Issue - meetings

Report of the Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing is attached.

Councillor Tamoor Tariq, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing presented the report regarding the Care at Home review. The Care at Home service supports the vulnerable people of Bury with their assessed needs under the Care Act 2014. This includes support with personal care, moving and handling, nutrition and hydration, and medication. The current service was commissioned in October 2021 for a period of three years with an option to extend by a further period or periods of up to 24 months provided that the total term of the contract does not exceed a total of 5 years.

Decision:

Cabinet:

1.   Approved a 12-month contract extension for all Lot 1 Care at Home providers (until 24 October 2025) due to evidence that contractual obligations are being met.

2.   Approved a 12-month contract extension for Lot 2 Care at Home providers that are meeting contractual obligations (until 24 October 2025).

3.   Delegated the decision regarding which Lot 2 provider contracts will be extended to the Strategic Leads for Integrated Commissioning.

4.   Delegated finalisation and sealing of the deeds of extension required to give effect to the contract extensions to the Director of Law and Democratic Services in consultation with the Executive Director of Health and Adult Care. A decision will be made by mid-July 2024 regarding the Lot 2 providers that will and will not be extended, to allow a 3-month notice period to all.

Reasons for decision(s):

A 12-month extension will afford Commissioners the opportunity to complete comprehensive engagement with key stakeholders on a new model for Care at Home. Research on best practice in other local areas, workshops with providers to understand what works well currently and whether there are opportunities to do things differently, and engagement with residents, not only people who use the service, but also the Bury Older People’s Network (BOPN) will take place. In addition, the re-tender will align to the annual fee-setting process in March.

Alternative options considered and rejected:

The option not to extend contracts and complete a full re-tender in 2024 was considered, but as described above, sufficient time is required to co-produce a new model.