Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust
Mindelsohn Way
Birmingham
B15 2WB
Contact
Andrew Gough
Country
United Kingdom
Region code
UKG3 - West Midlands
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at
https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Body governed by public law
one.5) Main activity
Health
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
UHB WMSDE Digital Histology Annotation - PME
Reference number
PROC.08.0812
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 48517000 - IT software package
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) is one of the largest teaching hospital Trusts in England and the West Midlands, serving a regional, national and international population. It includes Birmingham Heartlands Hospital, Birmingham Chest Clinic, Good Hope Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, Solihull Hospital and various Community Services. We also run a number of smaller satellite units, allowing people to be treated as close to home as possible.
As an NHS organisation, UHB will see and treat more than 2.2 million people every year across our sites UHB currently employs over 20,000 members of staff and we are committed to investing in their development and their health and wellbeing.
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 72260000 - Software-related services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKG - West Midlands (England)
Main site or place of performance
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust,
Mindelsohn Way,
B15 2WB
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
This Prior Information Notice (PIN) outlines the requirements for a Digital Pathology: Histology Annotation Process to be implemented to support research taking place within the West Midlands Secure Data Environment (WMSDE) at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB) located in Birmingham and Solihull, England.
Digital pathology whole slide images (WSI) represent a rich source of data that can be harnessed to develop algorithms that assist pathologists in diagnosis, providing critical information for treating a wide range of diseases. In creating these algorithms Computer scientists (CS) require WSI data to be prepared to facilitate their work. A crucial step in this preparation involves defining the pathology present within the slide and pinpointing its location so that it can be cross-referenced with the pixel data used by CS to train and test their algorithms. This process, known as semantic annotation, encompasses various levels of detail, from slide-level labels such as tissue type and disease status (positive or negative) to the identification of specific cell types and even subcellular structures, including organelles or viral inclusions. This briefing outlines requirements for effective and efficient WSI curation, to support the development of artificial intelligence (AI) based technologies. Implementation of this capability within the WMSDE with multimodal, longitudinal data from the NHS, would provide a world-class resource for AI development. Its builds on established capabilities derived from previous work on health data management including for the 100,000-genome project, the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, Health Data Research UK hubs as well as the current Regional SDE.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
21 February 2025
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
Suppliers wishing to participate in this market engagement exercise and express an interest in this requirement should respond to the questionnaire via the online form on the Health Family Single eCommercial System Portal (Atamis) by 14:00 on Monday 31st March 2025.
https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
Please search for C341035