Procurement at DHSC
Source: gov.uk (2025-03-27)


Doing business with DHSC

Search for DHSC contract opportunities on Find a Tender (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search). (You’ll need to create a GOV.UK One Login to sign in to this service.)

Atamis is DHSC’s primary e-tendering tool. If there’s a DHSC tender you want to take part in, register for Atamis (https://atamis-1928.my.site.com/s/Welcome), and read the opportunities section. This will show you current DHSC opportunities as well as some global opportunities across other government departments.

Questions about procurement

If you have a question about procurement, please contact us using the details on the DHSC main page (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-of-health).

DHSC commercial terms and conditions of contract (non-framework)

The following contract templates can be used in the majority of cases when bidding for a DHSC contract. An exception is for procurements via a Crown Commercial Service framework, where the relevant call-off contract will be included in the invitation to tender.

Contract-specific clauses and schedules can be amended, or added to, as appropriate.

Tier 1: below procurement threshold - use the Cabinet Office short form contract (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/short-form-terms-and-conditions).

Tier 2: above procurement threshold - use the Cabinet Office mid-tier contract (https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/the-mid-tier-contract).

Tier 3: high value and/or complex procurement (typically more than £20 million) - use the Cabinet Office model services contract (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/model-services-contract).

Prompt payment

DHSC is committed to paying suppliers and organisations promptly.

The Procurement Act 2023 mandates that all procurement contracts include a 30-day payment term, which is implied into contracts even if not explicitly written into them. The term will also extend to any subcontractors that are wholly or substantially meant to contribute to the performance of a public contract.

DHSC has a mandatory purchase order policy - suppliers should always request a purchase order number to allow invoices to be paid promptly. Invoices without purchase orders will not be paid.

If the purchase order is for a specified period, and an extension is required, you must arrange the contractual side first before a revised purchase order is issued. You should also ensure that prices, quantities and description formats do not differ from those on the purchase order.

DHSC aims to meet the government’s target to pay:
- 90% of undisputed and valid invoices from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) within 5 days
- 100% of undisputed invoices within 30 days
Email all invoices in PDF format to xxx@xxx.xx (mailto:xxx@xxx.xx).

DHSC supplier code of conduct

This sets out the standards and behaviours we expect of suppliers contracted to support our work (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dhsc-supplier-code-of-conduct).

Procurement for small and medium-sized enterprises

Our small and medium-sized enterprise action plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/updated-small-and-medium-sized-enterprises-action-plan-published) sets out what we’re doing to make it easier for SMEs to become DHSC suppliers.