NEL Single Point of Access - Ophthalmology and Enhanced Optometry Services

North East London (NEL) Integrated Care Board (ICB) is seeking to procure an NEL wide ophthalmology SPOA service that ensures referrals are managed by one provider across the system, serving all our providers equitably with reduced costs, delivering efficiencies and identifying issues to help support the NEL population with targeted and improved education and feedback to referrers.

North East London (NEL) Integrated Care Board (ICB) is looking to procure the SPOA across its seven places (Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Redbridge, Newham, Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets and City and Hackney).

The services need to be able to provide fast access improved pathway to enhance referral processing and clinical triage. The SPOA will facilitate digital enablement and innovations with a dynamic system to coordinate advice and refer, capacity planning and implement patient choice. Thereby reducing the pressure and avoidable referrals to specialist led services.

The SPOA should provide a strong collaboration between primary, optometry, community and secondary care systems as we are looking for a partnership in delivering the best quality service for NEL patients.

The service specification provides details of what will need to be delivered, and we welcome providers who can demonstrate suitable experience of delivering similar services in the community that are both effective and of high quality.

The procurement will be undertaken under the Provider Selection Regime regulations, competitive process.

Applications are now open from Friday 13th February 2026 with a deadline for applying of the 20th March 2026 17:00. Applications must be made through Atamis.