--- title: "Single Point of Access Market Engagement" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078580" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078580" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078580.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078580.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust" published: "2026-10-12" --- # Single Point of Access Market Engagement Buyer: Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078580 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078580) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078580.json) ## Summary Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is seeking to develop an automated digital musculoskeletal (MSK) Single Point of Access tool for services in Berkshire. It is intended to assess patients and direct them to community physiotherapy, specialist physiotherapy, integrated pain and spinal services, or MSK podiatry. The tool must accept referrals from primary care, community and secondary care through the NHS e-Referral Service, as well as patient self-referrals through an online portal being developed by the Trust. The requirement is for digital clinical triage services covering MSK conditions throughout the body, with assessment and onward routing carried out without human intervention. This is a health technology and digital clinical triage requirement, rather than a request for physiotherapy treatment services. The process has reached the tender stage: the Trust invited suppliers to take part in soft market engagement, not to compete for a contract. The purpose is to understand the provider landscape and refine a possible future procurement; there is no competition in this exercise, and participation is not a condition of bidding in a later procurement. Responses were due by 2 November 2026 at 12:00. The anticipated contract period is 16 November 2026 to 21 May 2027. The stated value is £1. The notice describes a restricted procedure, but any later project is expected to use the Competitive Process route under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. Any future evaluation is expected to cover technical, quality, social value and price criteria. Suppliers bear their own costs of participating. This engagement is suited to providers already delivering digital clinical triage that can assess referrals independently and without human intervention. Suppliers need to demonstrate substantial automated clinical capability: differentiating between general MSK physiotherapy, specialist MSK services, chronic pain and spinal services across conditions throughout the body, then routing patients to the appropriate service. The tool is likely to require registration as a medical device. Experience integrating with the NHS e-Referral Service and supporting online self-referral is relevant to the intended access routes. The Trust would prefer the tool to support English, Polish, Punjabi, Nepalese and Urdu, reflecting languages common in Berkshire. The engagement is intended to inform the specification and approach for a possible subsequent procurement; it does not itself award delivery work or confer an advantage in a later competition. ## Notice The development of an automated digital musculoskeletal (MSK) Single Point of Access (SPA) tool for BHFT's community physiotherapy (MSK Physio), specialist physiotherapy (Community Specialist Service - CSS), integrated pain and spinal service (IPASS) and MSK podiatry. ### Lot Information Lot 1 See II.2.14.1 for detail of the market engagement. The purpose of this soft market testing exercise is to understand the provider landscape and potential providers who are capable of delivering this solution. The outcome of the soft market engagement will assist BHFT to develop and obtain a sufficiently detailed knowledge of the provider landscape and to refine its requirements and approach to market in order to invite businesses to quote. The timescales for the market assessment detailed in II.2.7.3 and II.2.7.4 of this notice are estimated. There is no competition associated with the pre-market engagement. BHFT will liaise with any supplier with suitable experience and service offering, to inform its views of how to structure a potential downstream procurement project. Please ignore II.2.5 Award Criteria. Once the pre-market engagement concludes, BHFT may take forward a project to develop the required solution under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. Whilst IV.1.1.1 states that restricted procurement procedure will be followed, any downstream procurement project will be sourced via the Competitive Process route under the Provider Selection Regime. Any downstream procurement project will involve multiple award criteria across technical, quality, social value and price criteria. Participation or non-participation in this soft market engagement shall not prevent any supplier participating in any potential future procurement, nor is it intended that any information supplied as part of this process shall place any supplier at an advantage in any potential procurement process. Additional information: See 'MSK Triage Single Point of Access (SPA) market engagement fact sheet' in the referenced PME document pack. Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (BHFT) are seeking to understand the potential to deliver a solution from suppliers that currently deliver digital clinical triage solutions that independently assess and manage patients without human intervention. It is likely that the developed tool sought by BHFT will require registration as a medical device. The developed SPA must be able to receive referrals from primary care, community services and secondary care via eRS in addition to patient self-referral via an online portal that BHFT is developing. BHFT seeks providers of digital clinical triage services that can assess MSK conditions throughout the body and direct the patient into discrete and specialist MSK services without human intervention. The level of automated clinical expertise to differentiate between general MSK physiotherapy, specialist MSK services, chronic pain and spinal services during assessment will be significant. If possible, the tool should be made available in the most common languages relevant to the population of Berkshire - English, Polish, Punjabi, Nepalese and Urdu. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/096023-2026 | | Notice type | Planning Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Selective | | Procurement method details | Restricted procedure | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning, Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 12 Oct 2026 | | Submission deadline | 2 Nov 2026 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 16 Nov 2026 - 21 May 2027 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £1 | | Lots value | Not specified | | 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 | Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust | | Locality | BRACKNELL | | Postcode area | Reading | | Postcode | RG12 2UT | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) | | ITL 2 | TLJ1 Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire | | ITL 3 | TLJ15 Berkshire East | | Local authority | Bracknell Forest | | Electoral ward | Bullbrook | | Westminster constituency | Bracknell | | Delivery location | TLJ11 Berkshire | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 85 - Health and social work services ### Codes - 85142100 - Physiotherapy services ## Release History - 12 Oct 2026 at 12:06 - Planning - Planning Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/096023-2026 ## Notice URLs - https://atamis-1928.my.site.com/s/Welcome - https://www.berkshirehealthcare.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-078580. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078580.json.