Health and social work services

Tender description

Portsmouth City Council, 'the Council', is inviting suitably qualified suppliers to submit tenders for the provision of the Healthwatch Portsmouth and NHS Independent Health Complaints Advocacy (IHCA) services. The aim of Local Healthwatch is to give citizens and communities a stronger voice to influence and challenge how health and social care services are provided within their locality. The IHCA is a client-led independent service providing information and support to residents who wish to make a complaint about an NHS health service. The target date for award of contract is 24 February 2021 to commence on 1 April 2021. The contract will run for an initial term of 3 years with possibility of extending the term by a further 4 years to a maximum total term of 7 years in increments to be agreed. The estimated value of the contract is approx. GBP 130 000 per annum. Application is via submission of tenders by 22 January 2021 at 12.00 via the Council's e-sourcing solution InTend. Portsmouth City Council, 'the Council', is inviting suitably qualified suppliers to submit tenders for the provision of the Healthwatch Portsmouth and NHS Independent Health Complaints Advocacy (IHCA) services. Healthwatch was established under the Health and Social Care Act 2012 to understand the needs, experiences and concerns of people who use health and social care services and to speak out on their behalf. They are a statutory committee of the independent regulator the Care Quality Commission (CQC). The aim of local healthwatch is to give citizens and communities a stronger voice to influence and challenge how health and social care services are provided within their locality. There are 151 local healthwatch across England, collectively referred to as the Network. Local healthwatch are funded by and accountable to local authorities. Their statutory functions are: 1) Promoting and supporting the involvement of local people in the commissioning, the provision and scrutiny of local care services; 2) Enabling local people to monitor the standard of provision of local care services and whether and how local care services could and ought to be improved; 3) Obtaining the views of local people regarding their needs for, and experiences of, local care services and importantly to make these views known; 4) Making reports and recommendations about how local care services could or ought to be improved within an overall framework that recognises financial constraints. These should be directed to commissioners and providers of care services, and people responsible for managing or scrutinising local care services and shared with Healthwatch England; 5) Providing advice and information about access to local care services so choices can be made about local care services; 6) Formulating views on the standard of provision and whether and how the local care services could and ought to be improved; and sharing these views with Healthwatch England; 7) Making recommendations to Healthwatch England to advise the Care Quality Commission to conduct special reviews or investigations (or, where the circumstances justify doing so, making such recommendations direct to the CQC); and to make recommendations to Healthwatch England to publish reports about particular issues; 8) Providing Healthwatch England with the intelligence and insight it needs to enable it to perform effectively. The IHCA is a client-led independent service providing information and support to residents who wish to make a complaint about an NHS health service. Local authorities have a duty to commission an Independent Health Complaints Advocacy (IHCA) service. The relationship between Local Healthwatch and the IHCA provider is very important, as the information they gather, and share with each other, contributes to the wider picture of people's experience of NHS services. Healthwatch Portsmouth will provide the access point for the IHCA service in Portsmouth. Although Local Healthwatch and ICHA are separate services the Council requires a single organisation to provide both of these independent services locally. The Council will run the procurement procedure in accordance with the Open Procedure as defined within the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) to the following timetable: Invitation to tender published — 11 December 2020 Deadline for clarification questions — 15 January 2021 Return of tender submissions — 22 January 2021 at 12.00 Notification of preferred bidder and standstill commencement — 9 February 2021 Contract award — 24 February 2021 Contract commences — 1 April 2021 Application is via completed tender submission by the deadline stated above via the Council's e-sourcing system InTend which will be used to administrate the procurement process. The system is accessible via the link below: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/portsmouthcc/aspx/home