Mental health tenders can be a prime way to grow your organisation, work with high-profile companies and boost your reputation as a result.
But here’s the problem: the tender process is complex. The sheer number of documents you have to read, digest and respond to can be enough to make any mental health organisation put a pin in a project for another year. Especially as bid writing is often too complicated and time-consuming for an existing team to handle alongside their other responsibilities.
If the mental health bid writing process is leaving you with more questions than answers, know this: you are by no means alone. To answer your questions about mental health tenders in the UK, this page will cover:
In short: yes. Tendering and bidding are the same. The term bidding (or bid writing) is more commonly used in the US, whereas the term tendering (or tender writing) is typically used in the UK.
The tendering process can be overwhelming, especially when you’re trying to wrap your head around it for the first time.
Below, we break down the key stages involved in a mental health tender:
The first stage of any tendering process is the buyer releasing an opportunity. They can do this in one of two ways:
Regardless of whether it’s an open or closed tender, this initial stage serves as the first invitation for suppliers to pitch for the contract.
Once the buyer has read through the applicants’ PQQs and SQs, they’ll shortlist suitable organisations and send out ITT packs. The ITT pack will include:
At this stage, it’s time to submit a more detailed response.
It’s now up to you, as the supplier, to respond to the contract with a bid. Your bid needs to be free of errors or omissions, tailored to the needs of the contract and clearly outline the benefits you’ll bring to this opportunity. It also needs to present consistent information throughout and provide evidence for each point.
Unfortunately, the needs don’t end there. The tender also has to present solid ideas and a plan, as well as being clearly written and well laid out.
As you can see, there are a lot of elements to consider. And as you’ll be marked on the answer to each question, it’s important to leave no stone unturned in your tender. Other organisations bidding for the same contract certainly won’t.
Once the deadline for the tenders has passed, the selection process begins. The buyer will choose a strong proposal that responds to all the technical elements of the contract, seems most suitable to their needs and maximises their expenditure. Ultimately, in this stage, they’re looking for three things: value, quality and experience.
As the mental health & social care bid writing process is extremely complicated, mistakes are common. Being aware of these is vital so you can avoid making the same blunders:
Cookie-cutter proposals are responses that have been used for multiple bids without being altered. This is a big no-go, and here’s why: imagine you’re applying for two jobs: one as a mental health researcher and another as a lecturer. You wouldn’t use the same CV, would you? This is what it means to use a cookie-cutter proposal in the tendering process.
Your bid needs to answer the buyer’s exact requirements. If you copy and paste from a previous opportunity that had differing requirements, you will get marked down for it. If it’s irrelevant on more than one occasion, this will signal to the buyer that you’re not serious about this opportunity.
Bid writing for healthcare tenders takes time and requires your full attention. If you’re unable to give this, you’ll be more likely to cut corners. What’s more, if you’re rushing or you’re new to the process and haven’t learnt it inside and out, you run the risk of missing important details.
Unfortunately, cutting corners or missing details can affect your prospects. If this is detected by the buyer (and it often is), they’ll likely disregard your proposal completely.
When writing your tender, you’ll have to answer the questions provided in the tender documents. Sometimes, these questions can be straightforward, and you’ll think, “I know exactly how to answer this.” Others will be complex, containing multiple elements and leaving your head reeling, wondering what part to answer first and how.
It can be incredibly tempting to jump straight into answering at this point, getting all of your thoughts down on paper without mapping out the question and planning your answer. It’s important that you don’t do this – unstructured answers, or responses that don’t answer the question, will be marked down.
To write a successful bid and gain contracts, you must have two things:
It also helps to be a specialist within the sector you’re applying for.
If you don’t understand the procurement process, or you struggle with your writing abilities, it’ll be very difficult to procure a tender. This is where bid writers for mental health companies come in handy.
A freelance tender writer (or mental health bid writing agency) can be a real asset in the procurement process. Let’s explore the main benefits of hiring a bid writer:
Life is busy, and many employees are juggling multiple tasks and roles. So, the chances are that none of your team members will have the capacity to fully invest their time in writing a mental health bid. And in all likelihood, you don’t have the time, either!
In this regard, a mental health & social care bid writer can be invaluable. They are specifically trained in writing bids, so they understand how the process works. They’ve done it before and secured bids in the past, so they won’t have to learn the skill from scratch.
If you or your team member is trying to write a bid, this will likely be a very small part of your overall role. For a bid writer, this is their role. So, they’re able to invest fully in the process. Effectively, this means they’re less likely to cut corners, miss important details and make errors on your proposal.
What’s more, as they’ve spent a portion of their lives fully investing in understanding this process, they know how buyers evaluate submissions. So, they’ve learnt some tricks of the trade and will know exactly what the public or private sector organisation is looking for.
You know the three skills we spoke about above (knowledge of procurement regulations, strong writing capability and mental health expertise)? A highly capable mental health bid writer will have at least the first two of these skills.
And if you want to go for the triple threat, ensure you hire a mental health bid writer with professional mental health experience, such as a bid writer from PsychWrite. At PsychWrite, all of our bid writers are also mental health professionals.
Plain and simple. The combination of expertise, full attention and knowledge of the procurement process places health and social care tender writers in the best possible position of producing a successful bid. This can directly impact the growth and reputation of your company, and ensure less time and energy is wasted on unsuccessful bids.
Tendering is a tricky process. But when you have the right support behind you, it becomes a real opportunity to benefit your business.
Partnering with an experienced mental health bidding agency allows you to have confidence that your submission reflects the full value of the work you do. And by putting your faith in mental health writers who understand both the clinical side and the procurement process, you can focus on doing what you do best: delivering high-quality care.
At PsychWrite, you’ll work with a mental health professional – one that brings expertise of the mental health sector, experience in writing and a deep understanding of procurement to your bid. This will give you the best possible shot of securing new funding or contracts.
We already support leading mental health organisations across the UK and internationally, including the Mental Health Foundation, Positivepsychology.com and Counselling Directory. So, we can help you feel prepared, supported and ready to compete.
For help with bid writing in mental health tenders, contact us.
Still have questions? Here are answers to some of the most commonly asked queries:
Some of the best places to find mental health tenders in the UK are:
No, private sector businesses also use the tendering process.
In the past, you’d mostly find public sector organisations using the tendering process. However, many private sector businesses have now also recognised the benefits of tendering. For example, it can help them ensure their suppliers are remaining competitive with their pricing and that they’re demonstrating maximum competency levels.
PQQ stands for pre-qualification questionnaire. You may be asked to complete this before submitting a formal proposal.
ITT stands for invitation to interview. A buyer will send out ITTs as the first stage of a closed tender, or after receiving PQQ or SQ responses in an open tender.
SQ means selection questionnaire. SQs were introduced in 2016 to replace PQQs, but both are still used. Similarly, SPDs, which stands for single procurement documents, are used in public sector tendering to replace PQQs.
An open tender means there is no separate PQQ – the buyer publishes the opportunity and allows people to submit detailed bids. A closed tender, on the other hand, involves the buyer asking for a PQQ and then shortlisting applicants through an invitation to tender.