Summary, notice description and lot information
NHS England is initiating a procurement process to recommission integrated healthcare services for prisons, specifically HMP Ford, HMP Lewes, and HMP/YOI Winchester. This falls under the health services category and involves a provider selection regime. The market engagement is planned, with a notice issued for this preparation phase, outlining an event scheduled for 9th February 2026 in London.
The tender, classified under CPV code 85100000, intends to provide outcome-focused services encompassing physical and mental health, substance misuse, and dental care, with contract terms stretching for seven years. The procurement process is expected to commence in spring 2026, with awards by autumn/winter, and service inaugurations scheduled for April and July 2027. The indicative contract values for the two lots are roughly £53 million and £49 million, with NHS South, Central & West managing this exercise on behalf of the commissioners.
This tender represents a substantial opportunity for businesses specialising in healthcare services, particularly those capable of operating within a prime provider model—a system that allows subcontracting to specialty providers. Companies with expertise in prisoner health services, including general practice, primary and secondary care, dental, mental health, and substance misuse treatment, are well-suited to compete. The engagement event will facilitate networking and strategic alignment with NHS goals, positioning businesses for potential growth within an integrated service delivery model.
The procurement’s emphasis on blending clinical and psychosocial interventions strengthens market needs, promoting continuity of care from prison into the community, and could appeal to organisations focused on comprehensive, recovery-oriented healthcare services.
This notice is placed as a Prior Information Notice (PIN) to inform the market of NHS England Health and Justice South East's, (the Commissioner's) intention to recommission services for HMP Ford, HMP Lewes, and HMP/YOI Winchester. The intention is to recommission outcome focused, integrated primary healthcare services, equivalent to that available to the local community, delivering physical health, mental health, substance misuse and dental services. The Commissioners will be contracting the services using a prime provider model and will hold a contract with the prime provider, who in turn can directly provide care and/or subcontract care to other specialist providers. At this time, the Commissioner would like to understand the level of provider interest in delivering the services and warmly invites interested parties to attend a market engagement event being held on: Monday 9th February 2026 between 10:00 am - 15:00 in London. The purpose of the event will be to share further detail of the commissioner's aims and objectives for the services, as well as provide an opportunity for commissioners to obtain valuable feedback from providers and key stakeholders to help inform the commissioning strategy. Details on how to register to attend the event are provided below. HMP Ford is situated near Arundel in West Sussex. It is a category D open male prison, focused on the resettlement of prisoners, with an operational capacity of 389. HMP Lewes is situated in Lewes, East Sussex. It is a category B local remand and resettlement prison for young offenders and adult males remanded or sentenced to 12 months or less. It has an operational capacity of 624. HMP/YOI Winchester is located in Winchester, Hampshire. It is a category B local prison that serves the local courts, with a small category C resettlement unit (West Hill). The prison houses sentenced and remand young offender and adult males and has an operational capacity of 678. The services will be commissioned as part of the overall Offender Health pathway within the prisons and as such this model will ensure an integrated, recovery orientated service delivery system both within the prisons and onwards into the community. The service will focus on delivering person-centred care within seamless, integrated structured clinical and psychosocial interventions/services in prison and facilitating arrangements through the gate into the community to ensure effective continuity of care. The services that are likely to be included in the contracts include, but may not limited to: * General Practitioners Provision * Primary Care Nursing (including long term conditions) * Dental Services * Pharmacy Services (including mechanism for Out of Hours provision) * Inpatient Unit facility at HMP Lewes and HMP/YOI Winchester * Substance Misuse Services (including Substance Misuse wings at HMP Lewes and HMP/YOI Winchester) Optometry * Podiatry * Audiology * Primary and Secondary Mental Health and Learning Disability Services * Health Promotion and Prevention * Musculoskeletal therapies * Smoking cessation * Blood Born Viruses testing to include funding, access and delivery (including provision of testing facilities where necessary). * Consultant-led Pain management clinic(s) * Therapies * Sexual Health screening - Tiers (1, 2) * Social Care provision - HMP Winchester only via a Section 75 agreement with the Local Authority * Escort and Bedwatch Services (via a risk share agreement) * Appropriate administrative and data management support (including data intelligence and reporting resource; data and intelligence analysis) In addition, the provider will be responsible for ensuring effective and meaningful pathways of care are established with secondary care / community based specialist health provision, including hospital based services, to meet patient's health needs. For further information on the services, please refer to the national service specifications, available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/primary-care-service-spec-medical-nursing-for-prisons-2020.pdf https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/dental-service-spec-prisons-2020.pdf https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/service-specification-mental-health-for-prisons-in-england-2.pdf https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/service-specification-integrated-substance-misuse-treatment-service-in-prisons.pdf The final specifications, including some specific local tailoring as determined by the Commissioner, will be published as part of the final procurement documentation. The Commissioner anticipates commencing a competitive procurement process in the spring of 2026 with the view to award the contract/s by autumn/winter 2026. The procurement is likely to be lotted as follows: * Lot 1: HMP Ford and HMP Lewes * Lot 2: HMP/YOI Winchester The Contract term, for all establishments, is anticipated to be 7 years. Contract commencement for HMP Ford and HMP Lewes is anticipated to be 1st April 2027. The maximum total (indicative) contract value is PS53,300,000. Contract commencement for HMP/YOI Winchester is anticipated to be 1st July 2027. The maximum total (indicative) contract value is PS49,650,000. TUPE is likely to apply. This exercise is being carried out by NHS South, Central & West (SCW) on behalf of the commissioners. Additional information: Those interested in attending the event and delivering (all or part of) the service requirements should follow the link to the e-procurement system, Atamis, search for the opportunity by clicking on 'View our Live Opportunities' from the home page, then complete the 'Market Engagement Questionnaire and Event Registration Form' Microsoft (MS) Forms available within the system. Please note that you will need to be registered on Atamis, and then select the option to 'register an interest' under the project titled 'Integrated Healthcare Services to Sussex and Winchester Prisons - ME', project reference C407428 to gain access to the MS Forms registration link. https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome In order to establish fair representation, availability for this event is limited to a maximum of three individuals per organisation. The closing date for registering is 12 noon 26th January 2026. Further details of the event will be provided once the PIN has closed, to all respondents who have registered their interest and completed the registration form/questionnaire prior to this closing date.
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