HCC 09/23 – PPME For Provision of Carers Breaks Services

Hertfordshire County Council (‘the Council’) wishes to invite interested Care Providers to attend an on-line information and feedback event on Friday 6th October 2023 between 11.00 and 13.00 via Microsoft Teams. Expressions of interest must be made via email to Caron Corrin at the Council. The Council would also like to invite interested Care Providers to return the P P M E Appendix A- Supplier Questionnaire by 12.00 (noon) Thursday 12th October 2023.The Council will consider the input and responses received as part of this P P M E event to help inform the Council’s options and further decision making regarding the below intended project.Project BackgroundThe council commissions through contracts the provision of community- based carers breaks services. The Services will support carers caring for an adult aged 18 and over who are ordinarily resident and living in Hertfordshire. This will include older adults- 65 plus, adults with learning disabilities, physical disabilities, or mental health conditions. This includes the provision of a preventative service to those who have not had an assessment of need and an ongoing breaks service to those who have been assessed to meet the Council’s eligibility criteria for unmet needs.The provision of both services is considered to contain elements of regulated activity therefore it is a requirement that all providers are registered with the Care Quality Commission (C Q C). The provision of personal care is not the primary aim of the service however where incidental care is required during the provision of a break it is expected that the providers are able to support the person with this.Current Position and ScopeCurrently these two services (preventative and ongoing) are commissioned separately with the preventative service being commissioned as a block service and the ongoing service being commissioned on a call-off basis.The aim of the preventative service is to provide carers with up to 18 hours of support over a 6-week period, whereas ongoing breaks can be commissioned to meet a longer-term need for a breaks service following a carers assessment.The services include a range of provision to enable the carer to take a break from their caring role. This will include but is not limited to: Supporting the person they care for in their own home, supporting theperson they care for to access community-based services, supporting the carer and the person they care for to access the wider community.For the avoidance of doubt, this stage of the project is not part of a formal procurement process, and the Council is not committing, at this stage, to carrying out such a process.Participation or non-participation in this pre-procurement market engagement shall not prevent any provider participating in a potential procurement process nor is it intended that any information supplied shall place any Provider at an advantage in any forthcoming procurement process.