New Hospital Programme supplier engagement

In December, techUK hosted a major supplier broadcast session with the New Hospital Programme (NHP), bringing together industry and NHS stakeholders to explore how digital technology will underpin the next generation of hospitals.

The session formed part of a wider programme of pre-market engagement and marked a significant milestone in how the NHP is working with industry to shape its approach to Hospital 2.0 and Intelligent Hospital Capabilities (IHCs).

The New Hospital Programme is one of the largest infrastructure programmes currently underway in the UK, delivering a pipeline of next-generation hospital schemes across England. Delivered through a centralised, programmatic approach, the Programme applies common design principles, modern methods of construction, and a unified commercial and procurement strategy to improve value for money, accelerate delivery, and mitigate supply chain risk.

Overview of the supplier engagement

A central theme of the session was that the ambitions of the NHP cannot be realised without a fundamental shift in how digital and technology are embedded into hospital design and delivery. The NHP team set out a clear vision for moving from fragmented, locally driven digital solutions towards consistent, interoperable and intelligent systems that are designed in from the outset.

Hospital 2.0 and digital transformation

Hospital 2.0 represents a move away from hospitals as standalone physical assets, towards hospitals as digitally enabled systems that support new models of care. This includes enabling care beyond hospital walls, supporting staff productivity, improving patient experience, and making better use of data to drive operational and clinical decision-making.

The session also highlighted the scale of the challenge facing the NHS today, including productivity pressures, significant backlog maintenance costs, and variable levels of digital maturity across trusts. Against this backdrop, the Programme’s approach seeks to use digital standardisation and integration to unlock long-term benefits, including improved patient flow, reduced length of stay, more efficient use of staff time, and better environmental performance.

Intelligent hospital capabilities

A key focus of the engagement was the introduction of IHCs, which provide a structured way of defining and organising the technologies required to deliver Hospital 2.0. These capabilities are grouped into three core domains, Fabric, Footprint, and Flow, that reflect how technology supports the built environment, hospital operations, and care delivery pathways.

Examples of IHCs include analytics systems, clinical and building-based artificial intelligence, digital transfer of care, smart scheduling and rostering, asset and location tracking, managed infrastructure, cyber security, and integration gateways. The NHP emphasised that these capabilities will only deliver their intended benefits if they are implemented together and effectively integrated, rather than deployed as isolated solutions.

To support this, the Programme has developed a set of IHC one-pagers (attached), providing suppliers with a common reference point on scope, use cases, and intended outcomes. These materials are designed to help both the NHS and industry navigate the technology landscape and align around shared definitions and expectations.

Why the Programme is engaging the market now

A critical message from the session was why this engagement is happening at this stage. Many NHP schemes are currently developing their Outline Business Cases, which require consistent, programme-wide assumptions on the costs and benefits associated with IHCs. Without this, there is a risk that digital investment is under-represented or inconsistently considered across schemes.

To address this, the Programme is seeking Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost and benefit information from suppliers. This is explicitly not a procurement exercise, nor a request for detailed designs or competitive pricing. Instead, the aim is to build an anonymised, aggregated evidence base that informs early planning, supports robust business cases, and ensures digital capabilities are visible and appropriately factored into decision-making.

The NHP was clear about the boundaries of this exercise: inputs are non-binding, will not be used to benchmark suppliers, and will not influence future procurement decisions.

This engagement represents the start of a longer-term conversation between the NHP and industry. Further pre-market engagement activities are planned, including deeper dives into specific capability areas and continued dialogue as schemes progress through their development stages.

Next steps and opportunities for industry

For techUK members and the wider industry, this presents a significant opportunity to help shape how digital is embedded into the UK’s future hospital infrastructure, at scale and over the long term.

Suppliers with relevant capabilities are encouraged to complete the IHCs survey. If you would like to get involved, have questions about the engagement, or want to understand how techUK is supporting this work, please contact [email protected]

Lewis Stewart

Programme Manager ‑ Health and Social Care, techUK

Lewis brings a multidisciplinary background spanning health policy, stakeholder engagement, digital innovation, and elite sport. A former Commonwealth Games champion, he draws on the resilience, adaptability, and team-driven mindset gained through years of high-performance competition.

Before joining techUK, Lewis supported a Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, where he led on constituency engagement and produced evidence-based research to inform debates, committee work, and policy advocacy. He has also helped shape youth wellbeing policy through the Youth Sport Trust, collaborating with government, education, and grassroots networks to drive impact.

Lewis has played key roles in health tech and mobility startups, helping to bring innovative solutions to market and improve user experience in complex systems. With a degree in Biochemistry and Pharmacology, he combines analytical thinking with a passion for evidence-led, people-centred change.

Email:: [email protected]

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Health and Social Care Programme activities

techUK is helping its members navigate the complex space of digital health in the UK to ensure our NHS and social care sector is prepared for the challenges of the future. We help validate new ideas and build impactful strategies, ultimately ensuring that members are market-ready. Visit the programme page here.