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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Surge Capacity for FFP3 Fit Testing

Department of Health & Social Care · Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 1 Oct 2026, 06:52.

Opportunity overview

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is looking to understand current fit-testing capacity across the UK and how this could be increased quickly in a pandemic. This work will help DHSC to develop a fit-testing surge plan and put in place practical delivery models that can be used during a pandemic, as part of wider pandemic preparedness planning. Background To support HMG’s Pandemic Preparedness Strategy [1] and reflect recommendations published in the COVID-19 Inquiry module 3 report [2], DHSC is conducting market engagement to better understand the capacity for fit testing. This will consider capacity during business as usual and a pandemic, recognising that during a pandemic demand for fit testing for filtering facepiece class 3 (FFP3) respirators across health and adult social care could increase rapidly. This would result in a significant volume of staff requiring fit testing quickly in the early stages of a pandemic. Without a surge plan, there’s a risk of delays in enabling frontline staff to safely use FFP3s, which is a key risk to health and social care pandemic resilience. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pandemic-preparedness-strategy-building-our-capabilities [2] https://covid19.public-inquiry.uk/documents/module-3-full-report/ Who we want to hear from We are seeking input from: • fit testers and/or organisations providing fit testing • fit-testing trainers and/or organisations providing fit testing training DHSC recognises that organisations may not have previously surged fit testing during the COVID-19 pandemic. How to take part Please complete this Microsoft Forms survey: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MIwnYaiRMUyMH-9N6Jc6HD5FeWMrqfNMlI-J0y-poM1UOTFJT0pEWlNEVDZPUlhWVDRORVM5MVdZOC4u The deadline is Tuesday 23rd June 2026, at 11:59pm, and the survey is likely to take less than 20 minutes if you have the information readily available.

Classification

  • CPV18100000 — Occupational clothing, special workwear and accessories
  • CPV38540000 — Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring
  • CPV85000000 — Health and social work services

Lots

  • Lot 1Value not stated

Documents and notices

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
ocds-h6vhtk-06aa0b
Main Procurement Category
services
Status
planning

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
planning

Contract period

Starts
1 Jun 2026, 00:00
Ends
23 Jun 2026, 23:59

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
CPV
Id
85000000
Description
Health and social work services
Entry 2
Scheme
CPV
Id
38540000
Description
Machines and apparatus for testing and measuring
Entry 3
Scheme
CPV
Id
18100000
Description
Occupational clothing, special workwear and accessories

Planning and budget

Milestones

Entry 1
Id
engagement
Type
engagement
Description
Complete the survey here: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=MIwnYaiRMUyMH-9N6Jc6HD5FeWMrqfNMlI-J0y-poM1UOTFJT0pEWlNEVDZPUlhWVDRORVM5MVdZOC4u The survey deadline is Tuesday 23rd June 2026. Individual responses will be kept confidential within DHSC and used only to understand and quantify fit testing capacity, and explore options for delivering fit testing at scale during a surge. Only aggregated and anonymised findings may be shared more widely. Within the survey, you can choose whether or not to provide contact details. During or shortly after the response window, DHSC may wish to contact respondents for a short 1-to-1 meeting to discuss the information in your survey response and the wider context of your operations. Participation in 1-to-1 meetings will be entirely voluntary, but your participation may help to improve surge planning in the UK. This engagement is separate to the recent “Fit-Testing Solutions – Early Market Engagement” (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/009517-2026?origin=SearchResults&p=1), which focused on longer-term options to improve fit-testing capacity, including considering potential digital solutions. This engagement is neither a procurement exercise nor a call for competition. DHSC does not commit to any specific action at this stage. This engagement is for information gathering only. Further engagement may follow as required. For any questions about this engagement, please contact: fit-testing@dhsc.gov.uk
Due
23 Jun 2026, 23:59
Status
scheduled

Documents

Entry 1
Id
051275-2026
Document Type
marketEngagementNotice
Notice Type
UK2
Description
Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Published
1 Jun 2026, 11:19
Format
text/html

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Name
Department of Health & Social Care
Id
GB-PPON-PMQG-9965-CHZR

Identifier

Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PMQG-9965-CHZR

Address

Street Address
39 Victoria Street
Locality
London
Postal Code
SW1H 0EU
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKI32

Contact

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Id
publicAuthorityCentralGovernment
Description
Public authority - central government

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · London · UKI32 · SW1H 0EU · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. 051275-2026Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender ·