Tender: National Infection and Sepsis Audit for Acute NHS Hospital Settings (England & Wales)

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The Authority is seeking a supplier for the National Infection and Sepsis Audit (NISA-Acute), a new national clinical audit of severe infection and sepsis in acute NHS hospital settings to provide benchmarked care data that identifies variation and drives improvement. The contract will initially cover NHS-funded care in England and Wales for three years with a maximum core budget of £1,146,300.00 excluding VAT (£1,375,560.00 including VAT); bids exceeding these core limits will be rejected and all pricing must be submitted only against this core value (the core value excludes any potential two-year extension or aspirational work). There is no commitment to aspirational intent, but with a possible two-year extension and aspirational work the potential ceiling value is £8,988,606.00 including VAT. The audit will prioritise early stages of care and is expected to align with NHS England’s sepsis Modern Service Framework and National Improvement Programme, the National Patient Safety Plan for NHS Wales 2026–2031, the UK AMR National Action Plan, and the new NICE guidance for suspected sepsis (NG253–NG255, Nov 2025). The tender background notes that sepsis is life‑threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated response to infection (NHS England MSF, 2026), that over 23,000 deaths involved sepsis in 2025 (ONS), that sepsis and infection drive substantial NHS and wider economic costs (over £1 billion on sepsis care and over £6.5 billion on infection care in England, with wider economic costs estimated at £10–15 billion annually, York Health Economics Consortium, 2017), and that 1,300 clinical negligence claims relating to sepsis between 2020/21 and 2024/25 cost £65.3m.