Agenda item

Re-commissioning the management of Powys County Council's Care Homes

To receive a briefing regarding progress on the re-commissioning of the management of Powys County Council Care Homes.

Minutes:

The Interim Professional Lead gave an introduction to the process for the re-commissioning of Powys Residential Care Homes.  The process is confidential insofar as commercially sensitive information has to remain confidential but the updates that the Portfolio Holder has shared with Members regarding the process are for public information.

 

The Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care joined the meeting at 10.30am having left the meeting of the Regional Partnership Board to join this meeting.

 

The current Care Homes operators BUPA have given notice that they wish to cease operating in Powys from 31st May 2019.  Powys County Council own 12 Care Homes which are operated by BUPA together with an additional facility Glan Irfon which is also owned by Powys County Council but delivered with a shared Section 33. It is intended that the recommissioning of these facilities will be undertaken in parallel but with separate lots.

 

An OJEU Notice has been issued inviting organisations to express interest by means of submitting a prequalification questionnaire. This will ascertain the level of interest and will allow the Council (and PTHB) to evaluate their capability, registrations, track record and   their financial standing and capacity to proceed with the next stage of tendering beyond 31st October 2018.

 

The outcome of this stage will inform what next steps need to be taken regarding the re-commissioning process.

 

The Commissioning team are working closely with BUPA to ensure that any tender documentation includes as much information as possible as early as possible for interested parties to prepare a bid.

 

The timescale is tight but much work has been undertaken to date and the timetable is being adhered to.  It is intended to publish tender documentation with a final return date of February/March 2019 which will allow for a transition period leading up to the end of the BUPA contract in May 2019. 

 

It is intended to seek a partner to run the homes in the first instance in the medium term which will provide an opportunity for the service to examine what are the longer term needs for independent living, nursing care, residential care and respite care across the county.  This medium term partner may wish to be part of longer term arrangements.

 

It was confirmed that an Impact Assessment had been completed and that contingency plans are being worked upon to mitigate risk.

 

It was confirmed that expert legal advice had been engaged to support this process.

 

It was confirmed that a Communications Plan was in place which would provide information regarding the re-commissioning process moving forward.  Staff were receiving communication from BUPA.  The Portfolio Holder was sending regular briefings to Members on the process.

 

It was confirmed that an inventory would be prepared to be used at the point of transfer.

 

Cllr J Williams left the meeting 10.55am

 

It was confirmed that the Welsh Language Standards that Powys are required to meet also apply to third party providers and this has formed part of the current specification.

 

Going forward from April 2019 there is a requirement for residential care to be commissioned jointly by local authorities and health boards.  Some joint commissioning is already taking place (for example Glan Irfon) and this will continue to increase.  The governance of this currently takes place at the Regional Partnership Board (at a more strategic level) and Joint Partnership Board (at a more item by item level).  The RPB is where the Integrated Care Fund monies are administered and has a series of Programme Boards.  

 

The proposed tender appeared to be for a short period this was intentional to allow for changes to the provision to meet the changing needs of society to be explored.  It would be hoped that the successful provider would work with the commissioning bodies on the longer term proposals.

 

The timescale was acknowledged to be tight but much work had already been undertaken.  BUPA had been communicating with staff and this would continue throughout the process.

 

The service is working on contingency plans should an alternative provider not be in a position to take over the contract on 1st June 2019.

 

It was confirmed that the contract includes the requirement to meet the Welsh Language Standards that apply to Powys County Council and to their third party contractors.

 

A condition survey has been commissioned so up to date information is available all of which will need to be taken into account when assessing the tender prices.

 

 

Observations

·         That the joint governance arrangements between Powys Teaching Health Board and Powys County Council in this arena are examined with the possibility of inviting a representative of the Powys Teaching Health Board to discuss joint governance arrangements

·         Concern has been expressed regarding the tight timescale that this process is under.  The Portfolio Holder is urged to ensure that the process does not slip and that the tender documents are prepared for publication at the earliest stage so that a final decision can be made as soon as possible which will give the new provider the most time to plan for a seamless transition

·         Assurance was received that

o   an inventory of assets was being requested from BUPA

o   expert legal advice had been engaged

o   a communications plan had been drafted

o   a contingency plan was being prepared

Supporting documents: