II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKL
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership is looking to procure on behalf of Velindre University NHS Trust a Blood Establishment Computer System (BECS) for use by the Welsh Blood Service (WBS) to replace their current BECS. The Welsh Blood Service is responsible for the collection of blood in Wales, and of the distribution of blood products to hospitals within the country as well as other related functions. In common with the other UK Blood Services and other NHS diagnostic laboratories, the Welsh Blood Service faces significant challenges for the future, such as changing donor behaviours and demand for blood products, challenges in respect of the recruitment and retention of new donors, the need to develop a more individualised donor care package, as well as the wider population and system challenges, including the need to deliver services in a challenging economic climate. A failure to recognise, understand and analyse these challenges, and to identify options for the future, could jeopardise the security of the blood supply and specialist services in Wales.
The BECS should be an enabler to the delivery of key service and business objectives identified in the Welsh Blood Service 5-year ‘Ever Evolving’ Strategy. A central pillar of that strategy is an ambition to “deliver a more person-centred service and experience for our donors”, to provide individualised and tailored services to our users. The expectation is that the BECS will provide the service with a future-proof system which can adapt easily to change if and when necessary.
The term BECS was first coined in the USA and describes systems designed to control the collection, testing and processing of blood to ensure regulatory compliance and the issue of safe blood components to hospitals. The WBS regards the following functions / modules as forming the minimum scope of a BECS:
- Donor Management, including eligibility management – e.g. maintenance of a database of active and historical / inactive, including donation and testing history and any communications with donors.
- Customer (Donor) Relationship Management – e.g. management of donor engagement activities, recruitment of donors, bespoke communications with individuals and groups of donors, automated communication pathways.
- Donor Portal – an online co-designed portal for donors to access, manage and contribute to their donation record, view their personal information and donation history, book appointments, access support etc.
- Appointments Management – allowing management of appointments and session planning.
- Blood Collection, Manufacturing, Testing and Distribution – supply chain management from donation to distribution of blood and blood products.
- Hospital Ordering – the ability for customer hospitals to order electronically directly and for both WBS and customer hospitals to track the order. In future, this function could fully automate the ordering process based on stock levels at the hospital / blood bank site.
- Availability of business data and information to support resilience, planning and operational activities.
Suppliers seeking to supply a BECS solution should demonstrate their ability to provide services that align to all of the above functionalities. A consortium approach, led by a single supplier, would be considered.
II.2.14) Additional information
It should be noted that as part of the procurement strategy the option of a collaborative approach with other UK Blood Services is being considered.