Legal Services for Health
Framework Description
Legal Services for Health is NHS Shared Business Services' framework giving NHS bodies access to legal experts across eleven lots, from governance and public law to criminal work, debt recovery, counsel and multi-disciplinary support. It aims to be a one-stop route for health sector legal advice, with clearly defined coverage and a standard approach to costs. Applications for this framework are closed, and it runs to 31 July 2027.
Context & Use Case
NHS organisations face frequent change, including in procurement rules, and need flexible legal support. Trusts and other health bodies use it for advice on governance and transformation, mental health law, employment disputes, commercial contracts, property and construction, technology and IP, and recovery of debts, and to instruct barristers through the counsel lot.
Scope of Services
Lot 1: Governance, Structure, Transformation & Public Law Lot 2: Healthcare & Mental Health Lot 3: Employment Lot 4: Procurement, Commercial & Contract Lot 5: Property & Construction Lot 6: Technology & E-Commerce, including IP & Media Law Lot 7: Corporate Finance, Audit & Insurance Lot 8: Criminal Lot 9: Legal Recovery & Collection Lot 10: Counsel Lot 11: Multi-Disciplinary Support
Lots
Lot 1: Governance, Structure, Transformation & Public Law This lot covers services related to governance, organisational structure, transformation initiatives, and public law matters. Lot 2: Healthcare & Mental Health This lot includes services pertaining to healthcare systems and mental health support. Lot 3: Employment This lot focuses on employment-related services, including labour law and workplace issues. Lot 4: Procurement, Commercial & Contract This lot addresses procurement processes, commercial agreements, and contract management. Lot 5: Property & Construction This lot encompasses services related to property management and construction projects. Lot 6: Technology & E-Commerce including IP & Media Law This lot covers technology solutions, e-commerce services, and intellectual property and media law. Lot 7: Corporate Finance, Audit & Insurance This lot provides services in corporate finance, auditing, and insurance matters. Lot 8: Criminal This lot is concerned with services related to criminal law and legal proceedings. Lot 9: Legal Recovery & Collection This lot focuses on legal recovery services and debt collection processes. Lot 10: Counsel This lot includes services provided by legal counsel and advisory support. Lot 11: Multi-Disciplinary Support This lot offers a range of multi-disciplinary support services across various sectors.
Who Can Apply
It suits law firms with health sector practices, barristers' chambers and multi-disciplinary advisers. Applications for this framework are closed, so firms not appointed cannot join until the re-tender, likely around 31 July 2027.
Buyer Benefits
A standard approach to pricing and clearly defined service scope make legal spend predictable, and economies of scale help value for money. Covering criminal, recovery and counsel work alongside core advisory lots means a trust rarely needs to procure legal services elsewhere.
Next Steps
Appointed firms should prepare for call-offs with health sector case studies, rate cards and team profiles for each lot. Others should plan for the re-tender ahead of 31 July 2027: watch the Legal Services for Health page on the NHS SBS site, decide which lots match your practice areas, and strengthen NHS client references.
How Athena Can Help
For firms on Legal Services for Health, Athena's bid writing for law firms converts practice expertise into concise, scored call-off answers and models fee structures against rival firms on the same lot.
For the July 2027 re-tender, our framework lot planning helps decide which of the eleven lots to target and prepares case studies, policies and certificates early, while our public sector fee strategy covers bid/no-bid choices and pricing that wins without discounting too deeply.
