Decision details

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Adult Care seeking approval for the re-procurement of the service that provides community equipment to enable people to remain as independent as possible. This re-procurement is undertaken in partnership with Southampton City CCG, Portsmouth City Council and Portsmouth CCG.

Subject to the decision of Council at recommendation (i) below, to delegate authority to the Director of Integration and Quality, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Adult Care to undertake the re-procurement of a Joint Equipment Store provision for Southampton City up to and including conduct of the procurement process, selection and approval of preferred bidder and entering into the relevant contract(s) / agreements (s) together with any other action necessary to give effect to the re-procurement on the terms set out in this report. 

1.  The provision of community equipment to support people to remain as independent as possible for as long as possible is both a statutory requirement and important in  delivering key strategic system priorities for example hospital discharge and avoidance, a reduction in the use of residential care and a reduced reliance on homecare provision.

2.  The Council commissions this service jointly with the Southampton City Clinical Commissioning Group (SCCCG) via a Section 75 Partnership Agreement and pooled fund, with the Council acting as lead commissioner.  The current contract has been operating for 7 years and comes to an end in June 2020.  There is therefore a need to re-procure a service that meets the requirement to provide community equipment.

3.  The current model has proved successful with both prescribers and patients/clients and affords the flexibility and responsivity required to meet people’s needs in a timely fashion. We are therefore proposing a “like for like” service to maintain the level of service currently provided with opportunities within the life of the contract to investigate initiatives that are emerging nationally that could further build on the flexibility and current specification to become more efficient and person centred in the future.

1.  The current contract ceases in June 2020 and as the Council has a statutory duty to provide community equipment under the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules a re-procurement process is required.  It is known that there is a market for this service with at least 3 other community equipment providers in the local area.

2.  Several options were considered for procurement:

•  A like for like service contract with an expectation built in to the service specification that any future provider will work with the Council and the SCCCG and other partners to continue to develop the service jointly and incorporate any emerging best practice/innovation that further improves the user experience and value for money, including increased joint working with other services (preferred option)

•  A more integrated service offer from the outset to include wheelchairs and other elements related to home improvement and adaptations.

•  The development of an “In House” Joint Equipment Store.

3.  The second of these two options, whilst it offers the greatest opportunity for providing a fully integrated service and one stop shop from the outset, was rejected because it is not practically achievable at this stage.  The wheelchair service is being retendered by the SCCCG and West Hampshire CCG to a later timescale (April 2021).  West Hampshire CCG is also not at a point of needing to retender its joint equipment service.  Best practice around integration of housing/equipment related services is still emerging nationally.  Further work would need to be done in scoping a fully integrated service to include elements of housing adaptations which is not possible within the timescales required for the Joint Equipment Service re-procurement.

4.  The third option, the development of an “in house” service, has been rejected on the basis that it would not provide the economies of scale required to make this a viable option.  The equipment service needs to update, maintain, store, fit, track and recycle stock in line with legislation which requires specialist decontamination equipment and appropriate maintenance. Specialist equipment providers that cover multiple areas are constantly renewing stock and economies of scale allow them to manage the associated costs and risks in a way that would be difficult to match internally.

5.  The first option is considered the preferred option because it allows for a service model which has been proven to be effective to be re-procured in the required timeframe whilst also enabling future developments to be incorporated during the lifetime of the contract.