Radiotherapy Efficiency Transformation Partner

Description

UCLH wishes to procure a transformation partner to improve efficiency and productivity of the radiotherapy department, challenging current ways of working and offering new insights. Lot 1: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, "UCLH", is one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom and provides first-class acute and specialist services. UCLH comprises of the following hospitals: University College Hospital, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing, MacMillan Cancer Centre, University College Hospital Grafton Way Building, University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street, Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health.<br/>UCLH delivers world class cancer care to patients from across the country. Cancer at UCLH spans across multiple sites and departments within the Trust and has included the opening of the Grafton Way Building one of two national Proton Beam Therapy services in December 2021.<br/>UCLH is a lead provider within the North Central London Cancer Alliance, as well as providing tertiary services for wider patient populations in specialist services, such as sarcoma for patients from across South East England. <br/>In early 2020, UCLH was selected by NHS England as the preferred tertiary cancer provider to take over management of the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. This transition is subject to a due diligence process during which UCLH are providing transitional support to the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre team, building upon a number of years of collaborative working between the two services.<br/>Our Radiotherapy department offers cutting edge and specialised therapy to adult and paediatric patients treating over 2400 new patients a year. <br/><br/>UCLH Radiotherapy is a national leader in complex/highly technical radiotherapy in:<br/><br/>• Brain and was recently designated a Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Centre of Excellence<br/>• Paediatrics, with the largest paediatric radiotherapy unit in the UK<br/>• Sarcomas - one of Europe’s largest service<br/>• Head and Neck – (ENT) third largest in the UK<br/>• Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) <br/>• Haematological including total body radiation<br/>• Brachytherapy <br/>• Molecular Radiotherapy - National Referral centre (Paediatric, TYA and adult).<br/><br/>The department works closely with a number of specialist hospitals to support cancer pathways which span multiple centres including Great Ormond Street, St. Mary's, Oxford, Southampton and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.<br/><br/>The UCH radiotherapy department contains six bunkers with four Varian TrueBeams and one Varian Halcyon. There is a large difference between the national and UCLH complexity profile, 92% of the UCH workload is classed as complex and approximately 8% of the workload is paediatric. <br/><br/>The radiotherapy service is delivered by a team of staff including clinical oncologists, radiotherapy physics and engineers, therapeutic radiographers, healthcare play specialists, admin and clerical staff and dedicated nurses. <br/>UCLH is also one of two national Proton Beam Therapy centres, providing services to patients from the south of the UK. The departments run an integrated workforce model, with physicists, dosimetrists and radiographers rotating across Radiotherapy and PBT. In total there are around 300 WT across both services. <br/>UCLH wishes to procure a transformation partner to improve efficiency and productivity of the radiotherapy department, challenging current ways of working and offering new insights. This could include but is not limited to:<br/>• Delivering Cancer Waiting Time Access standards. <br/>• Scheduling of patients. <br/>• Machine downtime. <br/>• Patient pathway and organisation of workflow. <br/>• Radiotherapy physics pathways. <br/>• Process for commissioning of new linacs. <br/>• Use of automation and AI.<br/><br/>Expression of Interest<br/>The purpose of this preliminary market engagement is to engage with potential partners to gather information and insights from the market to aid the development of the requirements and scope of opportunities for efficiencies to inform the procurement of a transformation partner. Suppliers are requested to provide expressions of interest, including responses to the below questions by e-mail to steviejay.cavanagh@nhs.net by 15:00 on 26th September 2025. <br/><br/>1. What innovative or new ways of working are you currently seeing in the market that may benefit the NHS, and more specifically UCLH, including those that have been included in procurements over the past 12 months?<br/><br/>2. Please describe how you think this contract should be best structured to deliver an efficient Radiotherapy service?<br/><br/>3. Is there anything you think that the Trust should consider before going out to market for these services?<br/><br/>4. What would be your expectations from a partnership with an NHS organisation?<br/><br/><br/>This notice does not constitute a formal call for competition. Additional information: University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, "UCLH", is one of the largest NHS trusts in the United Kingdom and provides first-class acute and specialist services. UCLH comprises of the following hospitals: University College Hospital, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Wing, MacMillan Cancer Centre, University College Hospital Grafton Way Building, University College Hospital at Westmoreland Street, Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Hospital for Tropical Diseases, Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, and the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health.<br/>UCLH delivers world class cancer care to patients from across the country. Cancer at UCLH spans across multiple sites and departments within the Trust and has included the opening of the Grafton Way Building one of two national Proton Beam Therapy services in December 2021.<br/>UCLH is a lead provider within the North Central London Cancer Alliance, as well as providing tertiary services for wider patient populations in specialist services, such as sarcoma for patients from across South East England. <br/>In early 2020, UCLH was selected by NHS England as the preferred tertiary cancer provider to take over management of the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre. This transition is subject to a due diligence process during which UCLH are providing transitional support to the Mount Vernon Cancer Centre team, building upon a number of years of collaborative working between the two services.<br/>Our Radiotherapy department offers cutting edge and specialised therapy to adult and paediatric patients treating over 2400 new patients a year. <br/><br/>UCLH Radiotherapy is a national leader in complex/highly technical radiotherapy in:<br/><br/>• Brain and was recently designated a Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Centre of Excellence<br/>• Paediatrics, with the largest paediatric radiotherapy unit in the UK<br/>• Sarcomas - one of Europe’s largest service<br/>• Head and Neck – (ENT) third largest in the UK<br/>• Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) <br/>• Haematological including total body radiation<br/>• Brachytherapy <br/>• Molecular Radiotherapy - National Referral centre (Paediatric, TYA and adult).<br/><br/>The department works closely with a number of specialist hospitals to support cancer pathways which span multiple centres including Great Ormond Street, St. Mary's, Oxford, Southampton and the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital.<br/><br/>The UCH radiotherapy department contains six bunkers with four Varian TrueBeams and one Varian Halcyon. There is a large difference between the national and UCLH complexity profile, 92% of the UCH workload is classed as complex and approximately 8% of the workload is paediatric. <br/><br/>The radiotherapy service is delivered by a team of staff including clinical oncologists, radiotherapy physics and engineers, therapeutic radiographers, healthcare play specialists, admin and clerical staff and dedicated nurses. <br/>UCLH is also one of two national Proton Beam Therapy centres, providing services to patients from the south of the UK. The departments run an integrated workforce model, with physicists, dosimetrists and radiographers rotating across Radiotherapy and PBT. In total there are around 300 WT across both services. <br/>UCLH wishes to procure a transformation partner to improve efficiency and productivity of the radiotherapy department, challenging current ways of working and offering new insights. This could include but is not limited to:<br/>• Delivering Cancer Waiting Time Access standards. <br/>• Scheduling of patients. <br/>• Machine downtime. <br/>• Patient pathway and organisation of workflow. <br/>• Radiotherapy physics pathways. <br/>• Process for commissioning of new linacs. <br/>• Use of automation and AI.<br/><br/>Expression of Interest<br/>The purpose of this preliminary market engagement is to engage with potential partners to gather information and insights from the market to aid the development of the requirements and scope of opportunities for efficiencies to inform the procurement of a transformation partner. Suppliers are requested to provide expressions of interest, including responses to the below questions by e-mail to steviejay.cavanagh@nhs.net by 15:00 on 26th September 2025. <br/><br/>1. What innovative or new ways of working are you currently seeing in the market that may benefit the NHS, and more specifically UCLH, including those that have been included in procurements over the past 12 months?<br/><br/>2. Please describe how you think this contract should be best structured to deliver an efficient Radiotherapy service?<br/><br/>3. Is there anything you think that the Trust should consider before going out to market for these services?<br/><br/>4. What would be your expectations from a partnership with an NHS organisation?<br/><br/><br/>This notice does not constitute a formal call for competition.