UK.gov hikes health AI tender by 400% – and hundreds of millions – after a chat with suppliers

AI + ML

Maximum framework value sky-rockets from £150M to £600M after 'an extensive intelligence gathering exercise'

The UK government has upped the maximum value of a health service AI framework agreement by £600 million following a conversation with tech suppliers.The National Health Service's Shared Business Services (NHS SBS), a purchasing quango under the Department for Health and Social Care, recently launched a competition for places on a framework for NHS AI and robotics worth a maximum of £750 million excluding tax. Back in January 2025, the same procurement was priced at a maximum of £150 million, excluding tax, in an early market engagement with suppliers.An NHS SBS spokesperson said: “As with all our framework agreements, we conducted an extensive intelligence gathering exercise whilst bringing this framework to market. During this, both suppliers and customers indicated that a higher threshold was appropriate, and this has been approved by NHS England, the Cabinet Office and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.”

The competition seeks to attract suppliers offering a broad sweep of AI and robotics systems. A framework deal offers suppliers an indicative amount of spend in return for pre-agreed prices. NHS SBS can charge a levy on all deals agreed under the framework.