Awarded to BJSS Limited

Start date: Monday 30 March 2020
Value: £150,000
Company size: large

Health Education England (HEE)

Educational Image Interpretation Platform

10 Incomplete applications

7 SME, 3 large

16 Completed applications

12 SME, 4 large

• Published: Monday 17 February 2020
• Deadline for asking questions: Monday 24 February 2020 at 11:59pm GMT
• Closing date for applications: Monday 2 March 2020 at 11:59pm GMT

Overview

• Summary of the work: A supplier is required to establish the needs and requirements of a range of professions for an image interpretation platform, to lead to a proof of concept and prototype of the platform, against the Government Digital Service framework.
• Latest start date: Tuesday 31 March 2020
• Expected contract length: Upto 12 months
• Location: No specific location, for example they can work remotely
• Organisation the work is for: Health Education England (HEE)
• Budget range: Up to a maximum of £150,000 plus VAT

About the work

• Why the work is being done: HEE, in collaboration with the Royal College of Pathologists and other stakeholders, want to develop an education image interpretation platform.; ; The platform will be used to train histopathologists on how to interpret microscope slides of human tissues samples. It will also need to provide learning opportunities for other professions, including radiology and disciplines that require image interpretation skills. ; ; The platform and programme development provide the opportunity to deliver a new model of training in line with the vision of a future digital ready workforce by the Topol review. It will address some of the current workforce problems and future workforce challenges.
• Problem to be solved: The Topol review (https://topol.hee.nhs.uk/, 2019) has highlighted the need to adapt to developing technology, and a range of workforce reviews have emphasised the need to provide increasing flexibility during training pathways. These requirements are on the back of an urgent need to support development of the critically important workforce in pathology. ; ; This project will deliver an educational image interpretation platform, which will enable trainees to view digital materials linked in graded stages to the Histopathology FRCPath and Advanced Practice in Histopathology Reporting curriculum across different specialty areas in a sequence. It will also deliver a digital education and training solution for other professions who are heavily reliant on image interpretation skills.; ; • Conduct user needs research with a sample of potential end users and stakeholders to:; - identify user needs and expectations in interpreting histopathology and other images.; - inform the potential integration of the HEE Learning Solution, following the GDS process. This may include individual interviews and focus groups, using wireframes and prototypes.; ; • Provide a report detailing the results of the research and recommendations.; ; • Build an Alpha prototype of the solution.
• Who the users are and what they need to do: These are example user journeys that will need exploring:; - As a learner (trainee histopathologist) I need to review images (tissue samples) for my personal/professional development.; - As a tutor/trainer I need to access and share appropriate learning resources with my students/trainees.; - As a commissioner of learning I need to ensure staff have access to the best learning in the most cost-effective way.
• Early market engagement: A couple of solutions have been explored but not formally:; - the Philips PathXL product; - the open source QuPath project on GitHub; ; It is currently felt that neither of these meet our needs.
• Any work that’s already been done: Initial discussions have taken place with the Royal College of Pathologists and the National Breast Imaging Academy as to the need and use case for such a platform. ; ; There are image interpretation platforms available to learners, but their functionality is limited, they address specific learning needs and requirements. They do not meet all the needs of a wider group of users, nor are the platforms scalable or sustainable in a way that is required by the system.
• Existing team: You will be working with the in-house HEE Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Team, a clinical lead and the Royal College of Pathologists.
• Current phase: Alpha

Work setup

• Address where the work will take place: HEE's Technology Enhanced Learning Team is a distributed team, therefore we are open to working with suppliers from any location. HEE's two main offices are in London and Leeds if a face-to-face location is required for face-to-face meetings/workshops. However, we do support remote working to save travel time and costs.
• Working arrangements: We will want the specialist/team to be outcomes focused rather than to work for set times in set locations. So, we will want the specialist/team to work on dedicated, pre-planned activities with planned outcomes.

Additional information

Skills and experience

Buyers will use the essential and nice-to-have skills and experience to help them evaluate suppliers’ technical competence.

• Essential skills and experience:
  • Possess demonstrable experience of conducting user research activities and outputs
  • Possess demonstrable experience of digital online learning services
  • • Possess demonstrable experience of developing a proof of concept for a digital development project
  • Possess demonstrable experience of building a prototype of a digital development project
  • Possess demonstrable experience of analysing and developing actionable recommendations from user research
• Nice-to-have skills and experience:
  • Demonstrate experience of working with public and Government health departments and arms length bodies
  • Demonstrate experience of working with image interpretation tools and services

How suppliers will be evaluated

All suppliers will be asked to provide a written proposal.

• How many suppliers to evaluate: 3
• Proposal criteria:
  • Evidence of delivering user research activities and outputs in line with the Government Digital Service’s Design Principles and Digital Service Standard
  • Evidence of developing a proof of concept for a digital development project
  • Evidence of building a prototype for a digital development project
  • Evidence of analysing and developing actionable recommendations from user research
• Cultural fit criteria:
  • Work in a very transparent and collaborative manner with our organisation
  • Be open to including members of the in-house team to be part of the user research activities
  • Take responsibility for their work
• Payment approach: Fixed price
• Additional assessment methods:
  • Work history
  • Presentation
• Evaluation weighting:

  Technical competence

  70%

  Cultural fit

  10%

  Price

  20%

Questions asked by suppliers

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