Provision of Domiciliary Care Services in the Western Health & Social Care Trust Area - Lot 3 Extension

Concepts

• social work
• provision of domiciliary care services
• derry
• social care trust area - lot
• western health
• health and social work
• community and personal services
• western health & social care trust
• western health and social care trust area
• hours

Location

Derry

Description

Provision of Domiciliary Care Services in the Western Health and Social Care Trust Area Lot 3 Limavady Guaranteed Hours 1,953 per week Estimated Time Specific Hours 1,053 hours per week

Ammendments to Previous Notice

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 98000000 - Other community, social and personal services
• 85000000 - Health and social work services

Indicators

• Contract modified due to unforeseen circumstances.

Legal Justification

The Trust refers to its response at VII.2.1 above. The first condition of this ground under Regulation 72(1)(c) PCR 2015 is that the need for modification has been brought about by circumstances which a diligent contracting authority could not have foreseen. Regulation 72(1)(c)(i) PCR 2015 is satisfied in respect of this modification as the need for modification has been brought about by external circumstances, which a diligent contracting authority could not have foreseen when the Trust awarded these contracts back in 2016. The Trust is preparing to re-tender this Service. Unfortunately, this re-procurement exercise has been delayed as a result of the matters detailed in the Trust’s letter to Providers dated 24/02/2022, as well as unforeseen Department of Health Northern Ireland (“DoH NI”) and regional Health and Social Care (“HSC”) policy requirements which materially impact upon the re-procurement process. VI.3 Additional Information

Other Information

Reference VII.2.2 continued: Extension of Contract Period As such, new contracts under the re-procurement exercise will not be in place before the expiry of the current Contracts in Lot 3 on 28/02/2023.In order to ensure the continued and uninterrupted service delivery of this critical front line service, in the interim, the Trust issued a letter 23/02/2023 to amend the Contracts in Lot 3 with effect from 23/02/2023 (Variation Date) so that the Contract Period shall be amended to include one further period of extension of 12 months commenting on 01/03/2023 and expiring on 29/02/2024. Department of Health Direction The Health Minister made an announcement on 24/11/2021 that additional funding for pressures on service provision within the Independent Domiciliary Care sector (“Additional Funding”) would be available for the current financial year for the domiciliary care sector. Following this announcement, the Department of Health Northern Ireland (“DoH NI”) made a direction in respect of this Additional Funding. The direction from the DoH NI stated:- “The overarching principles of this additional funding is to ensure that Independent Sector providers deliver significant improvements in the pay, and terms and conditions for staff across the sector. This has been emphasised to the sector representatives who have committed to ensuring that the uplift in funding will be utilised to stabilise and increase capacity across the sector. It is also the Department’s expectation that Trusts will work proactively with the sector to maximise capacity within areas of greatest need in terms of step-down and discharge from hospitals, waiting lists and unmet need. The Department will also continue to engage with the sector to drive these changes.” The Trust issued a letter dated 22/12/2021 to current Providers to vary the Contract to increase Providers’ Hourly Rates to £18.00 per hour from 01/11/2021 until 28/02/2022 and a letter dated 24/02/2022 to vary the Contract to increase Providers’ Hourly Rates to £18.00 per hour from 1-31 March 2022 in accordance with the above noted direction of the DoH NI. The DoH NI further directed as follows:(1) that the Additional Funding referred to above of £18.00 per hour continue to be paid for the financial year 2022/2023; and (2) that the hourly rate of £18.00 referred to above should be further increased to £18.08 per hour to reflect the increase in the 2022/23 Employers National Insurance Contribution rate to ensure that the ability of Providers to improve the terms and conditions for their staff is not diminished with the implementation of the statutory increase in Employers National Insurance Contribution rates. The Trust issued a letter dated 23/02/2023 to current Providers to vary the Contract to increase Providers’ Hourly Rates to £18.08 per hour from 01/04/2022 until 28/02/2023 in accordance with the above noted direction of the DoH NI. The Trust is bound by statute to comply with directions of the DoH NI and as such to make payment as directed of an increased Hourly Rate of £18.08 to its current domiciliary care providers for the period from 01/03/2023 until 31/03/2023.In compliance with this statutory obligation to comply with the DoH NI direction, the Trust therefore issued a further letter dated 23/02/2023 to all current Providers to vary the Contract in respect of this direction. The second condition of this ground under Regulation 72(1)(c) (ii) is that the modification does not alter the overall nature of the contract. Here the service, being a domiciliary care service, is unchanged. As such the modification does not alter the overall nature of the Contract and therefore satisfies Regulation 72(1)(c)(ii). The final condition of this ground under Regulation 72(1)(c)(iii) is met in that the increase in price does not exceed 50% of the value of the original contract. The increase in price for Lot 3 is £3,490,985 and the value of the original Contracts for Lot 3 is £9,500,000.