Bid Triage for Social Care and NHS Providers: How to Stop Scattergun Bidding and Start Making Defensible Decisions (Procurement Act 2023)

Under the Procurement Act 2023, suppliers are expected to demonstrate proportionality, transparency and robust decision-making — not just submit more bids. For social care and NHS-commissioned providers, that means moving away from “we’ll have a go” towards structured, defensible bid/no-bid decisions.

This is where bid triage comes in. Instead of debating each opportunity from scratch, you use a consistent tool to assess fit, risk and deliverability — so you can focus time and budget on the tenders you can win and deliver safely.

At Impact Guru, our Bid Triage & Opportunity Assessment support is designed specifically for social care and NHS-commissioned services. We build structured, evidence-based tools that show when to bid, when to pause, and when to walk away — saving time, improving governance and strengthening your position with both boards and commissioners.

What do we mean by bid triage?

Bid triage is a structured decision process that helps you answer three core questions for every opportunity:

• Should we bid? – Is there a strong strategic and operational fit?
• Can we bid? – Do we have the capacity, evidence and compliance in place to deliver and to write a competitive submission?
• How should we bid? – If we proceed, what risks, dependencies and mitigations need to be visible upfront?

Instead of relying on instinct or email debates, you use a repeatable framework that weighs each opportunity against agreed criteria – for example, alignment to your service model, workforce resilience, mobilisation risk, financial viability and outcomes evidence.

Our triage tools typically include:

• Two-stage flow from strategic fit → operational readiness.
• Weighted scoring for fit, deliverability, risk and commercial factors.
• Clear traffic-light outputs: Bid / Review / No-bid.
• An embedded decision log so you can evidence rationale at board, internal audit or commissioner review.

For many providers, this is as important as the bid writing itself. Strong triage means you are only investing in tenders where you have a realistic pathway to high scores, sustainable delivery and positive outcomes.

Why bid triage matters under the Procurement Act 2023

The Procurement Act 2023 and Most Advantageous Tender (MAT) scoring shift the emphasis from lowest price to a more rounded view of value, risk and outcomes. But this shift applies to suppliers as well as contracting authorities.

In practice, this means providers are expected to show:

• Proportionality: You understand your capacity, risk appetite and clinical/governance thresholds – and only pursue opportunities that fit.
• Transparency: You can evidence how and why you chose to bid, including how risks were weighed and mitigated.
• Integrity: You are honest about where you can add value, rather than bidding on any opportunity that appears.

For ICB/ICS procurements – for example IUC/111, UTC, Access/Enhanced Access, UCR and integrated community pathways – a structured triage process also supports:

• Clinical governance and safety considerations.
• Digital interoperability (DoS/111, EPR integration, UCR/UTC interfaces).
• Workforce resilience and supervision structures.

When your triage tool explicitly captures these factors, you can demonstrate that your decision to bid (or not) was thoughtful, proportionate and well-governed – not simply driven by short-term income pressure.

Signs you need a more robust bid triage process

Most providers know they should be more selective, but the day-to-day reality of tender notifications and internal expectations makes that hard. Some common warning signs:

• High bid volume, low win rate: you are submitting lots of tenders across frameworks, DPS and call-offs, but only securing a small proportion.
• “We’ll worry about that later” risks: major workforce, mobilisation or digital gaps are left to be “sorted after contract award”.
• Board and SMT frustration: leaders feel they lack visibility on why certain opportunities are being pursued.
• Bid fatigue: subject matter experts are repeatedly pulled into low-probability bids, affecting core operations.
• No audit trail: when asked “Why did we bid for this?”, you have no consistent, documented rationale.

If any of these resonate, a structured triage framework can relieve pressure almost immediately – by giving teams permission to say no on the basis of shared, pre-agreed criteria.

The anatomy of a MAT-aligned bid triage tool

A good triage tool does more than ask “Do we like this?”. It translates MAT domains and your internal risk appetite into practical questions that non-specialists can use. Typical sections include:

1. Strategic fit

• Does the service align with your core pathways (e.g. LD, autism, supported living, reablement, home care, complex care)?
• Is the geography sustainable – travel, supervision, regional infrastructure?
• Does it support your long-term positioning with a specific ICB or set of authorities?

2. Deliverability and mobilisation

• Can you staff the service safely from day one without destabilising existing contracts?
• Do you have the clinical governance, IG/DSPT and digital infrastructure expected?
• Is the mobilisation timeline realistic for recruitment, system set-up and training?

3. Risk and compliance

• Are there safeguarding, TUPE, accommodation or regulatory risks that are hard to mitigate?
• Would this contract concentrate risk in a single commissioner or funding stream?
• How does it interact with your CQC position and wider governance framework?

4. Commercial viability

• Is the proposed tariff or hourly rate sustainable at safe staffing levels?
• Have you pressure-tested scenarios (e.g. high-acuity mix, voids, increased acuity without tariff uplift)?
• What level of non-billable activity (e.g. MDT meetings, travel, liaison) is implicitly expected?

5. Bid-readiness

• Do you have current method statements, policies and outcomes evidence that match the specification?
• Is there time to write and review a high-scoring submission without last-minute panic?
• Do you have the internal bandwidth to respond to clarifications, TUPE queries and financial schedules?

All of this is surfaced through weighted scoring and RAG ratings, so the final output is simple: a recommended decision and clear rationale.

How Impact Guru designs bid triage tools

Our Bid Triage & Opportunity Assessment support is built around a clear four-step process:

1. Discovery & mapping

We review your past tenders, win/loss data and evaluator feedback, plus any existing pipeline spreadsheets or informal decision rules. This helps us understand:

• Where you tend to win – by service type, commissioner and geography.
• Where risk or delivery has been challenging historically.
• Which factors really determine success for your organisation.

2. Criteria definition

Together we define criteria across strategic fit, delivery readiness, risk, compliance and commercial viability. For NHS and ICB providers we can add specific criteria for:

• Clinical governance, safety and on-call structures.
• IG/DSPT status and cyber security posture.
• Digital interoperability (DoS/111, UCR, UTC, EPR interfaces).
• Workforce resilience, including ACP, ANP or specialist skill mix.

3. Framework build

We then build a custom Excel or Google Sheets triage tool which typically includes:

• Weighted scoring and configurable thresholds.
• RAG outputs and summary dashboard.
• Override prompts where judgement is needed (“if you override, explain why”).
• An embedded decision log capturing attendees, date, final decision and rationale.

4. Testing & rollout

Finally, we test the tool on 2–4 live or recent tenders. This helps verify that:

• The scoring feels fair and proportionate.
• It supports constructive conversation rather than box-ticking.
• Outputs make sense to boards and audit committees.

We then refine thresholds, add any missing prompts and provide a short guide for internal users. The result is a governance-ready triage process that can be used across frameworks, DPSs, call-offs and spot purchases.

Real-world examples (anonymised)

Example 1 – Walking away from a high-profile but high-risk tender

A large LD supported living provider was keen to bid for a new multi-lot framework covering a region where their brand recognition was strong. However, the triage tool highlighted:

• High workforce risk (existing vacancies and high turnover in the relevant region).
• Challenging mobilisation timelines for TUPE transfers and new registrations.
• Tariffs that were unlikely to sustain the level of clinical input the provider felt was safe.

The recommendation was No-bid. The board accepted the rationale, recorded it in the decision log and focused instead on strengthening staffing in existing services. Six months later, they were better placed to pursue a different, better-fitting opportunity.

Example 2 – Moving from “no” to “bid with conditions”

An NHS-commissioned provider initially leaned towards declining a complex UCR/step-up service due to concerns about digital integration. Through triage, they identified clear mitigations – including a phased integration plan and a joint governance group with the ICB. The tool output shifted from “No-bid” to “Bid with conditions”, and those conditions were clearly set out in clarification questions and mobilisation assumptions.

Example 3 – Redirecting effort towards renewals and extensions

A domiciliary care provider was chasing multiple small spot-contract opportunities with uncertain volumes. The triage tool demonstrated that the highest value lay in retaining and growing existing framework positions. Time previously spent on low-probability bids was redirected to renewal preparation and outcomes evidence – supported by Impact Guru’s Contract Retention & Outcomes Evidence services.

Fixed-scope Bid Triage Packages with online savings

Some organisations prefer a flexible consultancy approach; others like a clearly defined, time-boxed package. To support the latter, we’ve created Bid Triage & Opportunity Assessment Packages (Procurement Act 2023 Ready).

These packages are built around a standard consultancy rate of £600 per day, with stepped discounts when booked online:

• Essential (1 day) – single-service triage tool at the standard rate.
• Intermediate (3 days) – multi-lot framework covering several service lines or geographies.
• Advanced (5 days) – fully tailored toolkit for mixed NHS and local authority opportunities.
• Strategic (10 days) – board-level, multi-portfolio triage system including training and integration with your bid library.

Online-only pricing means:

• Intermediate (3 days) – £1,650 (effective £550/day).
• Advanced (5 days) – £2,625 (effective £525/day).
• Strategic (10 days) – £5,000 (effective £500/day).

Capacity for Winter 2025 is deliberately capped at 4 Essential, 3 Intermediate, 2 Advanced and 1 Strategic package, to protect delivery quality. Once these slots are taken, new bookings will pause until capacity reopens.

You can explore the full details and book directly here:
https://impact-guru.co.uk/products/bid-triage-opportunity-assessment-packages-procurement-act-2023-ready

Linking triage with your wider tender system

A triage tool works best when it sits inside a wider, well-governed bid system. Many providers choose to pair bid triage work with:

• Bid Library & Process Design – to ensure your templates, method statements and workflows support quick, high-quality submissions once you decide to bid.
• Contract Retention & Outcomes Evidence – so your decisions are backed by strong performance data and social value evidence.
• Tender Review & Proofreading – to maximise scores on the bids you commit to.

For live opportunities where time is tight, you can also draw on the Rapid Support Products listed earlier — including 48-Hour Tender Triage, Bid Rescue Session, Score Booster and Tender Proofreading & Light Editing to stabilise individual bids while your longer-term triage system beds in.

Together, these create a coherent system: Strategy & triage → Bid library & process → Outcomes evidence → High-scoring submissions and renewals.

Getting started: practical next steps

If you suspect you’re bidding for too many low-fit tenders – or feel pressure to make decisions without enough structure – now is the ideal moment to act. Many commissioners are reshaping their pipelines ahead of full Procurement Act implementation; using this time to build your triage system will pay off when activity accelerates again.

You can:

• Explore the dedicated Bid Triage & Opportunity Assessment service page for a deeper description of how we work.
• Review the fixed-scope triage packages and, if helpful, share the pricing with your finance or governance leads.
• Start a simple internal conversation: What are our “must-have” criteria before we bid? Where have we taken on too much risk in the past?

💼 Rapid Support Products (fast turnaround options)

• ⚡ 48-Hour Tender Triage
• 🆘 Bid Rescue Session – 60 minutes
• ✍️ Score Booster – Tender Answer Rewrite
• 🧩 Tender Answer Blueprint
• 📝 Tender Proofreading & Light Editing
• 🔍 Pre-Tender Readiness Audit
• 📁 Tender Document Review

🔁 Prefer Flexible Monthly Support?

If you regularly handle tenders, frameworks or call-offs, a Monthly Bid Support Retainer may be a better fit.

• Guaranteed hours each month (1, 2, 4 or 8 days)
• Discounted day rates vs ad-hoc consultancy
• Use time flexibly across bids, triage, library updates, renewals
• One-month rollover (fair-use rules applied)
• Cancel anytime before next billing date

Explore Monthly Retainers →

🚀 Ready to Win Your Next Bid?

Chat on WhatsApp or email Mike.Harrison@impact-guru.co.uk

Updated for Procurement Act 2023 • CQC-aligned • BASE-aligned (where relevant)