---
title: "National Pathology Exchange (NPEx) Service"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-03eeb4"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03eeb4"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03eeb4.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03eeb4.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "BUSINESS SERVICES ORGANISATION I T S"
published: "2023-09-04"
---

# National Pathology Exchange (NPEx) Service

Buyer: BUSINESS SERVICES ORGANISATION I T S  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-03eeb4

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## Summary

The Business Services Organisation I T S has awarded a contract for the National Pathology Exchange (NPEx) Service, which is an IT services project aimed at improving digital pathology test exchange among UK laboratories. The procurement was completed under a limited procurement method, with a single supplier, X-Lab Ltd, selected without prior competition. The contract value is £343,500, signed on 10th August 2023 in Belfast, United Kingdom.

This tender presents opportunities for businesses in the IT services industry, particularly those with expertise in consulting, software development, and Internet support. Given the focus on implementing a national digital hub for pathology test exchanges, businesses with experience in developing similar digital solutions and working with healthcare organisations could be well-suited to compete. The award of the contract to X-Lab Ltd highlights the importance of technical expertise in delivering this critical healthcare infrastructure project.

## Notice

The National Pathology Exchange (NPEx) was developed in 2009 by X-Lab Systems as a product they call Labnostics. It is a national digital hub allowing pathology test requests and results to be sent between UK laboratories irrespective of the type of LIMS that each lab is using. The Core LIMS project has secured via its approved Full Business Case (FBC) funding for NPEx services that will provide an electronic solution to eliminate manual workflows associated with referring tests to other laboratories outside of the HSC.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The National Pathology Exchange (NPEx) was developed in 2009 by X-Lab Systems as a product they call Labnostics. It is a national digital hub allowing pathology test requests and results to be sent between UK laboratories irrespective of the type of LIMS that each lab is using. The Core LIMS project has secured via its approved Full Business Case (FBC) funding for NPEx services that will provide an electronic solution to eliminate manual workflows associated with referring tests to other laboratories outside of the HSC. During 2022 Trusts within HSC sent out ~45,000 tests to other labs across the UK to utilise specialist testing that is not catered for or has limited capacity within Northern Ireland. This is currently a labour-intensive manual process and demand for the service is expected to increase as more specialist technologies and tests are made available. The consequences of not utilising NPEx are increased manual work for clinical staff supporting this process, increased timeframe, failure of the project to achieve key benefits that provided justification for the FBC, and continued risk to patient safety due to failure to remove the manual processes associated with this work.

### Procurement Information

The National Pathology Exchange (NPEx) was developed in 2009 by X-Lab Systems as a product they call Labnostics. It is a national digital hub allowing pathology test requests and results to be sent between UK laboratories irrespective of the type of LIMS that each lab is using. The Core LIMS project has secured via its approved Full Business Case (FBC) funding for NPEx services that will provide an electronic solution to eliminate manual workflows associated with referring tests to other laboratories outside of the HSC. During 2022 Trusts within HSC sent out ~45,000 tests to other labs across the UK to utilise specialist testing that is not catered for or has limited capacity within Northern Ireland. This is currently a labour-intensive manual process and demand for the service is expected to increase as more specialist technologies and tests are made available. The consequences of not utilising NPEx are increased manual work for clinical staff supporting this process, increased timeframe, failure of the project to achieve key benefits that provided justification for the FBC, and continued risk to patient safety due to failure to remove the manual processes associated with this work. X-Lab Ltd is the single supplier at of this solution and its support. Only the supplier of the solution, has the technical expertise to carry out this work and provide connectivity to the other Labs that use the NPEx

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026057-2023 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 4 Sep 2023 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 9 Aug 2023 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £343,500 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | BUSINESS SERVICES ORGANISATION I T S |
| Additional buyers | BUSINESS SERVICES ORGANISATION ITS |
| Locality | BELFAST |
| Post town | Northern Ireland |
| Postcode | BT7 2JD |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland |
| ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland |
| ITL 3 | TLN06 Belfast |
| Local authority | Belfast |
| Electoral ward | Central |
| Westminster constituency | Belfast South and Mid Down |
| Delivery location | TLN Northern Ireland |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | X-LAB |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

### Codes

- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

## Release History

- 4 Sep 2023 at 12:14 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026057-2023
- 10 Aug 2023 at 13:26 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023419-2023

## Notice URLs

- https://hscbusiness.hscni.net/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03eeb4. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03eeb4.json.