BHR/Transformation of Pathology Services

The Barking Havering and Redbridge University Trust (BHRUT) is looking to establish a strategic partnership to drive transformation of its pathology services. It is exploring procurement solutions for merging in-house and outsourced services to deliver pathology as part of a managed pathology network. The aim of the transformation is to improve operational delivery, efficiency and resilience, supporting the best possible patient care.

BHRUT is conducting a Preliminary Market Engagement Exercise (PME) to gauge interest in any future procurement of pathology services and obtain feedback from the market to help shape the service specification, investment case, procurement route and commercial structures.

Background: With a dedicated workforce of more than 9,500 staff and volunteers and an income of £1.007bn, BHRUT is a large district general hospital providing all the major clinical specialties from two main hospital sites: King George Hospital (KGH) in Goodmayes and Queen’s Hospital (QH) in Romford and community services to a population of around 800,000. BHRUT delivers a comprehensive pathology service including blood sciences, microbiology and cellular pathology. It currently operates as a stand-alone service and is not part of a formal pathology network.

The trust requires a future operating model for pathology that reflects the following principles:

A high quality, safe and effective pathology service that is resilient and future-proofed for activity growth.

Delivery of a sustainable future pathology workforce by delivering operational excellence, a robust training and development pipeline and creating the conditions for a positive workplace culture.

Enablement of a strong digital infrastructure and capability. Adopting digital opportunity and technology advances to deliver more efficient and scalable pathology services.

Drives high efficiency and productivity through economies of scale and standardisation.

Alignment with the trust’s strategic aims and corporate objectives.

Commitment to working as part of NEL ICS to address health inequalities at national and system levels.

A service that creates social value through its activities in terms of the wellbeing of individuals and communities, social capital created and the environment.

All further and relevant details are available from the Preliminary Market Engagement documentation.

The approach to any future procurement and commercial model has yet to be established. The preliminary market engagement exercise aims to obtain information that will help shape the future operating model, which may or may not be via a procurement process.

A virtual engagement session will be held on Friday 29th May 2026 at 10.00am The purpose of this session is to present BHRUT’s objectives and requirements and gather feedback from suppliers ahead of a future procurement. A suite of market engagement documents is available on Atamis. The PME exercise will conclude on 12th June 2026 at 17:00

All interested parties should email mark.bourke@nhs.net to express their interest or for any initial points of clarification.

Additional information.

The trust is issuing this Notice to undertake Preliminary Market Engagement. The primary aim of which is an information gathering exercise to inform its approach to transforming pathology services as part of a managed pathology network. The trust is utilising the Atamis procurement tendering portal for interested parties to express their interest.

It is important to note that this Notice is not a call for competition and as such potential providers will need to express interest in any future tender opportunity once and only if a contract notice is published on the Find Tender Service (FTS) and on Contracts Finder portals