Summary of RM6397 – GCA Clinical & Non Clinical Temporary & Permanent Staffing Framework
Critical Timescales
- ITT publication date: Friday 7th August 2026
- Deadline for clarification questions – 3pm, 2nd September 2026
- GCA response to clarification questions published: 11th September 2026
- Tender response deadline: 3pm, Monday 21st September 2026
- Intention to award notice & start of standstill period: 8th February 2027
- End of standstill period: 17th February 2027
- Framework start date: 18th February 2027 (contract to be awarded for 4 years)
The Framework
This will be a multi-supplier framework for provision of clinical and non-clinical temporary, fixed term and permanent roles, and managed service (including master and neutral vendors) for provision of services across public sector organisations throughout the UK.
Please note that winning a place on the framework does not guarantee you any business – it is just a “right to supply” and you will need to complete mini-competitions and undertake business development activity post framework award to turn this into tangible business.
This framework will replace the current RM6281 (Clinical and Healthcare Staffing) and RM6277 (Non-Clinical Staffing) temporary and fixed term frameworks. It also provides the only direct supply route for permanent recruitment since the expiry of the RM6229 CCS Permanent Recruitment 2 Framework.
Number of suppliers to be awarded: Unlimited
Registration & Accessing the Documents
To access the documents, you must first register on the Bravo Solutions portal on the following link: https://crowncommercialservice.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html
You can then create an account, find this framework opportunity in the “PQQs & ITTs Open to All Suppliers” section, and follow the instructions on the portal to complete your bid.
Clarification Questions
Questions, clarifications and queries must be asked BEFORE 3pm on 2nd September 2026.
Questions asked after this deadline will not be answered. Questions must be asked through the portal as this is the only way that the GCA will communicate with bidders. Once logged into the portal, you will be able to ask clarification questions by clicking on the “Messages” tab and then clicking to “Create Message”.
Lot Structure
The lotting structure is as follows:
- Lot 1: Nursing and midwifery
- Lot 2: Medical and dentistry
- Lot 3: AHP, health science services and emergency services
- Lot 4: Social care
- Lot 5: Corporate functions (includes administrative and clerical)
- Lot 6: IT Professionals & digital
- Lot 7: Legal
- Lot 8: Scientific, technical & clinical coding
- Lot 9: Estates, facilities management and ancillary staff
- Lot 10: Permanent recruitment
- Lot 11: MSP – neutral vendor
- Lot 12: MSP – master vendor
Criteria
Central Digital Platform
As part of your tender, you will be required to register your business details on the Central Digital Platform, download the PDF from the CDP and upload this to the Bravo Solutions portal.
Cyber Essentials
You will be required to either:
- Have a current and valid cyber essentials certificate awarded by one of the Government approved Cyber Essentials accreditation bodies dated within the most recent 12 months; or,
- Be working towards gaining Cyber Essentials certification (awarded by one of the Government approved Cyber Essentials accreditation bodies) and be in a position to provide the certificate by the framework award date.
Previous Supply
You need to demonstrate that you have billed a minimum of the following hours for each lot you are bidding for within a specified 12 consecutive month period within the last 3 years.
If you can’t demonstrate this, your bid will be unsuccessful (even if you are a newly incorporated company).
You will need to list your clients (including contact details) together with the number of hours billed for each one within your selected 12 month period and pick the relevant drop down menu to specify the type of staff provided in Attachment 2b. The GCA will have the right of audit to verify these hours.
Threshold hours for each lot is provided below:
- Lot 1 – Nursing & Midwifery: 14,000 hours
- Lot 2 – Medical & Dentistry: 7,000 hours
- Lot 3 – AHP, HSS & Emergency Services: 3,500 hours
- Lot 4 – Social Care: 1,750 hours
- Lot 5 – Corporate Services (including Administrative): 60,000 hours
- Lot 6 – IT & Digital Professionals: 60,000 hours
- Lot 7 – Legal: 15,000 hours
- Lot 8 – Scientific, Technical & Clinical Coding: 7,500 hours
- Lot 9 – Estates, Facilities Management & Ancillary Staff: 56,250 hours
- Lot 10 – Permanent Recruitment: 5 workers placed
- Lot 11 – MSP – Neutral Vendor: 175,000 hours (with at least 50,000 via a single contract)
- Lot 12 – MSP – Master Vendor: 175,000 hours (with at least 50,000 via a single contract)
Insurances
You must have (or get) the following insurances before the contract award date:
- Employer’s Liability – £10 million
- Public Liability – £10 million
- Professional Indemnity – £5 million
QA / Compliance
All bidders must complete an e-learning module for each of the 6 NHSE standards as part of their bid using the e-Integrity Hub. This will involve your Compliance Manager (or equivalent) completing and passing modules relating to the 6 NHSE Check Standard and then disseminating knowledge to all compliance staff. Each module takes about 30 minutes to complete, so a total of 3 hours to complete them all.
You will be required to complete and pass each module before the submission deadline. On successful completion, you must download the Certificates from the e-Integrity Hub and upload them to your bid.
This replaces the pre-award audit from previous iterations of the framework, however, annual audits throughout the framework will remain a requirement.
You will have to purchase a licence before you can access the e-Integrity hub and there is a cost of £250 + vat to do this (additional cost if you need more than one licence). The licence will give you 12 months’ access to the portal. Once awarded a place on the framework, you will be required to re-complete each module annually (or if the person who completed the e-learning modules leaves – whichever is sooner).
Completing these modules successfully is a pass/fail criterion for your bid – you must score 100% to pass. If you do not pass first time, you will be able to re-complete the required modules again until you achieve full marks without being recharged.
More information relating to this can be found in Attachment 7.
Locations
You do not have to supply to every location in the UK, or every county within a region.
Financial Assessment
Criteria are shown below:
- For Transactional Lots (Lots 1-10) – Bronze FVRA. The GCA will undertake a Dun & Bradstreet check on your business as part of the evaluation. If your failure score is over 30, you will automatically pass the financial assessment. Brunton Bid Writing clients will be provided with a free D&B Credit Report (this usually costs £245 + vat) to ascertain their financial status. If your D&B financial risk/failure score is 29 or less, then you will be contacted by the GCA during the tender evaluation period and be asked to complete and submit the Bronze FVRA tool. The Bronze FVRA should NOT be completed and uploaded as part of the tender.
- For Managed Service Lots (Lots 11 and 12) – Gold FVRA. All bidders must complete and upload the Gold FVRA tool.
Carbon Reduction Plan
A Carbon Reduction Plan is required for the managed service lots only (i.e. lots 11 and 12). If you are bidding for Lots 1-10, you do not need to provide one.
Social Value
Social value forms part of all public sector tenders, however, it will be treated differently in this tender depending on which lots you are bidding for:
- Transactional lots (i.e. Lots 1-10 listed above) will require you to agree to a commitment statement to meet mandatory requirements without having to write a text answer.
- Managed service lots (i.e. Lots 11 and 12 listed above) will need to complete a 6,000 character written answer as specified in Attachment 2d (Quality Questionnaire).
Quality Questions
The quality questions in Attachment 2d vary depending on which lots you are bidding for:
- Transactional lots (i.e. Lots 1-10 listed above) will require you to answer yes or no to a number of quality questions without having to write a text answer.
- Managed service lots (i.e. Lots 11 and 12 listed above) will need to complete two 8,000 character written answers as specified in Attachment 2d (Quality Questionnaire – Attachment 2d).
Pricing
This must be completed for each lot that you are bidding for in Attachments 3a-3l.
GCA Management Fees
The GCA will charge all successful suppliers the following management fees on the total value of all sales, so this needs to be considered when calculating your pricing:
- Provision of Temporary Workers (excluding Direct Engagement) – 0.75%
- Provision of Work-Seekers (Permanent and Fixed Term) – 0.75%
- Direct Engagement – 3%
Evaluation
Bids will be evaluated as follows:
- Lots 1-10 – Quality & Social Value – 40% and price 60%
- Lots 11 & 12 – Quality & Social Value – 80% and price 20%
Scores are out of 100.
For Lots 1-10 you must score at least 70 to pass. For Lots 11 and 12, you must score at least 50 to pass.