Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-08-02
Buyer: Kent County Council
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Restricted procedure
CPV classification: 85000000 | 85100000: Health services | 85300000
Submission deadline: 2017-08-30
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Kent County Council (the Council), in undertaking this procurement exercise, is seeking to establish a mechanism for targeted procurement to enable the future provision of a range of community based Services across the County.
Expressions of Interest are invited from Care Quality Commission (CQC) registered Providers for the provision of any/all of Homecare Services, Supporting Independence Services and Discharge to Assess Services. Providers must hold a valid and current registration with CQC, and continue to maintain this throughout the life of their admission to the Flexible Framework. In the event that a Provider ceases to be registered with CQC they must immediately inform the Council, who in turn may suspend or terminate the Provider's Flexible Framework admission Contract as appropriate.
Providers must note that, within any Further Competitions run under this Flexible Framework, the Council reserves the right to set minimum CQC thresholds and/or quality standards. These will be clearly stipulated within any call for Further Competition, and based on market intelligence. In any event, an emphasis will be placed on evidencing quality service provision and so a below threshold rating may be mitigated via appropriate evidencing of achieving the required quality standards.
The Contracts resulting from Further Competitions will contain a clear process for restricting or suspending Contracts and/or individual Service placements with a Provider which is not delivering a quality Service, evidenced by CQC and/or through quality monitoring and evidenced intelligence.
This Flexible Framework will be lotted by both Geography and Service. A pictorial representation of this is given as an attachment.
* Providers should note that any Further Competitions may comprise parts of CCG's and/or whole CCG's and/or any combinations of parts of CCG's, as required, in order to arrive at the most appropriate outcome for these Services.
The CCG boundaries are accessible via the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/resources/ccg-maps/
Providers are invited to apply for admission to the Community Services Flexible Framework. Once Providers have successfully passed the application process they will be admitted to the DPS. This will enable Approved Providers to respond to Further Competitions and submit tenders according to the Services and Geographies required by the Council and of interest to Providers.
Providers should indicate their ability and desire to provide as many Services (by Geography and Service) as they so choose. Providers should note, that in doing so, they will receive all opportunities which arise for their indicated areas of interest.
This advertisement is for the establishment of the Flexible Framework only. No express or implied guarantee is given as to the Council running Further Competitions under this DPS or to the value of future business, if any, awarded to any Provider.
Full details of any future opportunity for each of the Lots awarded under this Contract will be issued at the time of each Further Competition.
Further Competitions will each have their own documentation, including specification, tender documentation and Terms and Conditions of Contract as appropriate to the requirements of each Further Competition.
A high-level overview of the three Services follows. Providers should note that the actual specification for each Service may differ from the below and the specifications issued for each Further Competition will be definitive.
Providers must note that, within any Further Competitions run under this Flexible Framework, the Council reserves the right to set minimum CQC thresholds and/or quality standards. These will be clearly stipulated within any call for Further Competition, and based on market intelligence. In any event, an emphasis will be placed on evidencing quality service provision and so a below threshold rating may be mitigated via appropriate evidencing of achieving the required quality standards.
The Contracts resulting from Further Competitions will contain a clear process for restricting or suspending Contracts and/or individual Service placements with a Provider which is not delivering a quality Service, evidenced by CQC and/or through quality monitoring and evidenced intelligence.