National Emergency Laparotomy Audit Contract

Opportunity to deliver the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA), a clinical quality improvement program across NHS-funded providers in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Jersey. The initial 3-year contract has a maximum budget of £951,168 (excl. VAT) or £1,141,401 (incl. VAT), with a potential 2-year extension valued at approximately £634,112 (excl. VAT). The successful tenderer will build on the audit's established track record (operating since 2011 under the Royal College of Anaesthetists) to enhance healthcare improvement through high-quality comparative data, real-time reporting, and robust engagement with clinicians, patients, and commissioners. Key responsibilities include developing quality metrics aligned with NICE guidance, systematically identifying and reducing clinical variation, providing timely data outputs through interactive dashboards, engaging patients and the public meaningfully, exploring data linkages with national datasets, and supporting coordinated improvement across emergency laparotomy pathways. The audit aims to drive measurable improvements in patient outcomes, reduce 30-day mortality and complications, enhance care for high-risk patients, and provide regulators and systems with consistent performance data to support early intervention and quality improvement initiatives. Flexibility to expand scope to additional devolved nations, Crown Dependencies, and non-operative pathways is anticipated.