturers, the remainder is purchased from wholesalers. Access to NHS contracts will be enacted in compliance with the NHS Commercial Medicines Unit guidelines by the Contracting Authority with all relevant suppliers the Supplier will be required to procure all necessary medicines through the Contracting Authority 's wholesaler - the PHU Regional Drug Purchasing Centre (RDPC). This will ensure a clear audit trail of all medicines purchased through NHS contracts for the sole purpose of supplying Contracting Authority outpatients which can be verified by the Contracting Authority via an open book system. Provide outpatient dispensing services to cover all prescriptions agreed with the Contracting Authority, fulfilling paper and/or electronic prescriptions to current and future contract volumes identified by the Contracting Authority. Provide information, counselling, and advice to patients on medicines sold and / or supplied on prescription in order to optimise medicines adherence. This will include providing supporting written information and advice from knowledgeable and courteous staff. The Supplier should provide a statement of how they will meet these requirements, how staff will be trained and competencies updated and reviewed. Ensure that waiting times for patients are kept to the minimum possible. The targets for such times are described in the Key Performance Indicators agreed with the Contracting Authority. These will be based on the standard set of Key Performance Indicators provided as appendix 1 to this document. Ensure that all medicines on the Contracting Authority Formulary are available to patients and that prescriptions for non-formulary medicines will be challenged. If the supplier fails to recognise a medicine as non-formulary and dispenses it without approval by the Contracting Authority in the form of a prescription endorsement, then the Contracting Authority will withhold payment for that medicine. Procure unlicensed medicines only from agreed suppliers specified by the Contracting Authority. Procure all other medicines as agreed with the Contracting Authority. Contact Contracting Authority prescribers and specialist pharmacists directly when required to clarify any prescription ambiguities. Provide health promotion and ill-health prevention services and information in line with the Contracting Authority and public health priorities (e.g. smoking cessation) and use appropriate displays and signposting. Where required by the Contracting Authority the Supplier should provide an Outpatients Delivery Service, this being a logistics service encompassed within the Supplier's service for outpatients dispensing enabling delivery of prescribed and dispensed medicines, including but not limited to liquid formulations, items requiring refrigerated storage and chemotherapy medicines, to outpatients' places of residence, or collection of medicines dispensed at the specified location from an alternative pharmacy operated by the supplier at a location of the patient's choice. Provide clinical screening of prescriptions for all clinical specialties required by the Contracting Authority, all medicines handled and for all patients provided to, whether through discharge dispensing, outpatient dispensing, home delivery, other dispensing or sale of over the counter medicines. The Supplier is wholly responsible for this screening and the dispensing of all medicines (except for the dispensing element of home healthcare contracts delivered by third parties). Any specific requirements in relation to individual clinical specialties will be agreed and developed with the Supplier during the implementation and on an on-going basis, thereafter, working in partnership with Contracting Authority clinicians on a specialty-by-specialty basis.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06804f
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/032955-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Planning Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services


CPV Codes

85149000 - Pharmacy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Apr 20262 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
30 Jun 20263 months to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
PORTSMOUTH HOSPITALS UNIVERSITY NHS TRUST
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
COSHAM
Postcode
PO6 3LY
Post Town
Portsmouth
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ31 Portsmouth
Delivery Location
TLJ31 Portsmouth

Local Authority
Portsmouth
Electoral Ward
Cosham
Westminster Constituency
Portsmouth North

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

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.

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-06804f-2026-04-10T16:13:00+01:00",
    "date": "2026-04-10T16:13:00+01:00",
    "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-06804f",
    "description": "Suppliers interested in this RFI can request info and the Q&A documentation that needs completing from jonathan.peer@nhs.net Please quote Ref: C398277 in the subject of your emails. The RFI PIN will be issued on Friday 10th April. Deadline to request the the RFI Q&A documentation that needs completing is Mon 20th April Deadline to return completed RFI Q&A documentation is midday Fri 24th April Please use the above-mentioned email address for any communications regarding this Notice/RFI.",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "tender": {
        "id": "C398277",
        "legalBasis": {
            "id": "32014L0024",
            "scheme": "CELEX"
        },
        "title": "Outpatient Pharmacy Services",
        "status": "planned",
        "classification": {
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "id": "85149000",
            "description": "Pharmacy services"
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "services",
        "description": "Delivery of the outpatient pharmacy services within the Queen Alexandra hospital at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust,",
        "lots": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "description": "Outpatient Pharmacy Services - Procurement approach. The current contract is going to expire on the 31st of January 2027 The contract was awarded for 2 years to Rowlands Pharmacy LTD, for a total Value of circa PS28,000,000 The Contracting Authority preferred option is to undertake a Direct Award Process C under the PSR regulations and award a new contract to the incumbent supplier but the Contracting Authority is also observing other options. So if your company is interested in delivering the services to the Contracting Authority in the long term or short term please reply to this RFI Additional information: Outline requirements The Supplier shall: Ensure provision of a seven day dispensing service in support of the Contracting Authority 's provision of a seven day service including A&E and Discharge as appropriate. Contracting Authority will reserve the right to renegotiate service hours under change control to meet changes in local demand. However, for the purposes of pricing, please base your tender on the current opening hours of the in-house service, which are: Monday to Friday 08.30 - 17.00 Saturday and Sunday 08:30 - 16.00 Provide an onsite retail pharmacy service at the North Entrance with opening hours to be negotiated in keeping with the Contracting Authority 's plans for provision of seven day services. Provide a comprehensive range of ethical health and beauty products to customers subject to the approval of the Contracting Authority (including any proposed amendment or promotions/events etc.). The Supplier is required to source all medicines against NHS national, regional and local contracts from the Regional Drug Purchasing Centre(RDPC) The Contracting Authority will facilitate access for the Supplier to purchase medicines at NHS national, regional and local contract prices. The majority by value of Authorities' medicines are currently purchased at NHS contract prices, some direct from manufacturers, the remainder is purchased from wholesalers. Access to NHS contracts will be enacted in compliance with the NHS Commercial Medicines Unit guidelines by the Contracting Authority with all relevant suppliers the Supplier will be required to procure all necessary medicines through the Contracting Authority 's wholesaler - the PHU Regional Drug Purchasing Centre (RDPC). This will ensure a clear audit trail of all medicines purchased through NHS contracts for the sole purpose of supplying Contracting Authority outpatients which can be verified by the Contracting Authority via an open book system. Provide outpatient dispensing services to cover all prescriptions agreed with the Contracting Authority, fulfilling paper and/or electronic prescriptions to current and future contract volumes identified by the Contracting Authority. Provide information, counselling, and advice to patients on medicines sold and / or supplied on prescription in order to optimise medicines adherence. This will include providing supporting written information and advice from knowledgeable and courteous staff. The Supplier should provide a statement of how they will meet these requirements, how staff will be trained and competencies updated and reviewed. Ensure that waiting times for patients are kept to the minimum possible. The targets for such times are described in the Key Performance Indicators agreed with the Contracting Authority. These will be based on the standard set of Key Performance Indicators provided as appendix 1 to this document. Ensure that all medicines on the Contracting Authority Formulary are available to patients and that prescriptions for non-formulary medicines will be challenged. If the supplier fails to recognise a medicine as non-formulary and dispenses it without approval by the Contracting Authority in the form of a prescription endorsement, then the Contracting Authority will withhold payment for that medicine. Procure unlicensed medicines only from agreed suppliers specified by the Contracting Authority. Procure all other medicines as agreed with the Contracting Authority. Contact Contracting Authority prescribers and specialist pharmacists directly when required to clarify any prescription ambiguities. Provide health promotion and ill-health prevention services and information in line with the Contracting Authority and public health priorities (e.g. smoking cessation) and use appropriate displays and signposting. Where required by the Contracting Authority the Supplier should provide an Outpatients Delivery Service, this being a logistics service encompassed within the Supplier's service for outpatients dispensing enabling delivery of prescribed and dispensed medicines, including but not limited to liquid formulations, items requiring refrigerated storage and chemotherapy medicines, to outpatients' places of residence, or collection of medicines dispensed at the specified location from an alternative pharmacy operated by the supplier at a location of the patient's choice. Provide clinical screening of prescriptions for all clinical specialties required by the Contracting Authority, all medicines handled and for all patients provided to, whether through discharge dispensing, outpatient dispensing, home delivery, other dispensing or sale of over the counter medicines. The Supplier is wholly responsible for this screening and the dispensing of all medicines (except for the dispensing element of home healthcare contracts delivered by third parties). Any specific requirements in relation to individual clinical specialties will be agreed and developed with the Supplier during the implementation and on an on-going basis, thereafter, working in partnership with Contracting Authority clinicians on a specialty-by-specialty basis.",
                "status": "planned"
            }
        ],
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "deliveryAddresses": [
                    {
                        "region": "UKJ31"
                    }
                ],
                "deliveryLocation": {
                    "description": "Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust Queen Alexandra Hospital Southwick Hill Road, Cosham, PO6 3LY"
                },
                "relatedLot": "1"
            }
        ],
        "communication": {
            "futureNoticeDate": "2026-07-01T00:00:00+01:00"
        },
        "coveredBy": [
            "GPA"
        ]
    },
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-NHS-RHU",
            "name": "Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust",
                "id": "RHU",
                "scheme": "GB-NHS"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "Queen Alexandra Hospital Southwick Hill Road",
                "locality": "Cosham",
                "region": "UKJ31",
                "postalCode": "PO63LY",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "name": "Jonathan Peer",
                "email": "jonathan.peer@nhs.net"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ],
            "details": {
                "url": "http://www.porthosp.nhs.uk",
                "classifications": [
                    {
                        "id": "REGIONAL_AUTHORITY",
                        "scheme": "TED_CA_TYPE",
                        "description": "Regional or local authority"
                    },
                    {
                        "id": "07",
                        "scheme": "COFOG",
                        "description": "Health"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-NHS-RHU",
        "name": "Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust"
    },
    "language": "en"
}