Value-based procurement (VBP) is an approach to buying medical technology that judges a product on the outcomes and whole-pathway costs it delivers, not only its purchase price. In England, national standard guidance published on 11 June 2026 sets out how NHS buyers should apply it. The guidance was published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) with NHS England and NHS Supply Chain. Where the guidance is used, value criteria must carry at least 60% of the evaluation weighting, and whole-life cost no more than 40%.

This guide explains what the guidance asks for, how tenders are scored under it, and what it means for procurement teams, clinical and biomedical engineers, and the suppliers responding to tenders.

What is value-based procurement?

The national guidance defines VBP as:

“an innovative procurement approach that focuses on how a product or solution can: best deliver improved outcomes, reduce total costs of the patient pathway, provide long-term benefits to all partners in the health system.”

In practice, this means asking a different question at tender evaluation. A lowest-price approach asks what a device costs to buy. VBP asks what it costs across its whole life, and what difference it makes to patients, staff and the services around it.

NHS Supply Chain describes the shift as moving emphasis away “from a reduction in product costs” towards “technologies that can influence a reduction in total costs within the patient pathway.”

A cheaper infusion pump that needs more frequent servicing, uses proprietary consumables and reaches end of support early can cost a trust more than a pricier alternative. VBP is designed to make that visible in the evaluation, rather than leaving it to surface years later in maintenance budgets.

Why the NHS is moving to value-based procurement

In September 2025, the government announced that the NHS would move from a “cheapest-first” to a “patient-first” approach to buying medical technology. The NHS spends around £10 billion a year on medtech, according to that announcement. Thirteen NHS trusts were set to pilot the draft guidance before wider rollout.

The national standard guidance followed on 11 June 2026. It applies to NHS buyers procuring medical devices, and services that use medical devices, in primary and secondary care. That covers:

• consumables and implantables;
• general devices, equipment and capital equipment;
• in vitro diagnostics and imaging;
• digital and AI products.

The guidance is applied at the quality assessment and tender evaluation stage. It does not cover the end-to-end procurement process, and it does not replace buyers’ legal obligations under the Procurement Act 2023.

The weightings: how value and cost are balanced

The guidance sets three rules for how an evaluation is weighted:

Beyond the mandatory social value domain, buyers choose how to spread the remaining value weighting across four other domains. They base that split on what matters most for the product and service being bought.

The five value domains

Each domain contains a set of questions or outcomes that buyers can use in a tender. This is the full list from the guidance:

Several of these, such as obsolescence, interoperability, implementation support and aftercare, are matters that clinical and biomedical engineering teams deal with every day. VBP gives them a formal place in the evaluation.

How whole-life cost is scored

Whole-life cost (WLC) replaces purchase price as the cost element of the evaluation. The guidance lists the components to include:

• purchase cost (unit pricing);
• implementation and operating costs: delivery, installation, training, energy, maintenance and consumables;
• post-warranty servicing costs;
• disposal costs and residual value;
• deliverable lifetime, in uses or years.

Bids are scored relative to the lowest WLC tendered. The guidance’s formula is L ÷ B × W. L is the lowest WLC tendered by any bidder, B is the WLC of the bid being evaluated, and W is the weighting applied to WLC.

Illustrative example: With WLC weighted at 40%, a bid with the lowest WLC of £100,000 scores the full 40%. A rival bid at £125,000 scores 100,000 ÷ 125,000 × 40 = 32%. That eight-point gap can be recovered in the value domains, which together carry the other 60%.

How quality responses are scored

Responses to value questions are marked on a six-point scale:

The guidance suggests responses of roughly 750–1,250 words per question, depending on complexity.

Value-based procurement vs lowest-price buying

A common question from procurement professionals is whether buying is really “all about price”. VBP gives a structured answer for medical technology: price still matters, but it is no longer the whole story.

What value-based procurement means for clinical and biomedical engineers

VBP makes engineering knowledge part of the evaluation rather than something added afterwards. EBME and clinical engineering teams often hold the evidence that the value domains ask for:

• Maintenance and service history to test whole-life cost claims for servicing, consumables and expected lifetime.
• Asset and fleet data to judge obsolescence risk and end-of-support dates.
• Integration experience to assess interoperability with existing devices, networks and electronic patient records.
• Training and user-support insight to evaluate implementation support and aftercare.

The guidance calls for clinical and finance involvement in validating evidence. That gives engineering teams a clear route to shape specifications and scoring. It also helps them justify replacement recommendations on whole-life value rather than purchase price.

What it means for procurement teams

For procurement and supply-chain teams, the guidance brings more structure and more preparation. Its procurement checklist (Annex B) covers:

• preparation and pre-market engagement;
• clinical input into the specification and evaluation;
• establishing baselines before tender, so claimed benefits can be measured later;
• evaluation readiness, including contingency for evaluator absence;
• award planning and post-award measurement against the agreed baselines.

The guidance is meant to be applied proportionately to the value, complexity and risk of each procurement. It does not replace existing legal requirements. Buyers remain responsible for complying with the Procurement Act 2023, or with the Provider Selection Regime where clinical services are included, and are advised to take their own legal advice.

What suppliers need to prepare

For manufacturers and distributors, VBP moves the tender response from a price and specification sheet to an evidence case. The guidance and supporting briefings point to the types of evidence buyers will expect:

• real-world data and clinical trial data;
• quantitative metrics against baselines, such as length of stay, readmission rates or throughput;
• patient-reported outcome and experience measures (PROMs and PREMs);
• safety data, including adverse events and harm grading;
• supply chain resilience plans and relevant certification, such as ISO 22301;
• implementation examples from similar healthcare settings;
• confirmation of interoperability with complementary products and systems;
• circular economy evidence, such as reuse, remanufacture and recycling data.

Health Tech Enterprise’s SME briefing advises suppliers to frame benefits in buyers’ terms: released capacity, fewer follow-ups, shorter procedure times, better patient experience or lower total cost. Products that compete mainly on price are likely to find VBP evaluations harder.

Suppliers who have not yet built this evidence should start well before a tender opens. Baseline data and implementation case studies take time to gather, and the social value domain is included in every procurement.

How VBP relates to the Procurement Act 2023 and social value

VBP sits inside the legal framework set by the Procurement Act 2023, not alongside or above it. The guidance also draws on:

• Procurement Policy Note 002 on taking account of social value in contract awards;
• the NHS Social Value Playbook (July 2025), which sets the required framework for the social value questions;
• the Design for Life Roadmap on environmental sustainability;
• MHRA guidance on medical device remanufacturing.

For a closer look at the Act itself, see our guide to the Procurement Act 2023 for medical technology.

Common questions

What does VBP mean in healthcare?

In healthcare, VBP stands for value-based procurement. It means buying medical technology on the outcomes and whole-pathway costs it delivers, rather than on purchase price alone. In England, it is defined and set out in national standard guidance published by DHSC, NHS England and NHS Supply Chain in June 2026.

Is value-based procurement mandatory for the NHS?

The guidance is to be applied proportionately to the value, complexity and risk of each procurement. Where buyers use it, the minimum weightings apply, and the social value domain must always be included at 10% or more.

Does lowest price still matter?

Yes. Whole-life cost can still carry up to 40% of the evaluation, and the lowest WLC bid scores the full cost weighting. But it is whole-life cost rather than purchase price, and the value domains carry more weight overall.

Does VBP apply to capital equipment?

Yes. The national guidance covers capital equipment alongside consumables, implantables, general devices, diagnostics, imaging, and digital and AI products.

Does VBP replace the Procurement Act 2023?

No. The guidance explicitly does not replace existing legal requirements. Procurements must still comply with the Procurement Act 2023, or the Provider Selection Regime where relevant.

Discuss value-based procurement at EBME Expo

Applying VBP well depends on procurement, clinical, engineering and supplier teams sharing the same picture of what value means for a given product. EBME Expo brings those groups together. You can examine equipment and ask detailed questions about servicing, interoperability and whole-life support. You can also hear practical perspectives on procurement from professionals working across the medical-equipment lifecycle.

Sources: Value based procurement national standard guidance for medical technology (DHSC, 11 June 2026) · NHS to invest in pioneering tech to drive down waiting lists (GOV.UK, 26 September 2025) · Value Based Procurement (NHS Supply Chain) · Value based procurement – Medtech SME briefing (Health Tech Enterprise, July 2026)