Care Tenders in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland care tenders are advertised on eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk), commissioned by the 5 Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts rather than the 11 councils, and bought centrally by BSO Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS). The regulator is RQIA, not CQC. Register under "Suppliers new to eTendersNI" to see and submit bids.
Care commissioning in Care Tenders in Northern Ireland
If you provide care in Northern Ireland, the structure you bid into is genuinely different from England, Scotland and Wales, and getting it wrong wastes weeks. Social care here is not bought by the 11 local councils. According to nidirect and HSCNI, it is commissioned by 5 Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts: Belfast, Northern, South Eastern, Southern and Western. Each Trust covers a whole area population, so a single domiciliary care contract can be far larger than the equivalent English council patch.
The portal also differs. Northern Ireland advertises and runs its public care tenders on eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk), the e-Procurement (EPPS) platform, not Contracts Finder or the Find a Tender Service. New providers must register under the "Suppliers new to eTendersNI" route before they can download documents or submit. If you are watching the wrong website, you will simply never see the opportunity.
Procurement is centralised. The Business Services Organisation (BSO) Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS) is, per the Business Services Organisation, the sole provider of professional procurement to all public HSC organisations, and it tenders on behalf of all five Trusts. So while a contract is delivered for a named Trust, the buyer-side process, templates and evaluation come through one central team.
One more correction that catches GB providers out: the regulator is the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), not CQC and not the Care Inspectorate or CIW. Domiciliary care agencies, care homes and nursing homes must hold the correct RQIA registration before they can bid credibly.
What is different about bidding in Care Tenders in Northern Ireland
The 5 HSC Trusts commission care, not the 11 councils
In Northern Ireland the 5 Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts commission social care; the 11 local councils do not. This is the single fact most GB providers get wrong. According to nidirect and HSCNI, the Trusts are Belfast, Northern, South Eastern, Southern and Western, and each holds statutory responsibility for health and social care across its whole area. Because a Trust buys across an entire population rather than a council ward, one contract can cover a much larger geography and headcount. That changes how you size capacity, plan rotas and cost TUPE in a bid: you are pricing for a Trust-wide footprint, not a town. There are no ICBs, RPBs or IJBs to navigate as in England, Wales or Scotland. Integration of health and social care is structural, built into the Trusts themselves, so your commissioning relationship and your contract sit with one Trust body.
BSO PaLS runs the process centrally for all five Trusts
Although Trusts hold the contracts, you tender through one central buyer. The Business Services Organisation (BSO) Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS) is, per the Business Services Organisation, the sole provider of professional procurement to all public HSC organisations and procures on behalf of all five Trusts. In practice this means consistent templates, evaluation methods and clarification handling across Northern Ireland, which is an advantage once you learn the format. Read every PaLS instruction precisely: word counts, mandatory documents and the pass or fail selection questions are applied uniformly. Build a reusable RQIA registration, insurance, policy and case study library so you are not rewriting core evidence each time. Submit clarification questions early through eTendersNI rather than guessing, because a single PaLS answer is published to all bidders and often reveals exactly what the evaluators want to see.
Trust-wide lots and banded multi-provider awards
Northern Ireland often awards on a banded, multi-provider basis rather than one winner per area, so read the lot structure before you commit. Following market engagement in June 2023, the Western HSC Trust's domiciliary care procurement was split into 9 lots with 3 contracts in each lot, advertised through eTendersNI. That banded model means you can win a place without being the single dominant provider, but ranking inside a lot drives your share of referrals, so your quality and price responses matter even after you pass. Decide early which lots match your real RQIA-registered capacity and your geographic reach. Spreading thin across every lot weakens each answer; targeting the lots you can genuinely staff produces stronger, scoring-aware submissions. Use the published lot maps and any market engagement output to model likely volumes before you price.
Councils we write bids for in Care Tenders in Northern Ireland
- Belfast HSC Trust
- Northern HSC Trust
- South Eastern HSC Trust
- Southern HSC Trust
- Western HSC Trust
NHS integrated care boards (ICBs)
- Business Services Organisation (BSO) Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS)
- Department of Health Northern Ireland
- Strategic Planning and Performance Group (SPPG)
NHS and continuing healthcare work in Care Tenders in Northern Ireland is commissioned through these ICBs.
Who commissions care in Northern Ireland and where it is advertised
All five HSC Trusts and HSC bodies advertise and receive bids through eTendersNI (the EPPS platform), with procurement run centrally by BSO PaLS. The councils listed elsewhere in the UK do not appear here because they do not commission social care in Northern Ireland.
| Body | Type | Procurement portal |
|---|---|---|
| Belfast HSC Trust | HSC Trust (commissioner) | eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk) via BSO PaLS |
| Northern HSC Trust | HSC Trust (commissioner) | eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk) via BSO PaLS |
| South Eastern HSC Trust | HSC Trust (commissioner) | eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk) via BSO PaLS |
| Southern HSC Trust | HSC Trust (commissioner) | eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk) via BSO PaLS |
| Western HSC Trust | HSC Trust (commissioner) | eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk) via BSO PaLS |
| BSO Procurement and Logistics Service (PaLS) | Central procurement body | eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk) |
Portals change. We confirm the live portal and registration steps for your specific tender before you commit.
What we write for Care Tenders in Northern Ireland providers
Domiciliary care tender writing
Supported living tender writing
Residential care tender writing
Nursing home tender writing
Continuing healthcare tender writing
Mental health tender writing
New to this? Read how to find care tenders and how to win a care tender.
Care Tenders in Northern Ireland: common questions
What portal do care tenders in Northern Ireland use?
Northern Ireland advertises and runs its public care tenders on eTendersNI (etendersni.gov.uk), the e-Procurement (EPPS) platform, not Contracts Finder or the Find a Tender Service. Per the Department of Health NI, opportunities for all five HSC Trusts and HSC bodies are advertised and submitted there. New providers must register under "Suppliers new to eTendersNI" before they can download documents or submit a bid.
Who commissions social care in Northern Ireland?
The 5 Health and Social Care (HSC) Trusts commission social care: Belfast, Northern, South Eastern, Southern and Western, according to nidirect and HSCNI. Unlike Great Britain, the 11 local councils do not commission care. Each Trust buys across its whole area population, so contracts cover a larger geography than an equivalent English council patch.
Who regulates care services in Northern Ireland?
The regulator is the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), not CQC and not the Care Inspectorate or CIW. Domiciliary care agencies, care homes and nursing homes must hold the correct RQIA registration. Your RQIA status and any inspection findings are core evidence in a Northern Ireland bid, so have them ready before you start.
How do the 5 HSC Trusts award domiciliary care?
Trusts often use banded, multi-provider awards rather than a single winner per area. Following market engagement in June 2023, the Western HSC Trust split its domiciliary care procurement into 9 lots with 3 contracts in each lot, advertised on eTendersNI. Winning a place is realistic, but your ranking inside a lot drives your share of referrals, so quality and price answers still matter after you pass. The 11 local councils do not run these contracts.
How much does it cost to have my Northern Ireland care bid written?
Your first tender is £795. We only take bids we believe you can win, and if a loss is clearly down to our writing error we rewrite the next one free. Our win rate is 96 percent. We work to the exact eTendersNI and BSO PaLS templates, build your RQIA evidence into the response, and size your answers for the Trust-wide footprint you are actually bidding for.
Bidding for a Care Tenders in Northern Ireland contract?
Send it over and we'll tell you free whether you'd qualify, before you spend a penny. £795 for your first tender.