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National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL)

Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership Ltd

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

PlanningUpdate

14 Aug 2026 at 09:46

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

12 Aug 2026 at 13:26

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership Ltd intends to commission the National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL), a national clinical audit service for NHS-funded care in England, Wales and Jersey, with possible expansion to other devolved nations and Crown dependencies. The service will assess end-of-life care from the perspectives of patients, bereaved people, staff and the organisations delivering care. It is intended to improve healthcare quality by measuring outcomes and processes, benchmarking providers, identifying unwarranted variation and supporting improvement. Expected outputs include near-real-time interactive results, an annual state-of-the-nation report, quality improvement resources, resources for patients and families, and identification and notification of outliers. Delivery will cover the relevant healthcare systems and providers across the stated countries.

This procurement is at the planning stage and is not yet an invitation to tender. HQIP currently expects to use an open tender process. A pre-market engagement session is planned for 16 September 2026, with contributions from system partners, specialists, charities, professional bodies, patient groups and other stakeholders. The buyer expects to publish the tender in December 2026, evaluate bids in February or March 2027, make an award in July 2027 and start the contract on 1 October 2027; these dates may change. The initial contract is anticipated to run for three years, from 1 October 2027 to 30 September 2030, with a possible extension to 30 September 2032. The maximum core budget is £1,085,457 excluding VAT, or £1,302,548.40 including VAT. The estimated two-year extension value is £723,638 excluding VAT. Values may change before tender publication.

The work is likely to suit organisations experienced in designing and delivering national or large-scale healthcare audits, clinical quality improvement programmes, health data analysis and reporting. Relevant capability includes robust methodological and statistical expertise, secure handling and potential linkage of individual patient data with national datasets, and the ability to collect and interpret information from patients, bereaved people, staff and healthcare organisations. Suppliers should be prepared to benchmark performance at several organisational and clinical levels, align measures with NICE guidance and established professional and patient standards, identify outliers and provide continual, accessible reporting. Strong programme and project management will be important, alongside engagement with clinicians, networks, commissioners, patients, families, carers, charities and community groups. Providers able to develop interactive results, annual reports and practical improvement resources should monitor the future tender.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL)

Notice Description

The National Audit of Care at the End of Life will be for NHS-funded care in England, Wales and Jersey (inclusion other devolved nations/Crown dependencies is yet to be determined and will be detailed within the tender documentation). The initial contract is anticipated to be for a period of 3 years, at a maximum total budget of up to PS 1,085,457.00 excluding VAT and PS1,302,548.40 including VAT. Bids exceeding this limit will be rejected. Due to the unknowns in advance of holding the premarket engagement session, it is currently expected that the extension value will be a 2 year pro rata of the core 3 year funding, estimated at PS723,638 excluding VAT. The values stated may be subject to change and the final values will be given when the tender goes live. There is potential to include other Devolved Nations and/or Crown Dependencies, and aspirational measures (which will be defined in the service specification). The role of a national clinical audit is to stimulate healthcare quality improvement through the provision of high-quality information on the organisation, delivery and outcomes of healthcare, together with tools and support to enable healthcare providers and other audiences to make best use of this information. Outcomes are benchmarked against available national guidance and standards from established professional and patient sources. Every year, over 550,000 people die in England and Wales, almost half in hospital, and in most cases death can be anticipated. There is only one chance to get care right for a dying person and those people important to them. It is essential that this is high quality and delivered compassionately by caring and competent staff. Accordingly, the National Audit of Care at the End of Life is expected to: Develop a robust, high-quality audit designed around key quality metrics likely to best support local and national healthcare quality improvement Detect, describe and help reduce unwarranted clinical variation by systematically benchmarking performance, identifying outliers, and supporting services to understand variation in outcomes, processes and experience Achieve, articulate and maintain close alignment with relevant NICE national guidance and quality standards throughout the audit, as appropriate Enable healthcare quality improvement through the provision of timely, high-quality data that compares providers of healthcare, and comprises an integrated mixture of named Trust or Health board, Integrated Care System (ICS), commissioner, multidisciplinary team (MDT), possibly consultant or clinical team level and other levels of reporting Engage patients, carers and the public in a meaningful way, achieving a strong patient voice which informs and contributes to the design, functioning, outputs and direction of the audit Consider the value and feasibility of linking data at an individual patient level to other relevant national datasets either from the outset or in the future, and plan for these linkages from the inception of the contract Ensure robust methodological and statistical input at all stages of the audit Identify from the outset the full range of audiences for the reports and other audit outputs, and plan and tailor them accordingly Provide audit results in a timely, accessible and meaningful manner to support healthcare quality improvement, minimising the reporting delay and providing continual access to each unit for their own data Use strong and effective project and programme management to deliver audit outputs on time and within budget Develop and maintain strong engagement with local clinicians, networks, commissioners, patients and their families and carers and charity and community support groups to drive improvements in services The delivery of this audit is expected to include information that enables assessment of end-of-life care from multiple perspectives, including those from: Patients Bereaved people Staff The organisational context in which care is delivered The anticipated outputs are: Near real-time dynamic and interactive metric results Publication of an annual state of the nation report Quality improvement resources Resources for patients near the end of life, and those important to them The identification and notification of outliers

Planning Information

Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) is seeking to engage with the market on the commissioning of the NACEL. HQIP will be looking to hold a pre-market engagement session with potential suppliers on Wednesday 16 September 2026 from 12.00 to 13.55. Also in attendance will be system partners and service specialists including charities, professional bodies and other relevant stakeholders. The aim of the pre market engagement session is for interested parties to hear and contribute to discussions with system experts and patient groups that will feed in to HQIP’s final decisions on the scope of the project over the 3-5 years of the programme. At this point, the Authority is planning to run this procurement under an open tender process. The proposed dates (subject to change solely at the Authorities discretion) are as follows: 16 September 2026 – Pre-Market Engagement Session Publication of tender opportunity – December 2026 Evaluation of submitted bids – February/March 2027 Award – July 2027 Contract start – 01 October 2027 If you would like to join this premarket engagement event, please complete the following Microsoft form: National Audit of Care at the End of Life (NACEL) – Fill in form by close of business Wednesday 9th September 2026. https://gbr01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.cloud.microsoft%2Fe%2FPfRwhAnkJ1&data=05%7C02%7Cjudith.hughes%40hqip.org.uk%7C23a49db0d05f41b76c6808def15c6e8e%7C1b106716e5cc4a968d077a0ab38f6eab%7C0%7C0%7C639213576438613889%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=0gXtwjql76TEplSiGdriYmOfAdCVVtEF2f%2BoZiW7rp4%3D&reserved=0

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e297
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/077512-2026
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement 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

85100000 - Health services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£1,302,548 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
14 Aug 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
16 Sep 20263 weeks to go
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Oct 2027 - 30 Sep 2030 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Planning
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership Ltd
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
EC2V 6DL
Postcode Area
Central London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
City of London
Electoral Ward
Cheap
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

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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