Academic Health Science Network NENC DPS

The AHSN NENC is one of 15 AHSNs across England which were created in 2013 in response to the Accelerate Access Review. The AHSN network acts at the interface between Industry, Academia and the NHS to support the adoption and spread of innovation at pace and scale, which in turn improves patient outcomes and generates economic growth.

The AHSN NENC uses “The Innovation Pathway” as the model to illustrative the support that is on offer to innovators, from conceptualisation of their idea, through to its development, evaluation and adoption and spread by the health and care system. Each element of the pathway is described by a hexagon. The AHSN co-ordinates delivery of this support by commissioning the most appropriate partner with the necessary specialist expertise.

During the pandemic the AHSN NENC revised the Innovation Pathway following a large-scale consultation process with innovators, current delivery partners and other important stakeholders in the regional ecosystem. A series of insight gathering workshops took place and helped to shape a revised version of the Innovation Pathway. We have increased the spectrum of services we offer to innovators adding additional hexagons to the pathway and have expanded our pool of delivery partners who can deliver these services. Many of the providers offer multiple services across the pathway. This has resulted in us creating a DPS to ensure an open, transparent, and competitive process for procuring services, and compliance with Procurement Regulations.

The AHSN NENC uses the Innovation Pathway to articulate the services that can be provided to innovators to help them navigate the Innovation Pathway and commercialise their ideas. In many cases the AHSN will not deliver these services directly but will commission various delivery partners who can provide specialist services. The commissions will vary by duration, value and the type of support or assistance required. In recognition of the diverse and variable nature of the requirements the AHSN NENC is establishing a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) to establish a competitive route to obtain these services as and when required. The DPS will consist of five lots covering the anticipated range of services. These are:

1. Idea Assessment

2. Idea Development

3. Evaluation services

4. Commercialisation, Adoption and Spread.

5. Corporate services

Expressions of interest are available at the following link https://procontract.due-north.com/Advert?advertId=7c5bf33c-52fa-ed11-8122-005056b64545