NHSE1096 - Diabetic Eye Screening Programme - RFI

North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) is a care system support organisation hosted by NHS England and is working for and on behalf of NHS England North West (the Relevant Authority) and is managing this market engagement exercise for the provision of a Diabetic Eye Screening Programme service in the following areas:

Lot 1 - Cheshire and Merseyside

Lot 2 - Cheshire (East Cheshire, West Cheshire & Warrington)

Lot 3 - Merseyside (Liverpool, Halton, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, Knowsley & West Lancashire)

Lot 4 - Lancashire - incl Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool

The Relevant Authority is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to engage with the market and to gather information in order to gain a better understanding of both the capacity and appetite of the market in delivering the proposed services.

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intended approach notice. The awarding of any future contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this process.

It is important to note that this RFI is not a call for competition and as such you will need to express your interest in any future tender opportunity once the contract notice is published on Find a Tender Service.

It should also be noted that this RFI invites individuals and organisations to express an interest in this RFI exercise only, and it is NOT a pre-qualification questionnaire, and is NOT part of any pre-qualification or selection process.

This RFI is intended as an awareness, communication, and information gathering exercise. An expression of interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in the RFI process, nor does it infer any preferential or special status on those individuals and organisations who express an interest in the RFI exercise.

NECS is utilising an electronic tendering portal (Atamis) to manage this RFI and as such interested individuals and organisations will need to register on the portal to access and return the RFI documentation.

You can register here:

https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome (https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome)

It is free to register on the portal, which can be accessed at any time of day. Should you have any queries, or have problems registering on the portal, you should contact the e-Tendering provider by email:

Support-health@Atamis.co.uk or phone number 0800 9956035.

Please look for NHSE1096 - RFI - North West Diabetic Eye Screening Programme (Contract Ref: C401067).

The RFI documentation will be accessible from 12:00 noon on Tuesday 06 January 2026 and completed RFI responses must be returned by 12.00 noon on Friday 23 January 2026.

Potential providers are to note that the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (as amended) may apply to a future procurement including the New Fair Deal non-statutory policy setting out how pensions issues are to be dealt with when staff are compulsorily transferred from the public sector to independent providers delivering public services, however the Relevant Authority does not hold any TUPE information at present.