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Telecare Monitoring and Out of Hours Telephony Provision Project

Newcastle City Council

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

15 Sep 2026 at 15:30

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Newcastle City Council is exploring a future service to monitor telecare alarms through an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, alongside out-of-hours telephone services. The council currently delivers telecare monitoring and telephony in-house and is considering external provision as part of a wider commissioning and procurement exercise. The service is intended to support people who use telecare and related health and social care services. Delivery is in Newcastle upon Tyne. The procurement is for services, covering telephone-answering, health and social work-related activities. The council is seeking views on service design, current best practice, emerging technologies, innovation and how an external provider could support or develop its existing Ostara telecare service.

This process is at the planning and preliminary market-engagement stage; it is not an invitation to tender. Newcastle City Council expects market engagement to end on 2 October 2026, with suppliers completing the questionnaire by that date. The council expects a procurement approach to be shaped after it has considered market responses. One planned lot is marked as suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community or social enterprises. The indicative service period is 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2030, with a possible extension to 31 March 2032 and renewal rights. The published financial figure is £0.01 gross and £0 excluding VAT; the council states that the budget and final contract length will be established through market engagement.

The engagement will suit established Alarm Receiving Centres, telecare monitoring providers and specialist contact-centre or out-of-hours telephony operators, including smaller businesses and voluntary, community or social enterprises. Relevant suppliers should be able to provide continuous alarm monitoring, reliable telephone answering outside normal hours and services for people with health or social care needs. Experience of telecare operations, call handling, safeguarding, incident escalation and working with councils or care services is likely to be relevant. Providers with resilient 24-hour staffing, appropriate systems, business continuity arrangements and the ability to integrate emerging technologies should be well placed to contribute. The council is specifically seeking evidence of market capability, capacity, innovation and current best practice, so suppliers should prepare practical views on service models and future requirements before any later competition.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Telecare Monitoring and Out of Hours Telephony Provision Project

Notice Description

Newcastle City Council (NCC) currently provides the monitoring element of NCC's Telecare Service (Ostara), in addition to a range of telephony services, which operate in-house. We would like to explore the options of procuring an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) to monitor our telecare alarms 24/7, and our out of hours telephony. We wish to explore opportunities within the market that will help shape and develop our current service, as part of the commissioning and procurement process, the Council is undertaking preliminary market engagement to explore the availability, capability and interest of providers in delivering the proposed services. This engagement is intended to inform the Council's procurement approach, understand current market capability, capacity, identify opportunities for innovation, and ensure that the future service specification reflects current best practice and emerging technologies. We welcome responses from suppliers with relevant experience and expertise. Information gathered through this process will help shape the Council's future requirements and service design. Suppliers are invited to review the documents via our Open e-tendering platform. Link: https://www.open-uk.org/ If suppliers wish to secure a slot, please request via the correspondence/ message option via the portal. Project: # OPEN20262057 Reference: 009509 - Telecare Monitoring and Out of Hours Telephony Provision Project Budget information and contract length is yet to be established in line with market engagement findings.

Planning Information

The end date for this market engagement is: Friday 2nd October 2026. Please complete the questionnaire in line with this deadline also.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06fa64
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/087416-2026
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
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

85 - Health and social work services

CPV Codes

79510000 - Telephone-answering services

85100000 - Health services

85300000 - Social work and related services

Notice Value(s)

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

Notice Dates

Publication Date
15 Sep 2026Today
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 Apr 2027 - 31 Mar 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
Newcastle City Council
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
Postcode
NE1 8QH
Postcode Area
Newcastle upon Tyne
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLC North East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLC43 Tyneside
Delivery Location
TLC22 Tyneside
Local Authority
Newcastle upon Tyne
Electoral Ward
Monument
Westminster Constituency
Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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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