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BHTA members involved in community equipment, independent living aids, mobility support, and assistive technology services are encouraged to review this tender opportunity from Cheshire West and Chester Council for an integrated community equipment service across Cheshire West, Cheshire East, and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board users.
The service includes a wide range of community equipment, from simple daily living aids such as wheeled walkers, raised toilet seats, and commodes, through to more complex equipment including profiling beds, hoists, and specialised seating. Equipment will be provided to individuals for short- or long-term use, depending on assessed need, and will be collected, refurbished, recycled, or replaced when no longer required.
The contract is intended to support the timely provision of community equipment, helping people live safely and independently at home, supporting hospital discharge, preventing avoidable admissions, and assisting carers.
The council is procuring a loan-based community equipment service covering the full lifecycle of loaned equipment. Equipment will be used by eligible service users across the participating local authority and health partners.
This is an open procedure under the Procurement Act 2023 and is being run under the light touch regime. Cheshire West and Chester Council will hold the contract and pay invoices, with Cheshire East Council and NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board also able to call off equipment through the service.
The contract is demand based, with no guaranteed volumes or product types. The successful provider must be able to supply all listed items, as well as specials where required. The tender allows for additional and different equipment to be called off during the contract period to meet changing service user needs.
This tender is suitable for SMEs and larger providers able to deliver a full loan-based community equipment service, manage equipment lifecycle requirements, respond to variable demand, and source specialist items where needed.
The tender will be evaluated on price, weighted at 50 percent; quality, weighted at 40 percent; and social value, weighted at 10 percent.
Providers may be able to sign up to an early payment scheme, with details available in the tender pack.
Submit tenders electronically via The Chest.
Tenders and questions must be submitted by 10am on 11 June 2026.
Access the full tender documentation, including specifications and terms, through the portal link above.
Enquiries should be directed to Cheshire West and Chester Council: centralprocurement@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk.
A new tender opportunity covering the supply of community equipment and assistive technology across four local authorities in West Yorkshire has become available. The framework aims to support independent living and improve wellbeing for residents in Leeds, Bradford, Calderdale & Kirklees, and Wakefield.
The contracting authorities intend to establish an open framework to source a wide range of daily living equipment for both adults and children, along with specialist and bespoke items.
This opportunity is relevant to BHTA members operating in mobility, bathing and toileting equipment, postural management, beds and accessories, pressure care, seating, moving and handling, paediatrics, and specialist solutions.
Estimated value:
£59,631,453.12 (excluding VAT)
£71,557,743.74 (including VAT)
Framework duration:
1 April 2026 – 31 March 2031 (5 years)
Possible extension: Up to 36 months (to a maximum end date of March 2034)
This open framework has no maximum limit on the number of suppliers and will allow companies to join or update their product ranges at scheduled refresh points (approximately every two years) in line with the Procurement Act 2023.
The framework is being established on behalf of the following councils: Leeds City Council, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council, Borough Council of Calderdale, and Wakefield Council.
Only these establishing authorities may use the framework.
The framework consists of three lots. Suppliers may apply for one, two, or all three, but may only be awarded a maximum of one lot.
Includes individual items and replacement parts across categories such as bathing, beds, showering, medical devices, moving and handling, mobility, pressure care, seating, toileting, and visual aids.
Covers individual items relating to bathing, beds, postural management, moving and handling, seating, and toileting.
Covers specialist or bespoke products, including bathing, bed packages and accessories, medical equipment, toileting, pressure relief, visual aids, mobility, dressing, and kitchen products.
Suppliers applying for Lot 1 and/or Lot 2 will automatically be considered for Lot 3 (unless they opt out), subject to meeting the Conditions of Participation.
Orders under Lot 3 will be placed following mini competitions.
Lots 1 and 2 will be awarded on a product line-by-line basis, subject to the following four-stage evaluation:
Products must meet specification requirements to pass.
Lot 3 does not include tender-stage evaluation; instead, suppliers meeting COP requirements will be added to the lot, and orders will be competed as needed.
The award criteria for Lots 1 and 2 are based on:
There are no qualitative scored criteria.
For Lot 3:
Legal, financial, and technical checks will apply across all three lots. These must be passed for a supplier to be appointed to any part of the framework. Specifics are provided in the COP documentation available on YORtender.
Enquiry deadline: 12pm, 22 December 2025
Tender submission deadline: 12pm, 7 January 2026
Estimated award date: 16 March 2026
Next anticipated tender re-advertisement: July 2028
Tenders must be submitted electronically via YORtender.
Documentation, tender details, appendices, pricing schedules, Conditions of Participation, technical specifications, and instructions are also available through the YORtender portal.
The British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) is calling on the UK Government to deliver fair and sustained investment in the healthcare and assistive technology sectors ahead of the Autumn Budget, due to be announced on 26 November 2025.
The BHTA is urging government to act on the findings of the recent All-Party Parliamentary Group for Access to Disability Equipment report. The report highlights systemic failures leaving thousands without the essential equipment they need. Targeted, long-term investment from the government in community equipment services would ensure that people receive timely support, while reducing pressure on hospitals and enabling more individuals to live independently at home.
A recent BBC article exposed widespread delays in NHS wheelchair services, leaving many people waiting months or even years for appropriate equipment. BHTA and industry partners have called for increased funding for Personal Wheelchair Budgets, to ensure individuals can get access to the right chair for their needs.
BHTA members that provide wheelchair services to the NHS are constantly battling underfunding and increased service demand, which impacts their ability to deliver timely, high-quality care. Increased government funding would not only ease this pressure but also enhance the overall efficiency and sustainability of these vital services.
The BHTA continues to lead the national call to remove VAT on public access defibrillators through its Scrap the Heart Restart Tax campaign. This is a simple, cost-effective measure that would immediately make life-saving equipment more accessible in communities across the UK.
The issue is also gaining political momentum, following a recent debate in Parliament where MPs voiced strong support for removing the tax. The association welcomes this cross-party attention and urges the government to act swiftly to implement this crucial reform.
The BHTA also calls for greater funding for home adaptations. Evidence from an Age UK report highlights that delays in home adaptations are forcing older people into residential care unnecessarily, demonstrating that timely adaptations help people remain safe and independent in their homes for longer. Increasing Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG) funding would allow more people to access high-quality adaptation equipment suited to their needs – from stairlifts and homelifts to accessible bathing solutions and grab rails – reducing long-term costs for the NHS and social care systems.
David Stockdale, Chief Executive of the BHTA, commented: “We can’t build a fair and sustainable health system without investing in the organisations that make it possible.
“From ensuring access to life-saving defibrillators to funding the right wheelchair for every person in need, these aren’t luxuries – they’re essentials.
“The Autumn Budget is the government’s opportunity to show that it values ethical innovation, fair access, and the health of every individual.”
A new report, published today by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Access to Disability Equipment, reveals a national crisis in community equipment services.
The BHTA and Newlife, supported by Tendo, helped parliamentarians launch the APPG for Disability Equipment Access. The BHTA continues to support the APPG for Access to Disability Equipment.
The new report details findings from the APPG’s inquiry into community care equipment and barriers to access.
Community equipment provides children, adults, and elderly people with disabilities or temporary care needs with often vital equipment, such as harnesses, grabrails, and hoists. However, the report has found that almost three-quarters of people feel that systems providing community equipment is not meeting their needs.
According to the report, the crisis is leaving thousands of vulnerable people without the essential medical equipment they need to live safely and independently. The summer-long inquiry found the issue is systemic. The sector is unable to innovate and is held back by a creaking system, carers are unable to dedicate sufficient time towards patients, and patients themselves reporting the system simply does not work for them.
The report has found evidence of users waiting months and sometimes years for critical care assessments and access to critical medical equipment.
Entitled ‘Barriers to Accessing Lifesaving Disability Equipment’, the report found that:
Commenting on the report findings, David Stockdale, Chief Executive of the BHTA, said: “This report exposes the long-term, systemic challenges that those of us in the sector have been raising for years.
“The entire sector is committed to ensuring people have access to safe, high-quality equipment when they need it, but the lack of national oversight, inconsistent local commissioning, and insecure funding are undermining that goal.
“We urgently need a coordinated national approach that provides clear accountability, consistency across local areas, and robust, long-term investment. This report should serve as a catalyst for reform, ensuring the essential services that so many rely on are properly supported, resourced, and fit for the future.”
The APPG inquiry that fed into the report ran between July and September 2025. It has uncovered widespread evidence of systemic and in many cases unsafe delays.
The report found the crisis is in part caused by regional inequalities and the lack of national accountability, direction, and leadership. It concludes that long-term systemic fragmentation, underinvestment, and absence of political leadership are leaving vulnerable people and their families without the basic tools they need for dignity and independence.
To tackle the crisis, MPs on the APPG are calling on the UK Government to work with patients, carers, and industry to launch a dedicated strategy for community care equipment, overseen by a named Minister with clear responsibility for its delivery.
Launching the report in Parliament today, Daniel Francis MP, Chair of the APPG, said: “Across hundreds of testimonies, one message came through loud and clear: the system designed to support disabled children and adults is failing them. It is failing to deliver equipment on time, failing to provide the right support, and failing to listen to the very people it exists to serve.
“Under the current system we’re seeing children missing school, adults being forced out of work and carers injuring themselves. It’s failing patients, carers, and the sector alike, and it’s high time for the Government to get a grip.
“Access to community equipment is not privilege, it’s a daily necessity. We need a National Strategy for Community Equipment and clear leadership and accountability in its delivery. Ensuring everyone is given the right support at the right time is simply a matter of political will and commitment.”
The inquiry heard from 626 survey respondents, including equipment users, parents, carers, professionals, and suppliers. Many described a system that “barely scrapes the barrel of what people actually need to live their everyday lives”.
One equipment user told the APPG: “The delay has disabled me more and had a really negative impact on my mental health.”
Another parent said: “My child is being stunted by unsuitable equipment, missing vital years of development.”
Key report recommendations to government include reform funding and commissioning to focus on quality, not just cost, and support sustainable innovation, alongside reduce waiting times and delays through workforce investment and better coordination between the NHS and local authorities.
In addition, the report suggests that the government improves communication and transparency with families and carers through a national framework and central data monitoring; strengthens reuse and recycling systems so equipment no longer sits unused while others go without; and creates a National Advisory Board to give equipment users and carers a real voice in service design and delivery.
Mobility equipment supplier Dash Rehab has introduced the new Dashi Lite to its powerchair range. It is lightweight with a foldable aluminium frame and is designed for indoor and outdoor use.
Dash Rehab is part of RHealthcare, which was formed through the purchase of Remploy Healthcare. RHealthcare is a member of the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA).
The Dashi Lite features extra-wide tyres with anti-skid technology, hill hold assist up to nine degrees, and a reliable electromagnetic braking system, providing added reassurance for adventures and exploration.
The 4mph manual-fold powered wheelchair has “exceptional performance”, Dash Rehab states. It can travel up to 12 miles on a charge, with 150W motors and a 12-amp lithium battery which is fitted inside a quick-release battery case for easy access.
The Dashi Lite has fixed armrests made from aerofoil foam and a swing-away leg rest, which offer users a safe and stable resting position. For a comfortable ride, the backrest is designed to fit the body curve, offering support for the lower back and helping muscles to stay more relaxed when seated for longer periods. The seat and backrest are crafted from a breathable fabric to aid relaxation.
For flexibility and ease of use, the chair’s intelligent operating system includes a clear display with USB port for smart phones, tablets, and aids. For extra peace of mind, day or night, the Dashi Lite also features LED headlights.
The Dashi Lite powerchair is compact and can be folded manually, making it easy to transport, with an overall lifting weight of 21kg, excluding the battery. It has a maximum user capacity of 100kg.
Brent McIvor, Sales and Marketing Director at Dash Rehab, said: “Delivering on performance and ergonomics, we genuinely believe the Dashi Lite is a highly functional yet practical solution for indoor and outdoor use.
“It is our entry-level model and as such is priced competitively. Users will appreciate the chair’s light weight and easy fold mechanism for transportation.”
Retailers wishing to know more about the Dashi Lite can contact Dash Rehab on 0845 146 0600 or email sales@rhealthcare.co.uk.
Ambucare recently became a British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) member and specialises in servicing, repairing, and supplying new equipment to nursing and care homes.
BHTA recently caught up with Lee Thorneycroft, Director and Owner of Ambucare, to find out more about the company, its upcoming product launch that securely attaches pressure care mattress pumps to profiling beds, and why the BHTA logo delivers automatic trust to customers.
BHTA: Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Lee: “As a mechanical engineer, I have worked in the healthcare sector as a service engineer for 20 years. I did have a break for two years between times, as I worked for JCB Uttoxeter, but soon realised my future laid in healthcare as I knew I was actually making a difference to people’s lives.
“Having left JCB I joined Ambucare as a service engineer (my way back to doing the job I really loved). Two years in, I was offered the opportunity to buy Ambucare, which I took to the present day.”
BHTA: What is Ambucare, and what is the company’s ethos?
Lee: “Since taking over at Ambucare, we now have a healthy nursing/care home client base. Ambucare specialises in L.O.L.E.R testing of all lifting equipment in nursing/care homes across the UK.
“Ambucare not only services and repairs equipment but also supplies new equipment. We carry out bed and mattress audits also. We work on the theory that if a nursing home requires anything, Ambucare will supply or repair it.
“Our company motto is: Removing Barriers, Enhancing Lives.
“Our main ethos as a company is, and always will be, customer care. Our customers are our priority, and they will always come first because without our customers, we have no business.
“Transparency and honesty also play a big role within our company values; we always focus on this whilst dealing with our clients, as we always treat them with the compassion and respect that we would hope to be treated by others.”
BHTA: Is Ambucare launching any new products?
Lee: “Ambucare is just about to launch a new product called Securapump to securely attach pressure care mattress pumps to profiling beds in nursing/care homes and across the community, addressing issues such as infection control, health and safety issues, and expensive pump repair bills but more importantly bring huge benefits to the comfort of the end-user in the bed.”
BHTA: Are there any challenges your company is currently facing?
Lee: “As with many other companies I imagine, we are finding the current climate with price rises very challenging. We, as a company, are always having to work hard to avoid passing these price rises onto our customers, soaking up these price rises wherever possible.
“Also, since the UK left the European Union, we are finding that our suppliers are having difficulties with importing equipment/spare parts, resulting in our lead times to our customers being extended. This in itself soaks up our employees’ time, as they are having to communicate with our customers more than normal to update them about any delays.
“Fortunately, everyone is fully aware of the situation and they are very understanding, but it is time we could be spending elsewhere within the company. Very frustrating, but I feel there is nothing else we can do going forward until the economy slows down.”
BHTA: What are the benefits of being a BHTA member?
Lee: “We know that being a member of BHTA brings huge benefits to our company. Firstly, being able to add the BHTA logos to our social media and marketing products brings automatic trust that we are complying with what is required to being a member. For us, as a company, to have the knowledge that both ourselves and our clients have back up in the unfortunate event of any disputes arising is important.
“It is also satisfying to know that if in the future we do bring products to market ourselves that we have professional experts that will advise on overcoming problems and barriers that we would normally struggle to find.”
To find out more about how the BHTA can support your business and how to become a BHTA member, visit this page.
British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA) member Alert-iT is an assistive care technology specialist offering a range of epilepsy monitors, fall detectors, dementia care solutions, incontinence support items, and pagers and logging.
BHTA recently caught up with Rick Gunn, Operations Director at Alert-iT, to learn more about how the company started, what it offers, and how the BHTA provides invaluable support.
BHTA: Can you give us some background on yourself and how Alert-iT started?
Rick: “I have been with Alert-iT for almost 10 years now; May 2023 will be my tenth year! Before that, I was Global Supply Chain Leader for a UK-based business owned by General Electric.
“My background has been in operations, team management, material logistics, and project management for around 20 years.
“I was working as a consultant when I had a phone call from the founder of Alert-iT; he had heard of me as we had both worked in the same industry. He asked me to come and have a look at his growing business. I came on board as a consultant product manager and within a few months I was asked if I wanted to join Alert-iT permanently as a director.
“I fell in love with the business very quickly to be honest with you! The job had a real ‘feel-good’ factor to it right from the start. When we are more successful, it means that we are helping more people, making their life easier, and making the lives of carers less stressful, through the use of our technology.”
BHTA: Has Alert-iT launched any new products recently?
Rick: “Alert-iT has just released a new version of a general bed alarm. The Alert-iT P163 Bed Alarm is used to support a person whilst in bed or chair, alarming if they leave.
“The alarm uses a range of sensors to suit a wide range of situations by placing them on or under the mattress, on a chair, or on the floor. The P163 automatically alarms differently if it detects a bed and chair sensor or floor mat.
“It has an easy-to-press button located on the front, so a person can call for help, whilst also having the capability for the carer to escalate the call to urgent if they require assistance. The caregiver is notified of an event via either the Alert-iT failsafe pager or connecting to an existing nurse call system.
“Having a dual input gives the user more ways to call for assistance. For example, input 1 can be timed for bed occupancy while input 2 can have an easy-to-reach wired call button. Alternatively, if there are two beds or chairs near to each other it can monitor two users at the same time.
“The P163 is specially designed so it can pick up each person individually and send separate alarms.”
BHTA: It must be a great feeling to know that your company is helping to improve people’s lives.
Rick: “For sure. There is a huge emotional element to what we do on a regular basis, either through an email, a social media post, or a phone conversation that can quite often start off as a support call where someone has an issue with some operational product settings can become an in-depth conversation about their situation. I have often sat back and got quite emotional about it.
“Because you are involving yourself in people’s lives, and, for example, if you are speaking with a mum and dad about their son or daughter – I’m a dad – you are almost transporting yourself into their situation, into their lives, and you gain a small perception as to what their life must be like and what they are going through.
“Then when they tell you that your equipment is helping them in such a massive way, that’s a hugely emotional thing to be a part of. It’s very powerful to hear how you have helped.”
BHTA: Customer support must play a large role in Alert-iT.
Rick: “It does, and that is why we invest heavily in customer support. It is a huge part of our brand, which is why it is important to us to get customer feedback. Our commitment to customers is incredibly important to us.”
BHTA: What is Alert-iT’s plans for the future?
Rick: “Our plans are to complete the release of our new P200 Range of monitors as a Class IIA medical device to provide better support to carers of those with epilepsy.”
BHTA: What are the benefits of becoming a BHTA member?
Rick: “We were members after seeing that a competitor was a BHTA member, and we thought ‘that seems like something we should be doing’. When we first signed up, we had recently completed our ISO 34/35 medical standard. When you look at what requirements are needed to be a BHTA member and use your branding on a product, those were all things that we were already doing!
“So at that stage, the main benefit was in having the BHTA branding associated with our products for customers to see and for positive marketing.
“[Some of the main benefits are] tapping into the BHTA’s expertise, your ability to understand the bigger picture of what is going on in the industry, and also your ‘clout’. When the BHTA speaks up, it means more than when a smaller company speaks up.
“From a regulatory and an MHRA point of view, it means that issues we, as smaller companies, can become a big deal and that the issues need to be dealt with in a significant way.”
BHTA: How has the BHTA supported Alert-iT?
Rick: “We have had some amazing support from David Stockdale (BHTA CEO) and William Lee (BHTA Head of Policy and Compliance) with some problems that we have been having!
“In fact, it was when David Stockdale asked if there was anything that the BHTA could help with at our trade stand at an event in Dusseldorf that led to us asking for some advice.
“That conversation has meant that we have had some amazing support from the BHTA, which has really blown us away. In particular, the time we have had to speak to William Lee has been such an eye-opener for us. He is such a force and is so passionate as well that after speaking with him you really do feel like this guy has got your back.
“The fact that he and Kathryn Vaughan, BHTA Membership Engagement Manager, came down on a train to meet with us for what was actually a very short meeting just shows the commitment that the BHTA has to help its members.
“Also, William Lee has provided invaluable insights and support with our dealings with the MHRA regarding the MHRA decision to re-classify our core products to Class IIA devices. William Lee attended our site when our local MP came to visit to discuss the lack of support from the MHRA.
“When something goes wrong, that’s when you need support, and that is where being a BHTA member has proved to be vital for us.”
To find out more about how the BHTA can support your business and how to become a BHTA member, visit this page.
Specialist posture and pressure care management seating firm Tri-Chair recently became a member of the British Healthcare Trades Association (BHTA).
Since then, BHTA caught up with Shaun McCluskey, Managing Director at Tri-Chair, to find out more about the firm, how its specialist seating modularity grows with user’s changing needs and facilitates cost-effective refurbishment, and why it decided to become a BHTA member.
Tri-Chair was developed by Channel Healthcare, which is a team of experienced, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic independent seating consultants.
Channel Healthcare’s aim is to provide a timely, needs-based, and cost-effective solution to specialist seating challenges while exceeding customer expectations.
Tri-Chair’s goal is to make life easier for those tasked with equipment provision.
There are three specialist seating solutions available from Tri-Chair: Tri-Chair One, Tri-Chair Two, and Tri-Chair Three. They have different design and configuration options, but all models are underpinned by Tri-Chair’s chair frame.
Each option evolves and adapts to an individual’s needs as conditions progress or as users change. This modularity reduces the cost of specialist seating provision, enabling equipment loan stores to refurbish and reallocate a chair to a new user at a fraction of the cost of buying new.
Shaun McCluskey, Managing Director at Tri-Chair, explained: “Tri-Chair is a new modular range of specialist seating built on decades of experience within the industry. We aim to make life easier for those tasked with equipment provision. The Tri-Chair has the potential to evolve and adapt to an individual’s needs as conditions progress or indeed as users change.
“We are working with several highly experienced distributors across the UK and offer a next-day despatch to ensure clients’ needs are met before they potentially change.”
Recycling of a Tri-Chair to a new user has a number of potential benefits not only to the efficiency of equipment provision by the loan store, but to the effectiveness of occupational therapy community service, to the user who is in urgent need of postural support and pressure management, or the hospital discharge team looking to release beds.
Having readily available a specialist chair that is suitable for those that are ambulant yet require some posture and pressure care through to those with complex sitting postures following some simple adaptations is highly important.
The intuitive design of the Tri-Chair makes the adaptations and adjustments straightforward for store engineers to undertake without the need to hold exhaustive amounts of costly stock.
Furthermore, Tri-Chair’s adaptability enables it to be recycled to new users thereby extending the product’s lifecycle, minimising waste, and helping to reduce the carbon footprint of stores. Even in this small way, the Tri-Chair is contributing to a greener planet.
Shaun continued: “I spoke to Andrew Stevenson, former chair of BHTA three years ago about our dream of having a truly modular range of specialist seating that would help the likes of NRS, Millbrook, Medequip and independently operated equipment loan stores provide the very best service to every client.
“Three years later we our very proud of what we have created and the feedback from our customers has been fantastic. We are offering the range of modular seating via a network of trusted distributors across the UK and also have export customers already taking on the range. We bring passion, pride and knowledge back to the specialist seating industry along with good old fashioned customer service which for many seems to have slipped over recent years.”
Discussing the decision to become a BHTA member and what he would like the association to do more of going forwards, Shaun said: “I wanted to become a BHTA member as I feel the association helps bring likeminded companies together to help focus on driving our industry forward.
“We have supported the BHTA through several businesses through the years and feel proud to be a member.
“I’d love to see more training for members and found the pressure care awareness course ran some years ago to be one of the most informative and worthwhile courses I’ve attended.”
“We feel that the specialist seating industry has been stale for over 10 years with very little to get excited about,” Shaun explained. “Tri-Chair won the Innovation Award at the Occupational Therapy Show during the recent launch and have further developed since.
“We have just launched a new negative leg rest that provides 33 degrees of negative angle which is a first and will help a large number of clients that have developed tight contractures through Covid times.
“Our products will be constantly evolving ensuring we are the leading provider and will bring the passion and customer support that seems to have fell by the wayside in recent years.”
Tri-Chair is currently looking for experienced distributors in some areas of the UK. Interested parties should get in touch with Shaun at Shaun@trichair.co.uk.
To find out more about how the BHTA can support your business and how to become a BHTA member, visit this page.