Discharge to Assess (D2A) Open List

Concepts

• health and social work
• aylesbury
• buckinghamshire council
• d2a
• list of care providers
• assessments of long term
• rapid discharge
• open list
• development of a robust discharge
• discharge

Location

Aylesbury

Description

This is a notice for social and specific services in accordance with Chapter 3, Section 7 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015. Buckinghamshire Council is working in partnership with the Clinical Commissioning Group and the wider health and social care system to sustain and continue the development of a robust Discharge to Assess (D2A) pathway through the commissioning of home care packages and care home placements.

Total Quantity or Scope

Buckinghamshire Council is working in partnership with the Clinical Commissioning Group and the wider health and social care system to sustain and continue the development of a robust Discharge to Assess (D2A) pathway through the commissioning of home care packages and care home placements. D2A is a pathway which has been successful in reducing acute bed occupancy. It is designed to be a nimble process that facilitates rapid discharge from hospital of medically optimised individuals, enabling acute and community hospitals to maintain capacity and respond to pressures, whether seasonal or due to the demands of Covid-19. This pathway enables assessments of long term needs to take place in a setting that is less restrictive than hospital, ensuring longer term packages of care and support are reflective of the person’s maximum abilities. Some people may require this support for a period of up to a maximum of 4 weeks depending on the assessment. Our philosophy in Buckinghamshire is Home First. Whilst most people will be discharged home without the need for any extra funded support, some will have care and support needs that require D2A Home care Providers. This will provide care and support at home whilst social care needs assessments and occasionally NHS Continuing Healthcare Assessments of eligibility, are undertaken in a community setting. It is expected that home care providers will accept D2A service users that are Covid-19 positive. If discharge home is not possible due to safety or client need, a care home placement may be considered. The duration of each service user’s placement in the D2A package of care or placement, will be determined by the time taken to identify long term needs and funding arrangements. For most service users this will be within two weeks, but where CHC eligibility requires a full assessment, this may be up to 4 weeks. Service users are expected to move through the pathway as quickly and safely as is possible for them. Buckinghamshire Council is seeking to build on its established list of care providers who would be willing to accept D2A service users. Care providers will be required to meet various criteria to obtain access onto the list. When an individual requires a D2A placement, care providers will be selected from the list based on availability, the specific needs of the individual, affordability and accessibility. At times, we may need to acquire a number of domiciliary care hours in one geographic area or a number of care home beds in one location. On these occasions a block contract may be offered to one or several care providers on the open list. We are particularly seeking providers of the following: • Nursing Care • Dementia Nursing Care • Dementia Residential Care • Home Care including Live In • Residential Care Care providers will be expected to respond to referrals sent to them within 2 hours and pick up and start packages within 24 hours. They will also need to be flexible in response to requests to increase/decrease block provision as required to meet demand over this period. This is important given the uncertainty of demand due to potential increases and decreases in cases of the Covid-19 and ongoing pressures on the hospital trust. We invite care providers who wish to provide these services to review the documentation and submit the provider response document via the messaging function on the Buckinghamshire Business Portal (www.supplybucksbusiness.org.uk) The contract and specification have been attached for your information at this stage. Once a care provider is named on the list there is no guarantee that care hours will be offered. We are also particularly interested in working with care providers that specialise in complex care. BC may request that a Spot Placement Agreement is in place prior to the provider being approached for individual spot placements. The Spot Placement Agreement will outline the terms in which the spot placements are delivered. It will include a composite hourly rate that has been negotiated and agreed by Commissioners and the care provider. It will be the expectation that these terms will be adhered to through the duration of the agreement. Providers who have already successfully applied to join the list for these D2A services do not need to apply again. Contracts will be awarded without further publication.

Renewal Options

There may be a requirement for the Provider List to be extended for a further period. If this is the case a further PIN notice will be issued on expiry of this notice.

CPV Codes

• 85000000 - Health and social work services

Indicators

• Bids should cover the whole contract.
• Renewals are available.

Other Information

Buckinghamshire Council is seeking to build on its established list of care providers who would be willing to accept D2A service users. Care providers will be required to complete various pass/fail criteria to obtain access onto the list. When an individual requires a D2A placement, care providers will be selected from the list based on availability, the specific needs of the individual, affordability and accessibility. At times, we may need to acquire a number of domiciliary care hours in one geographic area or a number of care home beds in one location. On these occasions a block contract may be offered to one or several care providers on the open list. Care providers will be expected to respond to referrals sent to them within 2 hours and pick up and start packages within 24 hours. They will also need to be flexible in response to requests to increase/decrease block provision as required to meet demand over this period. Providers who have already successfully applied to join the list for these D2A services do not have to apply again. The associated documents (specifications, template contract letters, provider response form and post code map of zones) can be found at www.supplybucksbusiness.org.uk. The project reference is DN604106.