Health and social work services

Tender description

Leicestershire County Council, on behalf of Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council, is undertaking a procurement exercise to appoint suitable providers to a framework for the provision of theindependent Best Interest Assessor role under the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards Mental Capacity Act2005). The purpose of this procurement is to establish an approved list of suitably qualified and experienced independent assessors to complement the in-house DoLS Teams to allow effective management of BIA demand, availability and prioritisation across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The framework started on 1.7.2016 but includes an annual ‘refresh’ which allows for the framework to be reopened so that additional assessors can tender for inclusion on the framework. The purpose of this service is to complement the in-house DoLS Teams by providing increased flexibility to allow effective management of BIA demand, availability and prioritisation. It is estimated that the framework will be used to source an estimated 10-15 % of the total Best Interests Assessments across Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland per year. Due to the nature of the independent BIA role, local requirements dictate that the framework eligibility criteria is at an enhanced level to the statutory standards outlined in the DoLS Code of Practice.