NHS Blood and Transplant and techUK: DASP pre-market engagement – event round-up

A round-up of the NHSBT pre-market engagement on the DASP programme, covering procurement scope, timelines, and next steps for TIP and BCP suppliers.

techUK hosted a hybrid pre-market engagement roundtable with NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT) on 7 July 2026, focused on the forthcoming Technology Implementation Partner (TIP) and Business Change Partner (BCP) procurements for the Donor and Session Programme (DASP). The session set out NHSBT's evolving procurement approach, the scope and structure of the two roles, and gave suppliers the opportunity to raise questions ahead of formal tender documentation being published.

Where this sits in the DASP procurement journey

NHSBT reiterated that this session falls within a voluntary, pre-procurement engagement phase: no formal procurement process has started, participation carries no advantage or disadvantage in future stages, and all information shared - including the documents circulated via Atamis prior to this session - remains in draft and subject to change.

The DASP programme is procuring four elements in total:

A Digital Transformation Delivery Partner - procurement now complete
A CRM Platform Framework - currently in evaluation, with award notifications expected end of July/early August 2026
A Technology Implementation Partner (TIP) - subject of this session
A Business Change Partner (BCP) - also subject of this session

TIP and BCP will be procured in parallel under a single competitive flexible procedure, structured as two separate lots. NHSBT intends to award a single supplier per lot, but the process is designed so the same organisation could win both, provided each is assessed independently on its own merits — the two are deliberately not being run as a combined lot.

Indicative timeline

CRM Framework evaluation: next few weeks, with awards expected end of July/early August 2026
ITT for TIP and BCP published: August 2026
Stage 1 (shortlisting) finalised: September 2026
Stage 2 (presentations and workshops) finalised: October 2026
Approvals and contract awards: November 2026

Suppliers have been asked to submit feedback on the draft documentation shared via Atamis by 12 noon on 20 July 2026 (Project Reference C432298), with a further broadcast session planned before the ITT is formally issued.

Programme context

NHSBT restated the core drivers for DASP: a modern, accessible platform for managing and engaging donors; smarter scheduling; and fully digitised end‑to‑end blood collection processes - with an emphasis on genuinely digital process redesign rather than simply digitising existing paper-based steps. The programme's donor journey ambition and roadmap were presented as an evolution of previously shared materials, structured around pre‑session, on‑session and post‑session activity, and sequenced through a series of initiatives spanning core donor platform deployment, donation safety checks, collection and donor experience operating models, clinical capability, rostering and planning, and later deeper transformation and innovation once the platform foundation is in place.

NHSBT was clear that DASP is one part of a wider system of change and will not, on its own, resolve every organisational challenge; headline benefits driving the programme are stock resilience (particularly for rare blood groups), productivity, and donor satisfaction.

Business Change Partner (BCP): scope and requirements structure

Richard Newton set out the requirements structure for the BCP, grouped into themes intended to be easier for suppliers to navigate than a conventional convoluted requirements set:

Ways of Working - partnership working (a strong emphasis on collaborative, "badge at the door" behaviours across multiple partners) and contract management
Defining the Future and the Journey - the target operating model, split into framework and design, definition and build, and transition state; this covers collections and donor experience, not just the collection space
Turning the Future into Reality - workforce strategy and future capabilities, leadership and management capability, performance management, and learning and development
Preparing People for the Future - workforce changes, engagement and consultation (redeployment rather than redundancy was flagged as the underlying assumption), and broader change management
Defining and Delivering Value - benefits realisation and tracking impact over time

The ITT quality questions (around eight, still being finalised) will be themed around: target operating model design and transition; workforce strategy and capability implementation; workforce engagement, consultation and stakeholder management; change management methods; integrated change planning, readiness and adoption; benefits realisation; partnership working; and governance and knowledge transfer.

Stage two for BCP bidders will include a 15–20 minute supplier presentation followed by Q&A (several attendees suggested this was tight given the scope, and NHSBT indicated openness to extending this, noting an hour is more typical for this type of session), plus a 60–90 minute interactive workshop exploring a transformation challenge relevant to the programme - intended to test facilitation, partnership working and practical problem-solving, and how suppliers would work with NHSBT teams.

At stage two, the quality component of scoring reduces to 20% of the overall evaluation, split equally across quality questions, the presentation and the workshop, alongside social value and price criteria.

Technology Implementation Partner (TIP): scope and requirements Structure

Rowena Thomas and colleagues recapped material shared in earlier pre-market sessions, including the high-level capability view distinguishing what will be supported by the new donor platform versus other systems, and epic-level functional and non-functional requirements. Non-functional requirements are largely covered at CRM platform level, but implementation-specific impacts still need to be considered by the TIP.

A significant part of the TIP pricing structure will be driven by platform licensing: bidders will describe their proposed donor platform design, and this will be costed against the CRM Framework "towers" (each tower representing one CRM platform on the framework). TIP bidders may only propose CRM platforms/towers that have successfully been awarded onto the CRM Framework; user and API/interface volume data will be shared to help suppliers cost their designs.

TIP quality themes cover: solution design and architecture; technology transition; change and adoption (from a technology delivery perspective); knowledge transfer (embedding platform knowledge in NHSBT teams on an ongoing basis, not just at the end of delivery); data migration, integration and governance; and collaborative working - both across delivery partners and with NHSBT's internal teams.

As with BCP, TIP stage two includes a supplier presentation and an interactive workshop - for TIP, the workshop will focus on demonstrating platform configurability against a defined scenario, exploring how far requirements can be met through configuration before customisation is needed, and how effectively suppliers support NHSBT through that process.

Commercial approach

A blended commercial model is anticipated - a mix of time and materials and outcomes-based pricing, with rate cards weighted according to role importance to the contract
Contract durations are currently expected to be around 3 years for TIP and 3+1 years for BCP, reflecting an intention for the implementation partner to step back once the platform is embedded, with ongoing support then delivered by NHSBT's internal product centre
The CRM Framework call-off will run for 8 years, with flexibility built in for future ordering beyond initial DASP scope
NHSBT confirmed suppliers may only buy CRM licences via suppliers listed on the CRM Framework, though TIP bidders may hold conversations with vendors/resellers not on the framework; if a required licence/SKU isn't included by the winning framework tower, NHSBT asked for supplier feedback on how to address this gap ahead of tender

Key clarifications from Q&A

Lots and joint bids: TIP and BCP will be evaluated independently even where the same organisation bids for both; efficiencies from a single supplier winning both may be realised, but this will not influence the assessment. NHSBT confirmed it would not adapt evaluation stages to accommodate joint proposals formed after shortlisting, in order to preserve procurement compliance.
Case studies and relevance: given the uniqueness of the programme, NHSBT encouraged an open-minded interpretation of "relevant" case study evidence at stage one, rather than requiring suppliers to have delivered an identical prior engagement.
Insights and research resource: NHSBT's existing donor insights/research capability will be involved in the programme; whether this needs to be supplemented by supplier resource is still to be determined, in the spirit of shared collaboration.
Governance and delivery method: NHSBT confirmed it continues to follow GDS processes and its own governance and assurance requirements, while working with its transformation partner to define ways of working that allow as much agility as possible within those constraints.
Clinical safety: DCB0129 compliance is a mandatory requirement for CRM platforms to join the Framework; the TIP-delivered solution will separately need to go through clinical safety assessment (including DCB0160). NHSBT retains an internal Clinical Safety Officer, with overall governance coordinated by the transformation partner across both digital and operational aspects.
Culture and behaviour change: supporting culture change sits within BCP scope, though NHSBT was cautious about setting hard, time-bound culture metrics, focusing instead on adoption-related measures. There is no specific KPI within DASP for growing the overall donor base — that sits with a separate, interdependent programme — though donor behaviour change resulting from the digitised experience is a live area of interest.
Location of delivery: a question on whether work would need to be UK-based or could be delivered offshore was raised; NHSBT indicated this is expected to be addressed in the non-functional requirements and undertook to confirm.
AI and future flexibility: NHSBT confirmed the intention is for licensing and delivery mechanisms to remain flexible enough to accommodate new SKUs and capabilities as they emerge, particularly given the pace of change in AI tooling, while noting NHSBT's own AI governance maturity means adoption of more advanced (e.g. agentic) capability is likely to come later in the roadmap rather than at go-live.

What this means for suppliers: next steps

Review the draft TIP and BCP documentation published via Atamis and submit feedback by 12 noon, 20 July 2026 NHSBT was explicit that feedback is welcomed but not mandatory, and will inform (not commit to) the final ITT
Prepare to demonstrate collaborative, partnership-oriented delivery - cross-partner and cross-lot collaboration is a recurring evaluation theme for both TIP and BCP
BCP bidders should expect a strong focus on target operating model design, workforce and change readiness, and benefits realisation, rather than technology delivery in isolation
TIP bidders should prepare to cost solutions against CRM Framework towers once awarded, and be ready to evidence configuration-first delivery approaches
A further broadcast session is expected before formal ITT publication, giving suppliers another opportunity to engage before the process moves to a formal footing

Looking ahead

This session builds on previous CRM Framework pre-market engagement and marks a further step towards NHSBT's formal tender for the TIP and BCP roles. techUK will continue to support market engagement by circulating updates as NHSBT finalises its requirements and procurement timeline, and by helping members engage with the feedback process ahead of the 20 July deadline.

Robert Walker

Head of Health & Social Care, techUK

Rachel Kennedy

Programme Manager Health and Social Care, techUK

Lewis Stewart

Programme Manager ‑ Health and Social Care, techUK

Viola Pastorino

Junior Programme Manager, Health and Care Team, techUK

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