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Living with Cancer Employer Collaborative - Roundtable Events

Department of Health and Social Care

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

02 Oct 2026 at 10:40

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department of Health and Social Care is exploring an employer collaborative to help people affected by cancer remain in or return to work. Its planned activity is consultation through two virtual roundtables, not the purchase of a service: discussions will examine employer challenges, existing support and good practice, and how organisations could work together to improve awareness and access to effective interventions. The work is intended to support employers, particularly SMEs, to retain staff and improve absence outcomes, while reducing cancer’s impact on working lives. The discussions are open to organisations across the public and private sectors, charities and community groups, healthcare providers, researchers and practitioners, and others interested in supporting people affected by cancer. The events are virtual, so no delivery location is specified.

This is at the planning stage: the department has set out an intention to consult the market, but there is no invitation to tender or planned procurement activity. The roundtables are expected to take place on 27 October and 3 November 2026, from 09:30 to 10:30 GMT; organisations were asked to register interest by 20 October 2026. Attendance is limited to one person per organisation, and participants should attend one session. Each event is expected to accommodate around 30 people; if demand exceeds capacity, the department may select a balanced mix of organisation types and adjust the number or timing of sessions. An optional questionnaire, with a response deadline of 10 November 2026, will gather views and evidence. The stated payment value is £0; these are market engagement activities, not a procurement.

This consultation is relevant to purpose-driven businesses, charities, impact-economy organisations, healthcare providers, researchers and practitioners with practical knowledge of cancer and employment. The department is particularly interested in evidence about the barriers employers face in supporting staff through and after treatment, including challenges for SMEs; interventions, resources and examples of good practice that could be scaled or made easier to access; and ways organisations can collaborate to improve awareness and support. Suppliers with experience in vocational rehabilitation, workplace health, employment support, counselling, social research, staff training or employer engagement may have useful perspectives, as may organisations that can show effective support for retention and return to work. Participation is intended to inform the department’s understanding and possible future collaboration; any later opportunities are to be advertised openly. No supplier accreditation or delivery capacity requirement is set out.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Living with Cancer Employer Collaborative - Roundtable Events

Notice Description

DHSC will be hosting two virtual roundtable events, led by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation, on the "Living with Cancer" agenda to discuss how employers and other organisations can better support people to remain in or return to work following a cancer diagnosis and treatment, with a particular focus on the challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and spreading best practice across sectors of the economy. The roundtables will take place on: * Tuesday, 27th October 2026, 09:30-10:30 GMT * Tuesday, 3rd November 2026, 09:30-10:30 GMT To register your organisation's interest in one of these events, please complete the following registration form by Tuesday, 20th October 2026 at 11:59 pm: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MIwnYaiRMUyMH-9N6Jc6HHkA63U0d81Ht4WY0oa7NW1UNFZKVktHMU9ZWVhIT01GNDRKMU0zTE9aVS4u Attendance is restricted to one person per organisation. The National Cancer Plan for England recognises the impact that cancer can have on people's working lives and sets out an ambition to work with employers and impact economy investors to raise awareness of effective interventions, scale good practice and make support more accessible. Too many people are forced to stop working due to cancer. Around 830,000 working age people are living with cancer in England. Cancer can have a significant impact on people's finances and ability to remain in work: people hospitalised with cancer face nearly PS5,000 in lost income, while patients lose an average of 75 days of work across their pathway. People living with cancer are not always able to access interventions that are known to be useful. Through engagement on the National Cancer Plan, we have heard charities, larger companies and practitioners already know which interventions can help people living with cancer to remain in and return to work. However, some sectors of the economy still find it difficult to proactively offer support due to a lack of awareness or easily accessible tools. These challenges are often faced by sectors of the economy which account for a large share of employment, including SMEs. DHSC is therefore seeking to work with purpose-driven businesses, charities and the impact economy to help raise awareness, scale effective interventions and make them more accessible. The Ministerial roundtables will provide an opportunity to hear from organisations about existing approaches, the challenges they face and where collaboration between different organisations could help scale effective support.

Planning Information

Background The National Cancer Plan for England (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-cancer-plan-for-england) sets out the government’s long-term goal to deliver world-class cancer care. Aiming to transform care and outcomes by 2035, the plan includes measures to improve experiences, contribute to growth and help people with the cost of living. As part of this, DHSC is looking to reduce the impact of cancer on people’s working lives, boost employer awareness of cancer as a long-term condition, and support participating employers to improve their retention and absence rates among employees with cancer. Action 8b, Chapter 4 of the National Cancer Plan commits to establish an employer collaborative with leading private and public sector employers, the Government’s Joint Work and Health Directorate, cancer charities and clinicians to help people stay in or return successfully to work after a cancer diagnosis. The Collaborative complements the Government’s wider ambitions on work and health including the Keep Britain Working Review, who we have consulted to design this initiative, and aims to facilitate employers to better retain and support employees affected by cancer. This collaborative will not only codify best practice – but will prove an incentive for employers doing better, more consistently. The desired outcomes are to: • reduce the impact of cancer on a person’s working life, • boost employer awareness of cancer as a long-term condition, • support participating employers to improve their retention and absence rates among employees with cancer, with a focus on SMEs. Roundtables The roundtables will take place on: • Tuesday, 27th October 2026, 09:30-10:30 GMT • Tuesday, 3rd November 2026, 09:30-10:30 GMT Please complete the following registration form by Tuesday, 20th October 2026 at 11:59 pm if your organisation wishes to attend: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MIwnYaiRMUyMH-9N6Jc6HHkA63U0d81Ht4WY0oa7NW1UNFZKVktHMU9ZWVhIT01GNDRKMU0zTE9aVS4u Both roundtables will cover the same agenda, so participants should only attend one. Each session will include an introduction from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation, with an overview from DHSC of the National Cancer Plan commitment and the challenges we are seeking to address. There will then be a facilitated discussion. We’d particularly welcome views and evidence on: • the challenges employers, particularly SMEs, face in supporting people to remain in or return to work following a cancer diagnosis and treatment; • existing interventions, resources and examples of good practice that could be scaled or made more accessible; • how employers and other organisations could work together to improve awareness and access to effective support; and • how DHSC should approach future collaboration in this area. Eligibility and attendance Both sessions will be virtual, hosted on Microsoft Teams. DHSC will send out Teams invites to the events after the registration window has closed. Attendees must be from: • a public-sector organisation, • a private-sector organisation, • a charity, voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE), • a healthcare provider, • a researcher/practitioner, • or another organisation with an interest in supporting people affected by cancer to remain in or return to work. Participants should attend only one roundtable. If interest exceeds the capacity of around 30 attendees per event, DHSC may not be able to invite every eligible organisation. In that case, DHSC will select participants to achieve a balanced mix of organisation types at each roundtable. DHSC may adjust the number or timing of roundtables depending on demand. Accompanying questionnaire Alongside the two roundtables, DHSC also invites organisations to complete the following questionnaire: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MIwnYaiRMUyMH-9N6Jc6HHkA63U0d81Ht4WY0oa7NW1UQ0RQNkZKWEwzM0RNU1FXRUtON1BGMU85My4u The questionnaire is an opportunity to present views and evidence on the challenges people affected by cancer and employers face in relation to employment during and after treatment, existing support and examples of good practice, and opportunities for future collaboration. This questionnaire is optional. You may complete this questionnaire whether or not you are attending a roundtable. You may complete it before or after attending a roundtable. Responses may help inform the roundtable discussion, broader stakeholder engagement activity, and DHSC’s understanding of the issues. All information provided will be kept confidential. Only aggregated and anonymised insights may be shared wider within government. The deadline for the questionnaire is Tuesday, 10th November 2026, at 11:59 pm. Additional information Should any opportunities for collaboration arise following this initial market consultation, DHSC will ensure these are advertised openly for all interested organisations. There is no planned procurement activity relating to the publication of this preliminary market engagement notice. For avoidance of doubt, this is not a call for competition or a procurement, and therefore it has been assigned a monetary payment value of £0. The sole purpose of this event is to initiate a discussion with organisations interested in addressing the issues experienced by people living with cancer. If you have any questions about this market engagement or experience any challenges in registering for the event, please contact livingwithcancer@dhsc.gov.uk

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-077f5e
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/093185-2026
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

80 - Education and training services

85 - Health and social work services

98 - Other community, social and personal services

CPV Codes

79315000 - Social research services

79340000 - Advertising and marketing services

79341000 - Advertising services

79342000 - Marketing services

79414000 - Human resources management consultancy services

79416000 - Public relations services

79600000 - Recruitment services

79610000 - Placement services of personnel

79611000 - Job search services

79612000 - Placement services of office-support personnel

79620000 - Supply services of personnel including temporary staff

80511000 - Staff training services

80570000 - Personal development training services

85100000 - Health services

85140000 - Miscellaneous health services

85147000 - Company health services

85300000 - Social work and related services

85310000 - Social work services

85312300 - Guidance and counselling services

85312310 - Guidance services

85312320 - Counselling services

85312500 - Rehabilitation services

85312510 - Vocational rehabilitation services

85320000 - Social services

98000000 - Other community, social and personal services

98133000 - Services furnished by social membership organisations

98133100 - Civic betterment and community facility support services

Notice Value(s)

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

Notice Dates

Publication Date
2 Oct 20264 days ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
27 Oct 2026 - 3 Nov 2026 30 days
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
Department of Health and Social Care
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
SW1H 0EU
Postcode Area
South West 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
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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