PATIENTS KNOW BEST LIMITED

Regional Patient Engagement Platform/Patient Portal and cross organisation patient record

PKB is a Personal Health Record (PHR), Patient Portal, Patient Engagement Platform (PEP), Wayfinder Solution, Digital Health Record, Single Patient Record and Patient Passport solution. PKB empowers patients and professionals through access to an integrated health and care record, providing digital tools to support interactions between HCPs/patients and patient self-management.

Features

• Patients/carers accessing data from multiple providers in one record
• NHS login and NHS App integration for secure consistent access
• Clinical trial recruitment and engagement utilising a patient's GP record
• Secure multi-party messaging with attachments of up to 10GB
• Tools supporting Patient Initiated Follow Ups and wider outpatient transformation
• Agnostic Integration (FHIR/HL7) with organisation’s systems (EPR/apps/devices)
• Customisable questionnaires, forms, assessments and PROMs with scoring/branching logic
• Real-time graphed/tabular test result sharing with optional delay filter
• Co-created, editable, collaborative care plans and for personalised care
• Access to digital letters and appointments (including appointment management workflows)

Benefits

• Wayfinder platform for acute, specialist acute, mental health and community
• Enabling regions to provide patients with extensive NHS App functionality
• Support for patients waiting/preparing for appointments for better outcomes
• Reduction in Did Not Attend (DNA) rates
• Financial and environmental savings on postage by sending letters digitally
• Long-term condition management decreasing demands on services and readmission rates
• Revenue generation through patient recruitment for clinical trials and research
• Improved care coordination for patients across organisational boundaries/within neighbourhoods
• Implementing Patient Initiated Follow Ups (PIFU) avoiding unnecessary outpatient appointments
• Identification, engagement and enablement of resources for preventative programmes

• Education pricing available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at nhsbids@patientsknowbest.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 15

Service ID

870506773615798

Contact

Tom Gausden
+44 1223 790708
nhsbids@patientsknowbest.com

About your service

• Service categories:

  Applications

  Production and operations

  Service industry and public sector operations

  • Healthcare
• Multi cloud support: Yes

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model: Public cloud
• Service constraints: Patients Know Best release fortnightly, out of core hours and always provide advanced notice to customers ahead of releasing. There are no other service constraints.
• System requirements:
  • Internet browsers such as Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer 11+
  • Internet connectivity

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes
• Support response times: Service level agreement (SLA) targets are set within the support desk portal which anyone can have access to. 8am to 8pm Monday to Saturday (based on UK time zone).; ; 1-URGENT Response time: 15 minutes Resolution objective: 4 hours during support hours; 2-HIGH Response time: 30 minutes Resolution objective: 12 hours during support hours; 3-MEDIUM Response time: 1 hour Resolution objective: 3 days from and excluding the day on which the Customer submits the Incident to PKB; 4-LOW Response time: 1 hour Resolution objective: 7 days from and excluding the day on which the Customer submits the Incident to PKB.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Phone support: No
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes
• Support levels: All support is included within PKB’s fixed Software-as-a-Service licence fee. Support has a defined Service Level Agreement as described at https://wiki.patientsknowbest.com/space/DEPLOY/3561783656/Standard+Service+Level+Agreement. Support includes project management, technical assistance, integration and end user support. PKB uses a service desk solution that has ticketing of all service queries with a single point of access. Each ticket is assigned one of four levels of priority (as explained in the above link), depending on the nature of the query. For each level there are target response and resolution times. Each organisation will have assigned technical support leads (integrations and via first line support technical teams). Ongoing support throughout the lifecycle of the contract, includes implementation and go-live through to business as usual operation and ongoing evolution, all of which is included within PKB’s annual Software-as-a-Service licence fee.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: A dedicated project manager (Success Team member) will be assigned to the Customer immediately and they will act as the single point of contact throughout the contract. At the beginning of the project the Success Team will create and share a Project Initiation Document (PID) that covers the technical, configuration, integration, and on-boarding tasks to complete, including Information Governance and technical due diligence - many of these tasks are completed prior to contract signature to ensure the customer gets the most value and time out of their licences.; The Success Team member will assign milestones to every task and these can be tracked via PKB’s project management software. The customer can interact and add to the project from within this platform. Training is ongoing and includes face-to-face workshops, e-learning platform, video resources and online help manual, as well as full technical assistance during initiation and ongoing BAU queries via our support desk. Each account also has a dedicated Account Manager to oversee the strategic objectives and alignment of the project teams to ensure customer satisfaction and wider specialist support teams who are brought it at the relevant stages of deployment.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats: HTML
• End-of-contract data extraction: Data extraction can be undertaken at any point via PKB’s open APIs. At the end of the PKB service provision contract Controllers ordinarily instruct PKB to retain data for a minimum 8 year period to align with medical record retention requirements. On the instructions of the Controller, PKB shall ensure that the Personal Data that are Processed under the Agreement by Patients Know Best in its capacity as a Processor are returned to the Controller, within 30 days in a manner mutually agreed between the data controller and data processor, transferred to a third party or destroyed in accordance with the Controller’s reasonable instructions.
• End-of-contract process: PKB is committed to providing a long-term complete record, a record that customers and patients can rely on. PKB will maintain the record for the patient for at least 8 years from last known access. PKB will produce a detailed Termination Plan for the cessation of services at the start of any new contract. All data is available throughout the life of the contract via available APIs. At the point of cessation the integration with the organisation will be switched off and no further data from the clinical systems will come into the PKB patient record. The professional login will be ‘deactivated’, meaning they will no longer be able to access specific patient records. However, to maintain the full medico-legal record of interactions, professionals will still be able to log as before and will still be able to access their own ‘discussions’. This is the medico legal record of their interactions with the patients and will not be deleted. Professionals will also retain access to any survey and care plan exports that may have been requested to this point. Patients will still be able to log in, access data and continue to record any data that is useful to them.
• Documentation accessibility standard: WCAG 2.2 AA

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: PKB follow core UX principles that prioritise users on every device. Our web app is mobile-first and responsive, meaning layouts and interactions scale fluidly from phones to tablets and desktops, with prioritised content and simplified navigation for quick scanning and ease of use. We design with usability and accessibility in mind, ensuring touch-friendly controls, clear hierarchy, and support for assistive technologies so users can accomplish tasks efficiently regardless of device or modality. These practices reflect proven UX best practices for effective, user-centred design. The NHS App integration is a clear example of this approach in action.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Description of service interface: PKB is accessed via a web application, on any device connected to the internet with a web browser, or directly from within the NHS App based on PKB’s extensive integration. PKB has been built with the patient in mind, using a ‘tile’ design that allows quick access to core features. Due to the clean design, a patient is able to access any part of their PKB record within 2 clicks. Professionals can access the platform via any web-enabled device, or directly from within their usual system/EPR via contextualised single sign on.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.2 AA
• Accessibility testing: PKB confirm we meet the Equality Act 2010 Compliance - Accessibility. PKB meets level AA of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1), PKB works on the most commonly used assistive technologies - including screen magnifiers (up to 300%), screen readers and speech recognition tools and includes people with disabilities in user research. Due to the clean design, a patient can access any part of their PKB record within 2 clicks and has been tested for those with ambulatory, visual and auditory impairments, and is available in 22 languages. The usability of the PKB software means that patients require no training and interact with professionals quickly and efficiently. This has been independently verified by Orcha who gave the PKB platform a 93% rating (one of the highest they’ve ever given).The record can be accessed on any device connected to the internet with a web browser and can also be accessed via the NHS App where usability & GDS testing has also taken place with findings acted upon - https://manual.patientsknowbest.com/user-research/pkb-in-the-nhs-app-usability-testing-with-patients.
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: PKB publishes details on all available Open API at https://wiki.patientsknowbest.com/space/api/3686498499/Developer+documentation.; These include REST, FHIR compliant REST and HL7 APIs. These APIs allow for 2-way push and pull of data from the PKB repository, enabling integration to organisation’s existing systems as well as third party apps and solutions. Users can make calls against the REST API via GET, PUT and POST operations.; ; PKB also publishes a Single Sign On API allowing for direct log in to the PKB environment from third party solutions.; ; There is a sandbox environment that is accessible to all customers. A full summary of data available to pull, push or update can be viewed via swagger: (https://sandbox.patientsknowbest.com/api/index.html); ; PKB is also committed to external interoperability by making all our data available via FHIR compliant REST APIs - https://wiki.patientsknowbest.com/space/api/3363602489/FHIR%C2%AE+APIs with a number of resources already available and a roadmap to continue provision of additional resources throughout the year.
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats:
  • Open API (also known as Swagger)
  • HTML
  • PDF
• API sandbox or test environment: Yes
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: PKB can be customised to the organisation's (buyers) requirements which is included in PKB’s SaaS price. PKB is white labelled to support branding requirements of organisations where the solution is deployed, enabling organisations to apply their own look and feel whilst inspiring user confidence. Organisations can customise the platform with your chosen header, footer and colour scheme. Organisations will also be able to customise email footers for notifications which patients will receive when there is an update in their record.; ; In addition to customising the look and feel, many aspects within the platform are configurable based on the organisations requirements, including:; * Welcome message which will feature on the patients homepage; * Care planning templates which can include videos and images - with the build, configuration and updating of these templates included within PKB’s annual SaaS price; * Symptom tracking; * Questionnaire templates - with the build, configuration and updating of these templates included within PKB’s annual SaaS price; * Configuration around messaging functionality/team-based messaging; * Information available in the Library of Resources; The data organisations chose to send and display for patients (end users) within the platform.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: We guarantee this through a multi-layered approach to resource management and scalability. Implementing per-user default HTTP rate limits and throttling, ensures no single user can monopolize resources. This prevents overload from high-demand accounts while allowing fair access for all. Our system features comprehensive monitoring and alerting tools that track usage in real-time. Combined with dynamic throttling capabilities, we can automatically adjust query rates during peak periods, maintaining performance without manual intervention. We enforce strict limits on resource allocation per web request, both at the service layer and database level including CPU, memory and query timeouts,

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Team aggregated usage data including login activity (all user types), file and data activity (messages sent, HL7 sent, files uploaded, etc), and users created (created, registered, ID verified, email set). This data is also aggregated to organisation level, so that the data can be viewed and understood at multiple different levels. Data is curated into a selection of graphs to present the data in a downloadable intuitive and easy-to-digest format. These graphs are delivered via an interactive online dashboard service, updated in close to real time. Guides on the metrics and dashboards are available publicly at https://wiki.patientsknowbest.com/space/DEPLOY/3538485831/Statistics
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request
• Resource tagging: Yes
• FOCUS resource tagging: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 4.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: NCSC approved service provider
• Protecting data at rest:
  • Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v4.0
  • Physical access control, complying with SSAE-18 / ISAE 3402
  • Physical access control, complying with another standard
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v4.0, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed / Cryptographic Erasure

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: Data points in PKB are available via real-time 2-way open APIs with OAuth 2.0. Data is extractable from PKB via open APIs for data warehousing and reporting. PKB is committed to external interoperability by making all our data available via FHIR compliant APIs (many of which are already available) which is part of our ongoing development roadmap.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • Other
• Other data export formats: FHIR API when adhering to FHIR standards
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats:
  • HL7
  • FHIR
  • REST

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: TLS (version 1.2 or above)
• Data protection within supplier network:
  • TLS (version 1.2 or above)
  • IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: PKB commits to 99.9% uptime, which can be monitored at www.pkbstatus.com. Customers can see uptime and response levels and subscribe to receive automatic notifications of upgrades and disruptions. Service credits for failure to meet agreed SLA are associated with response and resolution times. Service credits are cumulative over each month and offset against any future payments, typically the next years charges. Service levels can be tracked on a continuous basis at www.pkbstatus.com. Full SLA information can be found at: https://wiki.patientsknowbest.com/space/DEPLOY/3561783656/Standard+Service+Level+Agreement
• Approach to resilience: - Infrastructure resilience and security is provided by Google Cloud Platform (GCP) within Tier 4 data centres, which are ISO27001 certified. ; - Each project is hosted within the country to ensure data sovereignty, data and backups are replicated across multiple geographically separate data centers within the country. ; - PKB's Recovery Point Objective (RPO) is 10 minutes.; - All of our services are containerized and run on redundant, resilient clusters. ; - Infrastructure software and hardware upgrades are done automatically and gradually without service interruption. ; - We use the infrastructure-as-code approach that ensures we can re-provisioned automatically in disaster scenarios.; - BCDR Tests and Database Restore Tests are performed annually to ensure that processes and procedures are correct and services levels can be met.
• Outage reporting: PKB commits to 99.9% uptime, and can be monitored at www.pkbstatus.com. Users can automatically be informed of any changes to service levels by subscribing to www.pkbstatus.com. This provides details of outages, uptime, response rate of solution (transaction times), known incidents, maintenance schedules and overview of upgrades/changes, these are also provided via email for those who are subscribed. Additionally, reports to organisations can be provided on a frequency requested basis, but typically PKB provides a weekly report detailing the service and any disruption to the service levels. PKB can also provide more detailed reports specific to the organisation and can customise a weekly SLA fulfilment report as needed.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Privileged access to PKB’s production environment is highly restricted where only designated and suitably experienced Senior Production Support Engineer have direct access to PKB’s production environment. Circumvention of security measures is minimised through the use of Multi-Factor Authentication, access is only possible from authorised devices that are encrypted and meet a number of other device security features .. Administrative system passwords have a minimum of 12 characters with 4 complexity classes (special, uppercase, lowercase, number).
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: At least 12 months

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Information security policies and processes are drawn primarily from those defined within ISO27001:2013, Cyber Essentials Plus, SOC2 and from NHS Digital DSPT, as such we have implemented an Information Security Management System. To support this initiative comprehensive Information security policies serve as overarching guidelines for the use, management, and implementation of information security throughout the PKB eco-system. Internal controls provide a system of checks and balances intended to identify irregularities, prevent waste, fraud and abuse from occurring, and assist in resolving discrepancies that are accidentally introduced in the operations of the business. PKB’s Information Security Management Plan and Policies reflects commitment to stewardship of sensitive personal information, clinical information and critical business information, in acknowledgement of the many threats to information security and the importance of protecting the privacy of PKB constituents, safeguarding vital business information, and fulfilling legal obligations. The plan is reviewed and updated at least twice a year or when the environment changes.
• Software Security Code of Practice: Yes

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Supplier-defined controls
• Configuration and change management approach: All changes to our database, application, architecture and environment are authorised, reviewed and fully logged. We use a combination of JIRA and internal development Wiki to document bug fixes, releases, upgrades, maintenance and other elements that might impact our production environment. Additionally, database schema management is via Liquibase.
• Vulnerability management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Vulnerability management approach: PKB employs continuous 3rd party automated scanning of our external and internal infrastructure, codebase and CI pipeline including OWASP TOP 10. Vulnerabilities are identified & categorised for severity automatically, tickets are created with alerts to staff for investigation. We set out our severity ratings in our Vulnerability Management Policy which are:; Critical 15 days; High 30 days; Medium and Low Best Efforts; ; Third-party external testing automated testing is used and configured to alert staff should it find anything of potential concern. We receive alerts from key vendors and contract a certified 3rd party organisation annually to conduct independent penetration testing.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: PKB use Cloudflare enabling WAF which automatically monitors all incoming requests and monitoring for misconfigurations. This ruleset is updated when a new vulnerability is found externally, meaning automatic protection. Cloudflare's global network monitors traffic spikes in real-time and has the ability to absorb DDos attacks it. All connections are logged allowing investigation of potential issues. Our security & SRE team monitors logs and alerts generated to spot potential compromises in near real-time.; We detail our approach to Incidents in our IMP the categories and escalation times are:; Critical Immediate; High Urgent; Medium Within business hours; Low Scheduled within 48 hours
• Incident management type: Supplier-defined controls
• Incident management approach: PKB’s IG Incident Response Plan (IRP) establishes full incident management alignment to the guidelines established and published by NHS Digital, specifically: ’Checklist Guidance for Reporting, Managing and Investigating Information Governance and Cyber Security Serious Incidents Requiring Investigation. PKB’s IG Lead will assess the severity of all incidents based on the sensitivity and the scale of the incident. The IG Lead will use NHS Digital’s IG Scoring Matrix to establish an accurate grade of the incident. The full plan can be found at https://wiki.patientsknowbest.com/space/IG/3510075705/Incident+Management
• Post-quantum cryptography secure: Yes

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Supplier-defined process

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: Yes
• Connected networks: Health and Social Care Network (HSCN)

Pricing

• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: No

Discount percentage by annual call-off contract value (excluding VAT)

• Less than £250,000: 0%
• Between £250,000 and £500,000: 0%
• Between £500,001 and £1,000,000: 0%
• Between £1,000,001 and £2,500,000: 0%
• Between £2,500,001 and £5,000,000: 0%
• Over £5,000,001: 0%

Non-mandatory Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: No
• ISO 28000:2022 certification: No
• ISO 9001 certification: No
• Quality management systems (QMS): Yes
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Certificate Number: 82b4c456-6b38-48dd-84c0-fe39d7c862fc
• Cyber essentials plus: Yes
• Please provide your Cyber Essentials Plus Certificate Number: Cc4b6d9f-5452-4f36-9098-ec34f5fcea1e
• Other security certifications: Yes
• Any other security certifications:
  • SOC2
  • Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT)

Social value

• Section B - Commitment for Future: Delivery:

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 1: Fair work: That offers fair wages and good working conditions. Help people get a job, stay in work, and progress in their careers, with good employment opportunities across the country. Notes: Where there is a large proportion of labour costs in the contract, commercial teams should consider MAC in Outcome 1 as a priority

    • New or retained jobs on the contract workforce in the relevant area that meet the criteria set out in MAC 1b, 1c and 1d
    • Providing opportunities for, and measuring and monitoring of, staff workforce conditions over time, including employee engagement, involvement in decision-making and satisfaction and adapting to any changes in the results, with clear processes for acting on issues identified
    • Plans to engage the contract workforce in deciding the most important workplace issues to address
    • Monitoring of employee engagement rates (by protected characteristic) and, where necessary, the development of actions to ensure all voices are heard across the diversity of the workforce
    • Employment contracts that reflect actual hours worked; steps taken to ensure employees understand their contracts and have the ability to review and adjust them if actual hours regularly exceed contracted hours
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about, and feel empowered to, address their physical wellbeing
    • Activities that support an environment where staff are educated about and feel empowered to report and address bullying and harassment
    • Activities to cascade good practice on fair working conditions throughout the supply chain
    • Payment of more than the National Minimum Wage or National Living Wage (as appropriate) to the contract workforce
    • Entitlement to sick pay for the contract workforce, with provision in place for any staff who do not meet the earnings threshold for statutory sick pay, payment of sick pay from day one of absence and payment of staff on the contract workforce who are off sick a replacement income of 100% of their usual earnings for as long as possible
    • Plans for an appropriate income replacement policy for staff who are required to spend time away from work to care for a sick dependent or close relative
    • Measures to support in-work progression to help people in the contract workforce, to move into higher paid work by developing new skills relevant to the contract
    • Support for the contract workforce by providing career advice, and providing opportunities for staff working on the contract with in-work progression career development into known skills shortages or high growth areas
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Understanding of the modern slavery risks and issues affecting the market, industry, sector or country (of origin or of source) relevant to the contract, and the workforce in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key subcontractors
    • Measures to identify, mitigate and manage modern slavery risks relating to the contract and how these will be implemented
    • Outline policies and practices to be applied to or put in place for the contract to mitigate and manage modern slavery risks, including: Pre-employment checks, recruitment practices. Workplace conditions, safeguarding plans and processes in place and regular monitoring with relevant groups considered, which may include sampling
    • How these flow down the supply chain and are monitored Illustrative examples include reporting, site visits, audits, etc.
    • How to ensure business decisions re: price/cost, short lead times, payment timescales do not create modern slavery risks in the supply chain

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 2: Skills for growth: Supporting growth sectors and addressing skills gaps.

    • Understanding of employment and relevant skills issues, and of the education and training issues relating to the contract. Illustrative examples: demographics, skills shortages, new opportunities in high growth sectors, geographic/local community and skills/employment challenges
    • Support for educational attainment relevant to the contract, including training schemes that address skills gaps and result in recognised qualifications
    • Activities to support relevant sector related skills growth and sustainability in the contract workforce. Illustrative examples: careers talks, curriculum support, literacy support, safety talks and volunteering

  • Mission: Kick start economic growth. To secure the highest sustained growth in the G7 - with good jobs and productivity growth in every part of the country making everyone, not just a few, better off.

    Policy Outcome 3: Resilient, innovative and flexible supply chains: Support economic growth through enabling resilient businesses, opportunities for small businesses and voluntary, community and social enterprises

    • Understanding of the types of businesses in the market and the level of participation by new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Activities to identify opportunities to open up sub-contracts under the prime contract to a diverse range of businesses, including new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutuals
    • Activities that demonstrate a collaborative way to work with a diverse range of businesses as part of the supply chain
    • Ensuring accessibility to contracting and subcontracting opportunities for disabled business owners and employees
    • Structuring of the supply chain selection process to ensure fairness (e.g. anti-corruption) and encourages participation by a diverse range of businesses, including with regard to new businesses, entrepreneurs, start-ups, SMEs, VCSEs and mutual
    • Understanding of local demographics, needs and opportunities for the co-design of the goods, services and works to be delivered under the contract
    • Methods for engaging with different parts of the community (including the education system and charities representing the community) and how communities come together to inform decisions, strategy and projects to leave a positive legacy for future generations
    • Measures to involve local stakeholders and/or users in design (e.g. in the design of services, systems, products or buildings)
    • Plans for positive actions with community groups.
    • Measures for making facilities used in the delivery of the contract available for community groups, education or training
    • Measures to engage users and communities and build relationships to increase community integration build trust and influence how the contract is delivered
    • Plans to respond flexibly and adapt approaches to community engagement and initiatives
    • Support for community-led initiatives relevant to the contract. Illustrative examples: improving transport links; reducing loneliness; helping with English language proficiency; and facilitating social mixing among people with different backgrounds
    • Collaborating with anchor institutions and community groups to make facilities available for education, training or community events

  • Mission: Make Britain a clean energy superpower: To cut bills, create jobs and deliver security with cheaper, zero-carbon electricity by 2030, accelerating to net zero

    Policy Outcome 4: Sustainable procurement practices: Reducing carbon footprints, minimising waste, and promoting the use of clean energy and green technologies.

    • Understanding of opportunities for additional environmental benefits delivery in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Collaborative ways of working with the supply chain to deliver additional environmental benefits in the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Delivery of additional environmental benefits through the performance of the contract, including working towards net zero carbon emissions and use of clean energy and green technologies
    • Understanding of how to influence staff, suppliers, customers, communities and/or any other appropriate stakeholders through the delivery of the contract to support climate and nature protection and improvement
    • Activities to reconnect people with the environment and increase awareness of ways to protect and enhance it

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 6: Employment and training: For those who face barriers to employment

    • Understanding of the issues affecting the representation of disabled people in the workforce in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, and retention-focused activities, including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing people with a disability or health condition
    • Introducing transparency to pay and reward processes
    • Working conditions which promote an inclusive working environment and promote retention and progression
    • Understanding of the issues affecting inequality in employment, skills and pay in the market, industry or sector relevant to the contract, and in the supplier’s own organisation and those of its key sub-contractors. Measures to tackle inequality in employment, skills and pay in the contract workforce

  • Mission: Break down barriers to opportunity: By reforming our childcare and education systems, to make sure there is no class ceiling on the ambitions of young people in Britain

    Policy Outcome 7: Creating a pipeline of opportunities: For the contract workforce, reducing barriers to entry for under-represented groups.

    • Understanding of issues relating to entering the contract workforce
    • Creation of outreach activities to create a pipeline of employees for the future contract delivery
    • Content of the outreach activity is designed to suit the target cohort

  • Mission: Build an NHS fit for the future: That is there when people need it; with fewer lives lost to the biggest killers; in a fairer Britain, where everyone lives well for longer.

    Policy Outcome 8: Increasing productivity through physical and mental wellbeing: In the supply chain and communities in the relevant area.

    • Understanding of issues relating to health and wellbeing, including physical and mental health, in the contract workforce
    • Understanding barriers to access to health and social care services or employment opportunities e.g. digital inclusion
    • Inclusive and accessible recruitment practices, development practices and retention policies that support-focused activities including those provided in the Guide for line managers on recruiting, managing and developing which support people with a disability or health condition
    • Actions to invest in the physical and mental health and wellbeing of the contract workforce

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at nhsbids@patientsknowbest.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.