Tech support for the dev. of the PCF requirements of the NHS Supplier Roadmap 2026 Tender

About this tender

NHS England is procuring a third-party supplier with expertise and experience in Product Carbon Footprinting (PCF) in the health sector. The supplier will support the selection, tailoring and testing of the technical PCF requirement for the 2028 milestone of the NHS Supplier Roadmap, which was approved by the NHS Public Board in 2021. The 2028 milestone introduces requirements for carbon footprints of individual products supplied to the NHS. The 2025 'Five years of a greener NHS' progress report narrowed this scope to high-emission areas, particularly pharmaceuticals, medical technologies and digital. There is currently no single methodology for measuring product-level emissions, so further work is needed to define a technical approach. The supplier will work with a technical reference group (TRG) of footprinting experts to identify existing methods and standards, assess their alignment with NHS policy intentions, recommend options and how they could be practically applied in the identified areas, and test them with suppliers using real data. The supplier will also report learnings from this process. The work must be delivered by the end of Q4 2026/27. The project is intended to help NHS England demonstrate regard for its statutory climate change duties under the Climate Change Act 2008 and the Environment Act 2021. It is also intended to give the NHS England team and local stakeholders visibility of key products' emissions so they can prioritise actions on supply chain emissions. Additional aims include identifying opportunities for UK innovation and growth, and improving health product value and supply resilience.

Key requirements

• ✓Identify and assess existing product carbon footprinting methods and standards against NHS policy intentions for pharmaceuticals, medical technologies and digital products
• ✓Work with a technical reference group and test recommended PCF approaches with suppliers using real data
• ✓Deliver recommendations and a report of learnings to support the 2028 supplier carbon footprint milestone by end of Q4 26/27

Relevant sectors

About this sector

Climate software and data funding supports emissions accounting, climate risk analytics, Earth observation, digital MRV and tools for planners. It is offered as innovation grants, public contracts for data services and support from technology programmes. Buyers generally look for data quality, interoperability and evidence that users rely on the tool.