News: Home Care Framework for Older people and People with a Physical Disability
Lancashire County Council is inviting suitably experienced organisations, registered with the Care Quality Commission for at least three years to complete a Pre Qualification Questionnaire in order to be considered to tender to be a provider of home care within Lancashire.
This will be a new framework agreement of up to 7 years in duration, starting in September 2014 and presents an opportunity to be part of the recommissioning process in reshaping home care services.
The Council currently commissions home care services for older people and adults through a preferred provider scheme. The scheme has been established as a 'framework' agreement which is due to be renewed. However, the legal requirement for procurement has coincided with a more strategic review of how home care is delivered. In April 2013 Cabinet noted the findings of a County Council led review of Lancashire's own Home Care sector. The review was undertaken as groundwork for developing a plan for recommissioning and procuring a home care service.
The current framework includes 129 preferred providers. The Council also contracts with around 25 providers on a non-preferred basis. The arrangements for the new framework are that all contracted spend will be via the new framework and there will not be an option for non preferred providers
In Lancashire the sector employs around 4500 staff, supporting over 5000 older people and people with physical disabilities. Current annual gross expenditure on home care for these service groups is in the region of £50m. Net expenditure is in the region of £36m which represents 14% of the Council's net adult personal social care commissioning budget in 2013/14.
Further information is available at the Council's e-tendering website at www.lancashire.gov.uk/tendering