--- title: "NEL Single Point of Access - Ophthalmology and Enhanced Optometry Services" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-065462" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-065462" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-065462.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-065462.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "NHS NORTH EAST LONDON INTEGRATED CARE BOARD" published: "2026-02-16" --- # NEL Single Point of Access - Ophthalmology and Enhanced Optometry Services Buyer: NHS NORTH EAST LONDON INTEGRATED CARE BOARD Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-065462 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-065462) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-065462.json) ## Summary The NHS North East London Integrated Care Board (ICB) is conducting a procurement process under the Provider Selection Regime regulations for the NEL Single Point of Access (SPOA) focusing on ophthalmology and enhanced optometry services. This initiative aims to streamline referral management across North East London to reduce costs, enhance service efficiencies, and improve patient-centric education and feedback. Covering seven boroughs, including Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge, and others, this competitive tender invites providers to apply between 13th February 2026 and 20th March 2026, with submissions accepted electronically through Atamis. The service category is health services, and the estimated contract value is £2,405,000.00 with an annual cost of £481,000.00. This procurement presents substantial growth opportunities for businesses specializing in health services who can offer innovative solutions and demonstrate effective management of community-based ophthalmology services. Companies with expertise in digital enablement, clinical triage, and efficient referral systems are strongly encouraged to participate. The contract requires participants to partner with primary, optometry, community, and secondary care systems, thereby ensuring equitable access to service and fostering collaborative care within the diverse NEL area, home to over 2.2 million people. Forward-thinking providers adept in integrating technology to refine service pathways and mitigate unnecessary referrals to specialist-led services stand to benefit significantly from this opportunity by enhancing patient outcomes and maintaining cost-effectiveness. ## Notice North East London (NEL) Integrated Care Board (ICB) is seeking to procure an NEL wide ophthalmology SPOA service that ensures referrals are managed by one provider across the system, serving all our providers equitably with reduced costs, delivering efficiencies and identifying issues to help support the NEL population with targeted and improved education and feedback to referrers. North East London (NEL) Integrated Care Board (ICB) is looking to procure the SPOA across its seven places (Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge, Newham, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and City and Hackney). The services need to be able to provide fast access improved pathway to enhance referral processing and clinical triage. The SPOA will facilitate digital enablement and innovations with a dynamic system to coordinate advice and refer, capacity planning and implement patient choice. Thereby reducing the pressure and avoidable referrals to specialist led services. The SPOA should provide a strong collaboration between primary, optometry, community and secondary care systems as we are looking for a partnership in delivering the best quality service for NEL patients. The service specification provides details of what will need to be delivered, and we welcome providers who can demonstrate suitable experience of delivering similar services in the community that are both effective and of high quality. The procurement will be undertaken under the Provider Selection Regime regulations, competitive process. Applications are now open from Friday 13th February 2026 with a deadline for applying of the 20th March 2026 17:00. Applications must be made through Atamis. ### Lot Information Lot 1 North East London (NEL) Integrated Care Board (ICB) is seeking to procure a NEL wide ophthalmology SPOA service to manage all referrals from optometrists and GPs to ophthalmology services. The successful provider will work in partnership with commissioners, providers and referrers (GPs and Optometrists) to ensure referrals are processed efficiently and all NEL patients are seen at the right place at the right time. The service will include clinical triage, administration of referrals, referrer/patient education, development of pathways and capacity in the NEL system whilst driving for a reduction in unnecessary referrals and secondary care activity with increased management of eye related issues in primary care and community services. The ICB is looking for a provider that understands how to ensure equitable access that tackles inequalities, enables referrers to learn from feedback and can reduce the overall costs within the NEL system but still help to improve the patients experience and outcomes. The NEL population is diverse and is approximately over 2.2 million people covering seven boroughs (places); Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge (outer NEL), Newham, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and City and Hackney (Inner NEL). Potential providers should be forward thinking looking to incorporate digitalisation to improve efficiency and build on the core service by using appropriate new technologies to enhance referral and provider capacity management. The SPOA will facilitate the use of technology to coordinate advice and guidance/refer, capacity planning and implement patient choice where required. Thereby reducing the pressure and avoidable referrals to specialist led services. The service specification provides details of the service and outcomes that will need to be delivered, and we welcome providers who can demonstrate suitable experience of delivering similar services in the community that are both effective and of high quality. Renewal: Two 12 month periods at the authorities discretion. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013993-2026 | | Notice type | Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Open procedure | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 16 Feb 2026 | | Submission deadline | 14 Feb 2026 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £500,000 | | Lots value | £500,000 | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Active | | Lots status | Active | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | NHS NORTH EAST LONDON INTEGRATED CARE BOARD | | Locality | LONDON | | Post town | East London | | Postcode | E14 5HJ | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLI London | | ITL 2 | TLI4 Inner London - East | | ITL 3 | TLI42 Tower Hamlets | | Local authority | Tower Hamlets | | Electoral ward | Blackwall & Cubitt Town | | Westminster constituency | Poplar and Limehouse | | Delivery location | TLI London | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85100000 - Health services ## Release History - 16 Feb 2026 at 16:17 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013993-2026 - 13 Feb 2026 at 17:43 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013642-2026 ## Notice URLs - https://atamis.co.uk/ - https://northeastlondon.icb.nhs.uk/ ## 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-065462. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-065462.json.