TECS 3 timeline
NHS SBS set out these dates at its bidder webinar on 24th September 2026, and has said they’re subject to change. Read the tender notice on Find a Tender for the live details.
- Tender opens: 16th October 2026, when bidders can access SAP Ariba and clarification questions open
- Deadline for clarification questions: 3rd November 2026
- Deadline for tender submissions: 12:00 noon, Friday 27th November 2026
- Evaluation: 28th November 2026 to 9th March 2027
- Contract award notices: 18th August 2027, followed by a standstill period to 27th August 2027
- Due diligence and framework contract signatures: 19th September to 6th October 2027
- Framework commences: 7th October 2027
- Current TECS framework expires: 8th January 2027
- Value and term: £100m, over a 4-year contract period with a break clause after the initial 2 years
Technology Enabled Care Services 3 (TECS 3, SBS10529) is the framework NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) is putting in place for telecare, remote monitoring and digital care technology across the NHS and the wider public sector.
If you supply alarm receiving centre platforms, alarms and peripherals, remote clinical monitoring or similar services, it’s worth understanding how it works before you get listed. TECS 3 is the next iteration of the TECS framework.
What is TECS 3?
TECS 3 is a framework agreement run by NHS SBS, which procures frameworks on behalf of NHS and social care organisations. NHS SBS calls those customers Approved Organisations and acts as their agent.
That makes it a different buyer from the Government Commercial Agency (GCA), which runs most of the frameworks we write about. The process, the portal and the paperwork will look different, even though the underlying work of evidencing your capability is familiar.
NHS SBS’s preliminary market engagement notice describes TECS 3 as a fit-for-the-future framework to support Technology Enabled Care Services across the NHS and wider public sector. The aim is to speed up the adoption of digital tools that support health and social care transformation, promote patient independence and enable proactive, remote models of care.
It’s a closed framework let under the Procurement Act 2023, so there’s one application window, and no limit on the number of suppliers that can join. The procurement runs on NHS SBS’s SAP Ariba eSourcing system.
What TECS 3 covers
NHS SBS set out 6 lots at its bidder webinar. Each has a primary customer group, and you bid only for the lots that fit what you sell.
- Lot 1: Remote Clinical Monitoring. Digital platforms, connected medical devices and services that let organisations remotely monitor and manage patients’ acute or chronic conditions outside clinical settings, such as hospital at home and virtual ward services. Primarily for NHS bodies.
- Lot 2: Intelligent Activity Monitoring. Non-intrusive, sensor-based systems that monitor day-to-day activity in someone’s home, spot changes from their normal patterns and prompt early intervention, without taking clinical measurements.
- Lot 3: Digital Care and Inclusion Technologies for Education. Tools that support digital participation and inclusion for learners who may be neurodiverse, disabled, disadvantaged or have additional needs, such as text-to-speech and language translation.
- Lot 4: Remote Rehabilitation and Therapy Support. Digital tools that deliver structured rehabilitation after illness, injury or disability. Primarily for social care organisations.
- Lot 5: Alarm Receiving Centre Platforms. Software platforms for alarm receiving centres. Primarily for social care organisations, including local authority monitoring centres and housing providers.
- Lot 6: Digital Alarm Solutions and Peripherals. Devices for automatic and remote, non-clinical monitoring of people at home or in the community, such as fall alarms, built to work with other systems.
Lots 1, 4 and 5 can also be used by the wider public sector. Each lot has its own questions and, in some cases, its own accreditations, so check the requirements for each lot before deciding where you fit.
Who should be looking at this route to market?
- Telecare and alarm suppliers: providers of alarm receiving centre platforms, digital alarms and peripherals (Lots 5 and 6)
- Remote monitoring suppliers: providers of remote clinical monitoring and activity monitoring (Lots 1 and 2)
- Rehabilitation and therapy technology suppliers: providers of digital rehabilitation tools (Lot 4)
- Education technology suppliers: providers of digital inclusion and assistive tools for colleges and universities (Lot 3)
- Suppliers to social care and housing: Lots 4 and 5 are aimed at social care organisations, including local authorities and housing providers
- SMEs and voluntary, community and social enterprises: NHS SBS has flagged TECS 3 as particularly suitable for them
- Suppliers new to this route: a framework is a way to reach NHS and social care buyers without bidding for each one separately
How to get on TECS 3
You get on TECS 3 by winning a place in NHS SBS’s competitive tender. The application window is fixed, so the preparation you do early makes the difference.. Don’t assume a listing on the current TECS framework carries across, and plan to apply in your own right.
- Register early. Create your profile on the Central Digital Platform. NHS SBS’s eSourcing system, SAP Ariba, needs a valid DUNS number from Dun & Bradstreet for the organisation that will enter into the framework, so start that now if you don’t have one.
- Watch for the tender notice. NHS SBS publishes it on Find a Tender. Subscribe to notifications for SBS10529, so you see it the day it publishes. NHS SBS’s earlier notice for this framework is already there under the same reference, so you can see how it’s laid out.
- Choose your lots. Match lots to what you can sell and evidence today, and leave alone the ones you couldn’t support.
- Gather your evidence. Pull together recent case studies and contract references for each lot, with specific outcomes and numbers. NHS SBS has said there will be a significant weighting on sustainability and Social Value in the procurement documents, so gather evidence for both. Keep your certifications, insurance and financial information current, since the conditions of participation will be in the tender documents.
- Write and submit your bid. Scored written answers carry the weight, so give them proper time across every lot you bid for, and submit before the deadline.
- Award. NHS SBS evaluates the bids, announces successful suppliers and the framework goes live.
A place on TECS 3 gives you the right to compete, and you win the work from customers afterwards. Plan who will handle those opportunities before you submit your bid.
Next steps
TECS 3 is a niche framework with a small field of suppliers, and the tender window is short. The suppliers who start their preparation early are the ones best placed to submit a strong bid.
We’ve supported over 590 suppliers through public sector framework applications. If you’d like help choosing your lots, getting your evidence in order or writing a bid that scores, book a chat about TECS 3 or read about our Framework Listing Services.
