Social work and related services

Tender description

The Home Based Reablement Service (HBRS) is designed to help people learn or relearn the skills necessary for daily living, which have been lost through illness, deterioration of health and/or increased support needs. The HBRS offers outcome focused, person centred care and support in the service user's own home, designed to optimise their independence, for a period of up to 6 weeks per user episode. In addition to reablement support, the service requires the provider to offer a ‘Homecare Contingency Support’ service to support people with long term needs in their own homes; intended to provide a contingency at times of market failure in the home care market and designed to be on a short term basis. The HBRS is a critical component of the entire out of hospital strategic agenda. This service together with rapid response and bed based rehabilitation services manages the flow of people as part of admission avoidance and discharge facilitation. The contract will run for an initial 3-year duration with the option to extend for a period or periods of up to a further 2 years. The procurement is being undertaken in line with Regulations 74-76 of the Public Contract Regulations 2015 (PCR), the Light Touch Regime and pursuant to Regulation 76(7) of the PCR. Taking into consideration the demographics of an increasingly ageing population and the consequent need for services which prevent or delay the deterioration of wellbeing resulting from ageing, illness or disability and the levels of service achieved by the current provider; the Council has a minimum expectation of the annual requirement for reablement services to be delivered under this contract at 137 000 face to face reablement contact hours per annum. The service provider will work closely with community health providers utilising physiotherapy, occupational therapy and nursing services as required. Links will need to be built and retained through the Lincolnshire neighbourhood teams, ensuring an integrated approach with community health and social care. The service provider will also be required to undertake delivery of a pilot programme to trial a broadening of eligibility criteria for the HBRS in order to confirm the potential benefits. The service currently operates with selective eligibility, where eligibility is restricted to those considered to have potential for improvement in their level of independence at the point of assessment. The proposal is to broaden eligibility for the service to offer a period of reablement to all individuals who have been assessed as requiring a level of LCC funded care. This would effectively encompass all individuals referred into homecare, with the exception of those on an end of life pathway or with advanced dementia.