When NHS Procurement Gets Local: How to Win Place-Based Frameworks Under ICSs

October 26, 2025

🏥 When NHS Procurement Gets Local: How to Win Place-Based Frameworks Under ICSs

Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) are redrawing the map of NHS procurement — shifting decision-making from national to local, and rewarding providers that can demonstrate place-based partnership, prevention, and population impact. This blog explores how to align your bids with the new commissioning logic and position your organisation for high-scoring success in ICS tenders.

For providers preparing for NHS or local authority opportunities — whether in Integrated Urgent Care (IUC), Domiciliary Care, Home Care, Learning Disability, or Complex Care — understanding how ICS procurement works is essential. We help providers build bids that speak the language of population health, value, and integration, reinforced through our Bid Proofreading Services, Editable Method Statements, and Bid Strategy Training.

🌍 What “Place-Based” Really Means

The NHS Long Term Plan and the Health and Care Act 2022 placed Integrated Care Systems (ICSs) at the heart of NHS commissioning. Each ICS now brings together NHS trusts, primary care, community services, and local authorities under a single umbrella — dividing their geography into smaller “places” and “neighbourhoods.”

This means that contracts which once sat at CCG or regional level are increasingly procured locally, with scoring that rewards:

Population-level outcomes — not just service KPIs, but system impact (e.g., reduced A&E use, improved wellbeing).
Integration and partnership — working with primary care networks (PCNs), voluntary organisations, and local councils.
Equity and prevention — tackling health inequalities through targeted community outreach and early intervention.

To score well, bids now need to show not only what you deliver, but how you contribute to the local system’s shared goals.

⚖️ The New ICS Scoring Themes

ICS procurement introduces subtle but important changes to evaluation frameworks. Most place-based tenders now assess across five dimensions:

1. Integration & Partnerships — evidence of co-design, joint delivery, or shared pathways with other providers.
2. Prevention & Early Intervention — measurable impact on avoidable admissions and population health.
3. Equity & Inclusion — outreach to underserved groups and data on access by deprivation, age, and ethnicity.
4. Digital & Data Readiness — secure information sharing, dashboards, and interoperability with NHS systems.
5. Value & Outcomes — quantified improvement in quality, safety, and cost efficiency.

Every answer in your submission should map clearly to one or more of these pillars, showing how your service supports the ICS’s collective objectives.

🧭 Step 1: Start with the ICS Strategy

Before drafting, always start with the ICS’s published Joint Forward Plan or Integrated Care Strategy. These documents set out each system’s local priorities — for example, frailty, prevention, urgent care, or mental health.

Align your bid narrative to these strategic goals, using their language and KPIs. Example phrases you can echo include:

“Supporting flow through admission avoidance and earlier discharge.”
“Reducing inequalities in access and outcomes for people with multiple long-term conditions.”
“Delivering joined-up, place-based care closer to home.”

Referencing these directly shows evaluators that your bid is grounded in the system’s priorities — not written generically.

📈 Step 2: Translate Partnership into Practice

Partnership can’t just be claimed — it has to be evidenced. Demonstrate how you already collaborate locally, or how your delivery model builds system connectivity. Examples include:

Joint discharge or step-down protocols with community health teams.
Shared care planning or data exchange with PCNs or social care partners.
Co-location of staff within same-day response, reablement, or frailty hubs.
Participation in MDT or place-based governance meetings.

Describe these mechanisms in plain, operational language. Evaluators reward clear structures — not aspirational statements.

💬 Step 3: Show Outcomes, Not Activities

ICS commissioners want proof that your service makes measurable contributions to system performance. Use the “activity → output → outcome” chain to build your narrative:

Activity: What you do — e.g., “provide rapid response reablement.”
Output: Immediate result — e.g., “70% discharged home within 7 days.”
Outcome: System benefit — e.g., “Reduced delayed transfers and improved hospital flow.”

Include two or three concise metrics per example, ideally tracked across quarters. Numbers move scores; adjectives don’t.

🧩 Step 4: Link Social Value to Population Health

In place-based NHS contracts, social value isn’t an add-on — it’s embedded within population outcomes. The most competitive bids demonstrate how social value activity directly supports health and care objectives:

Recruitment pipelines for local residents in high-deprivation wards.
Volunteering or co-production programmes improving community resilience.
Targeted health literacy or early-intervention campaigns.
Green travel, energy, and net zero initiatives that reduce health inequalities.

Express social value not just in economic terms but in measurable health benefit. For example: “Our employability programme supported 18 local residents into care roles, directly increasing reablement capacity in two PCN areas.”

🏗️ Step 5: Build Assurance Around Governance

ICS tenders demand demonstrable assurance on quality, safety, and information governance. Embed this into every relevant answer:

Clinical governance: Named clinical lead, incident reporting loops, RCA closure rates.
Information governance: DSPT “Standards Met,” Caldicott Guardian role, IG training compliance.
Quality improvement: Monthly audit dashboards, supervision compliance, learning themes closed.
Safeguarding: Level 3 training coverage, escalation logs, cross-system alerts.

You can support these sections with our Editable Strategies and Method Statements — ready-formatted for governance, safeguarding, and quality domains.

📊 Step 6: Evidence Collaboration Through Data

Data is the language of modern procurement. Use it to show coordination, transparency, and shared accountability:

Joint dashboards with partner agencies showing shared KPIs (e.g., response times, admission avoidance).
Data-sharing agreements or system interoperability with PCNs, UCR, or community health teams.
Quarterly trend analysis showing improvement attributable to joint action.

When your bid includes verified data — even in small samples — it strengthens credibility. Commissioners trust providers who can show learning and impact numerically.

🧱 Step 7: Use Local Case Studies that Prove System Fit

ICS evaluators look for tangible, place-relevant examples. Even small pilots or collaborative projects can demonstrate capability and integration. Use the same structure for each case study:

Context: Describe the local issue or system gap addressed (e.g., avoidable ED attendances, delayed discharge, health inequalities).
Approach: Explain the partnership or model used (e.g., co-located team, shared triage, integrated digital record).
Evidence: Present concise data showing measurable improvement.
Tender line: A one-sentence summary linking to outcomes.

Example: “Joint reablement and rapid response model reduced delayed discharges by 22% across two PCNs, freeing 18 beds monthly and improving satisfaction by 11 points.”

🧮 Step 8: Present Value in System Terms

Value in ICS tenders is not only financial — it’s about system efficiency and flow. Link your service logic to system savings and improved outcomes:

Flow: Reduced admissions → fewer bed days → lower cost per episode.
Safety: Incident reduction → less rework → better governance assurance.
Experience: Quicker access → higher PREMs → improved trust.

State value succinctly, e.g., “Our model saved 310 bed days in 12 months, reducing avoidable cost by £93,000 while improving community discharge rates.”

🧠 Step 9: Integrate Equality and Health Inequalities

Every ICS must demonstrate progress on health inequalities. Bidders who quantify equity outcomes tend to score higher. Examples include:

Access data segmented by IMD decile, ethnicity, gender, or age.
Targeted outreach in deprived neighbourhoods or underserved groups.
Translation, interpretation, and accessible format statistics.

Turn equality into a quantified improvement story: “Interpreter use up 28% year-on-year; satisfaction among non-English speakers increased from 81%→91%.”

🔧 Step 10: Build a Local Narrative that Feels Real

The best-scoring ICS bids sound like they were written locally. Small touches make a big difference:

Mention neighbourhood or place names (without breaching anonymity).
Reference local initiatives, voluntary groups, or population priorities.
Echo ICS terminology — “place,” “neighbourhood,” “population health,” “flow,” “integration.”

Commissioners recognise authenticity — local evidence signals readiness to collaborate, not just deliver.

🧩 Common Pitfalls (and Fixes)

❌ Generic content: Copy-pasted “we work in partnership” statements without local detail. ✔ Replace with named pathways, shared governance groups, or joint data audits.
❌ No system outcomes: Focus on your service, not the system. ✔ Link every improvement to an ICS-level outcome (flow, prevention, equity).
❌ Weak social value alignment: Lists of charitable activity. ✔ Tie social value to population health (e.g., employment in deprived wards → reduced inequalities).
❌ Unverifiable claims: “We improved patient satisfaction” without data. ✔ Add a number, timeframe, or audit reference — even small metrics count.

🚀 How to Prepare for the Next ICS Tender Window

ICS procurement cycles vary, but most renew or expand frameworks every 12–24 months. Preparing now ensures you’re tender-ready when opportunities open.

📘 Review your governance and quality data — align it to ICS KPIs.
📊 Gather quarterly metrics and mini case studies now.
🧠 Refresh your method statements and policies — ensure they reference integration and population outcomes.
🤝 Connect locally — attend ICS engagement events and join provider collaboratives.

We can help you structure these foundations through our Bid Proofreading, Editable Method Statements, and Bid Strategy Training services.

🧭 Key Takeaways for Providers

🏥 ICS procurement rewards partnership, prevention, and population impact — not just service delivery.
📊 Local evidence wins — use metrics, case studies, and local alignment to show system contribution.
🧩 Social value must connect to population health, not sit apart from it.
💻 Data and interoperability are scoring differentiators; use them to prove governance maturity.
⚙️ Read your ICS strategy and Joint Forward Plan before writing — it’s your scoring blueprint.

🩺 Strengthen Your NHS Tender Strategy

If you’re preparing to compete for NHS or ICS-based contracts, start here:

Bid Writer – NHS Integrated Urgent Care — for IUC, UTC, and OOH frameworks.
Bid Proofreading & Compliance Checks — ensure alignment and clarity before submission.
Editable Method Statements — governance, outcomes, social value, workforce.
Editable Strategies — ICS-aligned quality and partnership frameworks.
Bid Strategy Training — build internal tender capability and confidence.