Ambient Voice Technology (“AVT”) Solutions

The contract timeline is as follows:

Contract Start Date:

• The Contract Commencement is scheduled for December 7th, 2026.

Contract End Date & Total Duration:

• The framework agreement has a maximum duration of eight (8) years from the Commencement Date.
• Call-Off Agreements have a minimum Operational Service term of one (1) year and can be extended for an additional period of up to four (4) years, with each extension being no less than twelve (12) months.

Key Milestones and Phases (Indicative Timetable):

• Publication of ITT and Tender Notice: August 21st, 2026
• Clarification Period Starts: August 21st, 2026
• Clarification Period Ends: September 4th, 2026
• Contracting Authority’s Deadline for Publication of Responses to Tender Clarifications: September 10th, 2026
• Deadline for Submission of ITT Response to the Authority (12 noon): September 16th, 2026
• Evaluation of PSQ Responses: September 17th to 25th, 2026
• Notify Unsuccessful Bidders of PSQ Outcome and Issue successful Bidder Written ITT Responses to Evaluation Panel: September 29th, 2026
• Evaluation Panel Read/Review ITT Written Responses: September 30th to October 5th, 2026
• Evaluation Panel Agree Consensus Scoring of ITT Written Responses: October 6th to 8th, 2026
• Evaluation Report to be finalised and endorsed by Evaluation Panel: October 9th, 2026
• Evaluation Report to be Approved by DHCW CEO: October 16th, 2026
• Contract Award Notification Issued to NWSSP & Welsh Government: October 19th, 2026
• Board Paper submitted to DHCW Management Board for Approval: November 1st, 2026
• Welsh Government to Provide Formal Acknowledgement of Noting Award: November 12th, 2026
• DHCW Management Board Approval of Contract Award: November 12th, 2026
• Assessment Summary sent to Bidders: November 16th, 2026
• Publish Contract Award Notice – Standstill Period Commences (8 Working Days): November 16th, 2026
• Conclusion of Standstill Period (Midnight): November 27th, 2026
• DHCW SHA Board Approval of the Contract Award: November 26th, 2026
• Contract Award – Final Award Letter and Framework Agreement Issued to Winning Bidders: November 30th, 2026
• Contract Commencement: December 7th, 2026

The core scope of work for this tender involves the establishment of an Ambient Voice Transcription (AVT) open framework agreement. This framework aims to enhance clinician focus on patient interaction by minimizing manual documentation, reduce administrative effort in clinical note-taking and post-consultation tasks, deliver more consistent and structured clinical outputs through automated transcription and summarisation, and improve GP workflow efficiency via real-time or near real-time processing of consultation data.

The procurement specifically includes:

• The creation of an AVT open framework agreement.
• Defining and applying minimum entry requirements for bidders.
• Integration with GP Systems, specifically EMIS Web, within GP Practice environments.
• Meeting cyber security and data protection assurance requirements.
• Developing and applying framework-level Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs).
• Providing support for the Welsh language where applicable.

Core capabilities expected of the AVT solutions include:

• Ambient Voice Capture: Recording of clinician–patient consultations.
• Speech-to-Text Transcription: Converting spoken dialogue into text.
• AI Summarisation: Generating summaries of consultations.
• Structured Outputs: Creating structured clinical documentation.
• Suggested Coding: Supporting structured clinical coding.
• Review and Approval: Allowing clinician validation before finalisation.
• Integration: Integrating with GP Systems used in Wales (currently EMIS Web).
• Insights and Reporting: Generating insights from captured data.

Further specific requirements include the system's ability to translate Welsh transcripts into English, flag Welsh consultations, and automatically delete audio post-transcription.

The tender also covers implementation, support, and operations, requiring:

• A defined implementation approach for deployment across General Practices and GP clusters, including timelines and dependencies.
• Detailed post-implementation support and service management arrangements, encompassing helpdesk availability, incident response and resolution times, service availability commitments, KPI and SLA measures, and performance reporting.

The procurement explicitly excludes the replacement of existing GP clinical systems, use cases outside the defined clinical documentation scope, detailed operational guidance for GP Practices on local contract award processes, and associated hardware. The requirements are themed around AI Performance, Safety & Data, Clinical Functionality & Safety, and Data Governance & Security.