Discharge to Assess - 24 Hour Nursing Step Down

NHS Midlands and Lancashire CSU on behalf of the named CCGs wish to invite prospective providers to express their interest in the tender for Discharge to Assess - 24 Hour Nursing Step Down.

The CCGs are looking to procure 24 hour nursing step down places (beds) from which pathway 3 services can be delivered. The core principle of this service is that discharge from acute care should not be delayed by the requirement to assess needs for further support. Pathway 3 is intended to help those who are likely to need continuing 24-hour care and support to leave hospital earlier by arranging health and social care services and assessment to take place in a more suitable environment. This means hospital beds will be used by those who need hospital care, not by those undergoing on going assessments or making choices about their future. Moving assessment away from hospital offers a more relaxed and appropriate environment to enable informed long-term care decisions to be made.

The objective of the service is to: o Support timely hospital discharge so that people stay until their acute medical episode is finished and then move to a more appropriate location for assessment of their future care needs; o Provide an environment which helps people meet their rehabilitation and reablement potential to become as functionally independent as possible; o Maximise peoples' capacity for independent living, increase the number of people able to remain living at home and reduce the number of people permanently admitted to long term care; o Reduce demand on inappropriate and costly services.

The care provider must be able to provide a care environment and competent nursing and care workforce which can sustain and clinically manage the needs of this group of clients and avoid unnecessary readmission to secondary care.

The service Provider will be required to work collaboratively with existing providers as part of an integrated,evidence based approach to patient care.

The CCG anticpates that this contract will be awarded to one service provider or a lead provider on behalf of a consortium.

The Contract will be for a period of 2 years with the option to extend for upto a further 12 months.

The successful provider will be required to sign the NHS Standard Contract for the service and accept all terms and conditions.

Additional information: Midlands and Lancashire CSU is conducting this procurement exercise as a central purchasing body for another NHS body with whom the successful bidder(s) will enter into contracts for the supply of the services.

The contract conditions will be set out in the Invitation to Tender. Further details will be made available via documentation and information released during the course of the tender process.

This exercise will be conducted on the Midlands and Lancashire CSU portal at https://mlcsu.bravosolution.co.uk i) Candidates should register on the portal at https://mlcsu.bravosolution.co.uk (registration and use of the website is free of charge). If your organisation has registered previously, you do not need to re-register. ii) Once registered, candidates must submit your reply on the website and by email by the deadline stated. For technical support in submitting your expression of interest contact the BravoSolution Help-desk on +44 8003684850 or E-mail: [email protected].

Light Touch Regime' services: This procurement is for clinical services which are Light Touch Regime services for the purpose of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as specified in Schedule 3 of the Regulations('Regulations'). Accordingly, the contracting authorities are only bound by those parts of the Regulations detailed in Chapter 3 Particular Procurement Regimes Section 7. The contracting authorities are not voluntarily following any other part of the Regulations. The procedure which the contracting authorities are following is set out in the MOI.

As the CCG is a relevant body for the purpose of the National Health Service(Procurement, Patient Choice and Competition) (No 2) Regulations 2013 these Regulations also apply to this procurement.