Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2019-01-11
Buyer: Barts Health NHS Trust
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 85000000

Technical requirements: To enable Bart's Health to proceed to procure a suitably experienced Hospital to Home Service. Bart's Health Whipps Cross Hospital Site requires a service that helps vulnerable adults to navigate through a crisis who live within the boroughs of Waltham Forest, Essex, Newham and Redbridge and are being discharge from Whipps Cross Hospital. The team need to work with each service user for approximately 4-6 weeks and signpost them (where appropriate) to other services in order to help rebuild their confidence and independence at home upon discharge. The team are required go out of their way to provide a tailored service to each and every service user and have ability to receive last minute requests for support from Hospital staff where the need to complete emergency shopping or support on the same day of discharge to aid a smoother and safer Hospital discharge.
Bart's health NHS Trust is one of the largest NHS Trusts in England. Bart's Health NHS Trust provides a huge range of clinical services to people in east London and beyond. The Trust operates a group model from 4 major hospital sites (the Royal London, St Bartholomew's, Whipps Cross and Newham) and a number of community locations, including Mile End Hospital. Around 2 500 000 people living in east London look to the trust to provide them with the healthcare they need.
Whipps Cross Hospital has been caring for people of east London for over 100 years. The hospital serves a diverse local population of more than 350 000 people within Waltham Forest, Redbridge, Epping Forrest, and Essex and further afield. The area has a wide variation in levels of deprivation and health needs, ranging from the most deprived five per cent to among the most affluent 30 % of electoral wards in England.
We are seeking to procure a partner with proven expertise in hospital to home services. The service required is to provide our clients with a range of practical and emotional support to assist with one off tasks as well as those more complex cases spanning between 4-6 weeks. Contact clients either face to face or via telephone. The service will be delivered to Adults only over the age of 18 years, but it is anticipated that the majority of referrals will be for people aged 65 and above who are socially isolated or have other vulnerabilities. They will work closely other services commissioned to support the hospital to ensure that all patients have the high level of care and support expected from Whipps Cross Hospital upon discharge.
— receive referrals by phone or by direct contact with staff or any other means that will enable a swift referral,
— visit our assessment units and inpatient wards prior to patients been discharged to introduce themselves to service users prior to discharge,
— to facilitate safe and timely discharge of medically optimised patients, and ensure patients settle back into a safe home with timely help by offering practical assistance to facilitate hospital initiatives to reduce length of stay and delayed transfers of care,
— to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home for vulnerable, older patients (65+) at Whipps Cross Hospital (we will support those under 65 on occasion where they meet our other service criteria),
— to provide person-centred emotional and practical support in the immediate 48/72 hours post-discharge. Patients will either be accompanied home or settled in soon after arrival by a BRCS volunteer; enabling independent living to be resumed,
— to assist patients in accessing their GP, community health and social services as well as other local services for longer term support,
— to help prevent hospital re-admission caused by inadequate home support and/or anxiety, through the provision of support at home in order to prevent a breakdown in care and reducing falls,
— assist in maintaining the confidence of the service user to remain at home, including the provision of interventions aimed at improving confidence in community settings and empowering the service user e.g. supervision using public transport and shopping after acute intervention,
— improving wellbeing through increased confidence, independence and increasing meaningful social ties.