Pathology Off Site Storage

Description

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is initiating pre-market engagement in advance of the forthcoming procurement of its Pathology Offsite Storage Services. This early engagement phase is intended to establish a constructive dialogue with the market, enabling the Authority to better understand current supplier capability, innovative storage and retrieval solutions, and opportunities to support the long-term management of histological material. The Trust generates and retains significant volumes of histological specimens as part of routine diagnostic, clinical, governance, education, research, and medico-legal activities. The service currently produces approximately 130,000 histology blocks and 180,000 slides each year and is required to retain this material in accordance with statutory, regulatory, and professional requirements. Due to limitations in onsite storage capacity, the Trust requires a secure and resilient offsite storage solution to support the ongoing retention, management, and retrieval of histological material. The Authority is seeking insight from experienced providers who can deliver secure offsite storage, inventory management, transportation, tracking, and retrieval services for pathology specimens, including histology blocks and slides. The Trust currently holds approximately 63,463 blocks and slides in offsite storage and wishes to explore opportunities to enhance service resilience, traceability, accessibility, environmental controls, and overall value for money. As part of this process, the Authority is inviting feedback on key elements of the future tender, including the draft service specification, service standards, Key Performance Indicators, and award criteria. Insights gathered through the engagement process will help refine the final procurement documentation and ensure that the resulting contract reflects a robust, compliant, and deliverable service model that meets the Trust's operational and regulatory requirements. The Trust will contact all suppliers who participate in the pre-market engagement once the exercise has concluded to arrange supplier feedback discussions, if required.