NHS Shared Business Services is developing a new Population Health Management framework, SBS10511, with an estimated value of £100 million excluding VAT. For digital health suppliers, consultancies and organisations supporting population-level health programmes, it could become an important NHS procurement route.
However, this is not yet a live tender. NHS SBS is currently carrying out preliminary market engagement to help shape the framework before the formal procurement begins. That distinction matters. Suppliers do not need to start writing bid responses yet, but the notice gives a useful early indication of the capabilities, evidence and commercial thinking that may become important later.
SBS10511 at a glance
The current planning notice sets out the following position:
| Detail | Current position |
|---|---|
| Framework | Population Health Management |
| Reference | SBS10511 |
| Contracting authority | NHS Shared Business Services |
| Current stage | Preliminary market engagement |
| Estimated value | £100 million excluding VAT |
| Proposed number of lots | 3 |
| Market engagement deadline | 12 noon, 7 October 2026 |
| Estimated framework dates | 14 August 2028 to 13 August 2032 |
| Procurement platform | SAP Ariba |
The full Find a Tender notice provides the current procurement details, although suppliers should remember that the scope and timetable may evolve before the formal competition begins.
For suppliers considering this opportunity, it is also worth understanding how NHS frameworks fit into a wider bid strategy. Winning a place on a framework creates a route to future opportunities, but suppliers still need to understand how customers will use that route and what will differentiate them once it is live.
What is population health management?
Population health management, or PHM, uses data to understand the needs of defined populations and support more proactive healthcare planning.
NHS England’s population health management guidance describes PHM as a data-driven approach to planning and proactive care, designed to improve health outcomes across a population. It can help health and care organisations identify inequalities, understand changing needs and target interventions more effectively.
That aligns closely with the proposed SBS10511 scope. NHS SBS says the framework will cover software capable of analysing and managing health data from different sources to improve healthcare delivery and decision-making. It is intended to support personalised and preventative care, improve efficiency and help address health inequalities and wider social determinants of health.
This means SBS10511 is potentially relevant to more than conventional healthcare software providers. The proposed scope also creates opportunities for organisations delivering consultancy, implementation, integration, analytics and wider population health support.
How the three proposed lots are structured
The current notice divides the framework into three proposed lots. These should not yet be treated as final, but they give suppliers a useful indication of how NHS SBS is thinking about the market.
Lot 1: Population Health Management Digital Solutions
Lot 1 is intended for PHM systems capable of supporting population-level health and care across large geographical or organisational footprints. That could include an integrated care system, local authority area, city, large NHS trust or other health community.
NHS SBS currently expects solutions in this lot to be capable of handling large populations and drawing information from multiple organisational sources. They may provide a broad range of PHM functionality and support horizontal integration across different services or organisations.
For technology suppliers, this suggests that demonstrating functionality alone may not be enough. Evidence around integration, implementation and successful use across complex environments is likely to be equally important.
Lot 2: Consultancy & Support Services
The second proposed lot covers consultancy and support around the design and delivery of population health management. This could involve helping NHS organisations, local authorities and other public bodies make more informed decisions about their PHM programmes. The notice envisages support potentially extending beyond healthcare into wider determinants of health, including housing, employment, transport and environmental policy.
More targeted consultancy could also address areas such as risk stratification, social prescribing and medicines usage. This makes the opportunity potentially relevant to specialist healthcare consultancies as well as software suppliers.
Lot 3: Combined Solutions
Lot 3 is intended for combined PHM solutions that bring together services or workflows into a more comprehensive package. NHS SBS describes the aim as providing a seamless, integrated approach covering the components required by approved organisations.
For potential bidders, one of the first tasks will eventually be deciding whether their strongest proposition sits within a specialist lot or a broader combined offer.
Importantly, the lotting structure is still being tested. NHS SBS has specifically identified potential lot structures as one of the areas it wants suppliers to comment on during preliminary market engagement.
What is NHS SBS testing through market engagement?
This stage is not simply about announcing a future framework. NHS SBS is using engagement with the market to inform its final procurement strategy.
The areas identified in the notice include:
- Current market capability
- Innovation
- Interoperability approaches
- Pricing models
- Barriers to entry
- Potential lotting structures
- Service specifications
Supplier feedback may be gathered through a questionnaire, virtual briefing sessions and optional one-to-one discussions. This gives interested organisations an opportunity to explain how the market currently operates and highlight where proposed requirements could create practical difficulties.
That does not mean suppliers should approach the exercise as an early bid. NHS SBS explicitly states that participation is voluntary and will not form part of any future evaluation. Engaging now may help suppliers understand the direction of the procurement and contribute useful market information, but it does not create a scoring advantage when the tender is eventually published.
Why interoperability is likely to matter
Population health management depends on information moving between different services, organisations and systems. It is therefore unsurprising that interoperability is one of the topics NHS SBS wants to explore.
NHS England’s interoperability guidance defines the concept around people being able to work across software and organisational boundaries, with different systems and products operating together in a coordinated way.
For suppliers preparing for SBS10511, useful evidence could therefore include:
- examples of integration with existing health and care systems
- use of relevant technical standards and APIs
- previous multi-system or multi-organisation implementations
- approaches to data quality and information sharing
- access controls and information security
- implementation planning and technical support
These have not been confirmed as SBS10511 evaluation requirements. They are areas worth reviewing now because they relate directly to the capability NHS SBS is exploring.
The same applies to information governance. PHM solutions may involve large volumes of sensitive information moving between different organisations and systems. Suppliers should understand their own data flows and be ready to explain them clearly. Our guide to information governance in NHS bids looks at the evidence buyers may expect and how to turn technical controls into a clear tender response.
What should suppliers start preparing now?
There is little value in drafting answers to questions that have not yet been written. There is plenty of value, however, in getting the underlying evidence organised.
Assess where your offer fits
Start with the proposed lot structure. Does your organisation primarily provide PHM technology, consultancy or a genuinely combined solution? Are there gaps between your existing offer and the scope described by NHS SBS?
The final structure may change, but answering those questions now can help identify where further capability, partnerships or evidence may be needed.
Strengthen your evidence
Review relevant projects and case studies before the tender arrives. Evidence could include measurable improvements achieved for customers, successful technology deployments, integration projects, analytics programmes or examples of supporting organisations to change how population health services are planned.
Avoid relying only on statements about what the product or team can do. Strong tender evidence usually shows where it has been done before, how it worked and what changed as a result.
Document implementation capability
The current framework scope extends beyond the provision of software. Across the proposed lots, NHS SBS refers to software licences or subscriptions alongside implementation, configuration, integration, training, onboarding, change management, maintenance, updates and technical support. Service-level agreements and performance reporting are also included.
Suppliers should therefore be able to explain not just the solution itself, but how it will be introduced, adopted and supported. That might mean gathering implementation plans, onboarding processes, training approaches, support models and evidence from previous deployments.
Review your commercial model
Pricing models are specifically included within the current market-engagement exercise. A future framework could potentially be used by organisations of very different sizes and with different requirements. Suppliers should understand how their pricing scales and which assumptions affect cost.
It is better to resolve those questions before a commercial response needs signing off against a live deadline.
Prepare measurable performance commitments
The reference to service levels and performance reporting also gives suppliers an early prompt to review how they measure delivery. Consider which measures genuinely demonstrate performance, who owns them, how often they can be reported and what action follows if performance drops below the agreed level.
Avoid creating ambitious KPIs at bid stage that operational teams would struggle to measure or deliver later.
Review sustainability and social value evidence
The current notice states that NHS SBS wants to work with suppliers committed to sustainability and social value. However, suppliers should not assume that a specific SBS10511 weighting has already been confirmed.
That does not mean waiting until the tender to prepare. Organisations bidding into the NHS should already understand how their environmental and wider social commitments translate into measurable contract delivery. Our guidance on social value in NHS tenders covers how to turn broad commitments into credible, evidence-based responses.
Why population health management matters to the NHS
SBS10511 also sits within a wider shift towards planning services around populations rather than individual organisational boundaries. NHS England describes PHM as an important part of integrated care, using joined-up data to support targeted, proactive and preventative healthcare.
That direction has continued during 2026. NHS England’s guidance on population health delivery models sets out how integrated care boards and providers can organise services around defined populations, with greater emphasis on proactive care, strategic commissioning and alternatives to hospital treatment.
For suppliers, that wider context matters. Buyers are unlikely to view PHM technology or consultancy as an isolated technical purchase. Solutions may need to demonstrate how they enable better planning, integration, prevention and decision-making across complex health and care systems.
Don’t wait for the tender to start preparing
The formal procurement documents will ultimately determine how SBS10511 is evaluated. Suppliers should avoid treating the preliminary notice as though those requirements have already been fixed.
Even so, there is useful preparation that can begin now:
- decide where your offer fits within the proposed scope
- identify strong, relevant case studies
- gather measurable project outcomes
- review interoperability and information-governance evidence
- document implementation and change-management capability
- clarify your pricing model
- review service levels and performance measures
- update sustainability and social value evidence
Starting with those building blocks means there is less pressure to find and validate them once a tender deadline is running.
At Bidding, we help suppliers turn their technical and operational experience into clear tender evidence. Our specialist NHS bid support can help organisations interpret requirements, coordinate contributors and build responses around what evaluators are actually asking for.
FAQs
Is the SBS10511 Population Health Management framework open for bids?
No. NHS SBS has published a preliminary market engagement notice rather than a formal tender. The current exercise is intended to help shape the eventual framework and procurement strategy.
Does taking part in preliminary market engagement improve my chances of winning?
Participation does not form part of the future evaluation. NHS SBS expressly states that engagement is voluntary. Suppliers can use the process to provide market feedback, but it should not be treated as an early scoring opportunity.
When is the SBS10511 framework expected to start?
The current notice gives an estimated framework period of 14 August 2028 to 13 August 2032. These are planning dates and may change as the procurement develops.
Preparing for SBS10511 with Bidding
There is still a significant gap between preliminary engagement and the planned start of the Population Health Management framework. The scope, lots, timetable and evaluation model may all develop during that period. For potential suppliers, the useful step now is not to predict the final tender. It is to make sure the foundations are strong enough to respond when it arrives.
When SBS10511 progresses into a formal competition, Bidding can support your team with bid strategy, evidence gathering, response development, review and full bid writing and management. We can help you turn detailed technical and healthcare expertise into a structured, compliant submission that gives evaluators the information they need.
Speak to Bidding if you are preparing for NHS framework opportunities and want support getting your evidence and tender response ready.
