Care and Support in the Home Services

Kent County Council (the Council) is the largest Local Authority in England covering an area of over 3,500 square kilometres. It has an annual expenditure of over £1bn on goods and services and a population of 1.48m. The Council provides a wide range of Services on behalf of its residents, operating in partnership with 12 district councils, 289 parish/town councils.

The Council is embarking on a journey to transform social care in Kent. Within the context of this Service, it is imperative that individuals are at the heart of the care and support they receive, this will support the Council’s strategic objective ‘to help people to improve or maintain their well-being and to live as independently as possible’. The Council has an ambition to deliver the service through a sustainable market that has the capability and capacity to deliver a quality and accessible Service countywide, in both urban and rural locations.

By working in new and innovative ways with our partners in the NHS and organisations in the care sector we will:
• Focus on prevention and targeted interventions
• Ensure that services respond rapidly and are more effective
• Support carers and empower individuals to do more for themselves
A number of Services that the Council presently commissions to support adults with assessed support needs in their own homes, undertake similar tasks. There is, therefore, an opportunity to improve consistency of delivery and potentially bring services together under one contractual arrangement, with the aim to reduce silos, avoid duplication and improve outcomes.

The new Contract will replace a number of existing Services and bring the delivery of these multiple Services together under one Contract to form an ‘umbrella’ of care and support. This care and support aims, wherever possible, to support a person to achieve the outcomes that are important to them, in line with the Care Act 2014 and the vision set out by the Council in its ‘Your life, your well-being’ Strategy.

The scope of this Contract (which constitutes Phase 1) include:

• Home Care Services (formerly known as Domiciliary Care Services)
• Supporting Independence Services (SIS) – Community Based (Standard and Complex)

The Services in scope for Phase 2, for which the Council will specify and determine commencement dates throughout the Contract Term, are:

• Extra Care Support Services
• Discharge to Assess Services with the progress toward ‘Home First’
The contracting of Phase 2 services will not be limited to those providers who are contracted within Phase 1, however Providers will be required to evidence a capacity of meeting the Councils requirements

Other services including current council in house provision may be in scope for future phases of this contract.

Aligning Services under one Contractual arrangement will also develop a clearer pathway, with less handoffs between Services and from a Provider perspective, allow for greater flexibility and control to manage fluctuations in demand to meet the eligible assessed needs of individuals.

For the purpose of this tender, the geographical area covered by Kent County Council has been divided into Cluster Groups, each of which will constitute a Lot. It is the Councils intention to offer the Care and Support in the Home Service contracts based on Lots. There is a full explanation and breakdown of Lots in the Invitation to Tender pack.

A responsive, outcome focused Care and Support in the Home Service will be vital to the delivery of transformed Services to our residents. Care and Support in the Home is the timely care and support provided by professional carers to individuals in their own home to support their independence in managing activities of daily living.

Care and Support in the Home Services will support people to take greater control of their lives by providing them with the skills to maintain a good quality of life, and helping them to retain and develop skills to maintain independent, fulfilling lives for as long as possible. Care and Support in the Home Services will put the person (and their primary carer/family) at the centre of decisions about how they are supported and cared for. Services should be provided in such a way that the person feels involved, secure and confident in the care and support delivered to them.

Providers should be aware that the Council is not proposing mass mobilisation of people from existing Providers to any new Service Providers who may be awarded a Contract. Instead, people will be mobilised on an individual basis where appropriate and agreed with the person and relevant Providers. New Providers to the Contract will grow their presence over a transition period as they receive new referrals into the Service.

The Council are inviting CQC registered Care and Support in the Home Providers to tender for Services by way of this Invitation to Tender (ITT) documentation.

Responses to the ITT must be submitted by no later than 10am on Thursday 18 October 2018. Any response submitted after this time will not be considered. The Contract award will take place in the week commencing 1 March 2019. The Contract will commence on 8 April 2019.