Invitation to tender: Community participation and co-production resource

Invitation to tender: Community participation and co-production resource

The NHS Race and Health Observatory (NHS RHO) is commissioning the development of a practical and actionable open-access toolkit resource to support the NHS, and wider healthcare system in England, to embed community participation and co-production with Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnic patients, communities, and staff.

The resource will enable community participation and co-production across all aspects of healthcare, for example, in strategic policymaking, planning and commissioning, design and delivery, and evaluation. It will enable the work of national patient experience and public voice functions in the Department of Health and Social Care and Care Quality Commission, and support the implementation of the 10 Year Health Plan.

This work is in response to the clear need for sustained, meaningful partnership working with minoritised ethnic communities to tackle the entrenched ethnic and racial inequities in healthcare access, experience, and outcomes.

Purpose and aims

This project will deliver a resource that supports national, regional, and local health bodies to embed community participation and co-production in their work. The resource will:

• Address racism and mistrust explicitly, offering practical actions to tackle them.
• Signpost to and amplify existing resources and examples of good practice.
• Enable users to reflect, self-audit, and track progress through interactive and updateable formats.
• Support accountability and enforcement mechanisms to ensure meaningful action.

The resource will be designed for use by integrated care boards, local government, NHS providers, and other healthcare organisations. It will also serve Black, Asian, and minoritised ethnic communities and the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) organisations that represent them.

Outputs

The project will run over 12 months and include the following phases, leading to the following outputs:

• A publicly accessible summary of findings from phases 1 and 2.
• A co-produced, open-access resource hosted on the Observatory’s digital platform.
• Communications materials, in various formats, to support dissemination of the resource.

Who should apply?

NHS RHO encourages partnership bids, with the lead applicant being a community-led organisation embedded in, and led by, racially minoritised communities. Applicants should demonstrate:

• Expertise in anti-racism, community participation, and co-production.
• Lived and learned experience of ethnic health and workforce inequities.
• A commitment to ethical, equitable partnerships with racially minoritised communities.
• Capability in developing accessible, user-friendly digital tools.

Non-community-led applicants must evidence their track record of working in equitable partnership with community-led organisations.

Proposals should include:

• A project plan with methodology, timeline, and risk mitigation.
• A detailed fee proposal.
• Company or organisational information and relevant experience.
• Supporting evidence, including examples of similar work and references.

Timescale

Project duration: 12 months, with the resource to be completed by December 2026.

How to apply

Tenders can be submitted by email to [email protected] before the deadline of  24 September 2025. Please use the email subject “Tender ref: RHO_ Co-production Resource for your submission.

For further information, please feel free to contact: Rini Jones, Senior Policy and Delivery Manager at [email protected].