Report ACH19001

The Committee considered a report summarising options as to how the commissioning process for the dementia post diagnosis support service should be undertaken.  The contract for Dementia Post Diagnosis Support Service was due to expire on 30^th June 2020. There were no further options to extend the current contract which had an annual value of £451k and cumulative spend over the life of the contract was £1.8m.  The approval of the Executive was being sought to enable the commencement of the procurement of services in alignment with LBB Commissioning Plans, Bromley Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) Commissioning Plans and the Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2019 to 2023.

The Vice-Chairman noted the positive performance of the service, noting that the total number of new cases in 2017/18 (669) had significantly exceeded the target that had been set (195), and that over a three year period performance against this target had improved year-on-year.

Noting that Option 2 (bringing the service in-house) was not being recommended a Member sought information around the work that had been undertaken to assess the cost to the Council of this option.  In response, the Integrated Strategic Commissioner reported that a Service Review had been completed in July 2019 and as part of this there had been a review of the current contracts.  In addition the anticipated costs over the next 5 years in terms of the estimated increases in the number of service users with dementia were reviewed.  A Member suggested that it would  be helpful to include further detail of these estimated costs within future reports.  The Chairman asked that, in addition, information be provided surrounding an estimation of on-costs such as management costs, recruitment costs etc. in order to give Members an accurate picture.

Noting that there was no inflationary uplift, a Member expressed concern that this could lead to issues with the financial viability of providers in the future.  The Head of Complex and Long-Term Commissioning reported that a level playing field for all providers had been ensured.  There was an expectation that any providers who submitted tender bids would factor in inflation and the forecasts that had been provided in relation to increased demand.  If any financial pressures  were to arise in the future  in relation to work volumes, it was possible that such pressures could lead to contract renegotiation.

Members noted that a number of helpful ideas and suggestions had arisen out of the stakeholder engagement sessions and questioned how some of the suggestions would be taken forward.  The Head of Complex and Long-Term Commissioning reported that these would be built into the Tender Specification.  Members noted that there would also be market engagement events prior to the tender process.

Following a discussion it was agreed that the action taken to address the feedback received from stakeholder engagement should be reported back to the Committee in terms of: (i) what was being done; (ii) how it was being done; (iii) reducing waiting lists; (iv) the befriending service; and (v) when it was being done.  The Chairman requested that a timely update be provided to ensure the positive suggestions put forward by service users did not get overlooked with the passage of time.

RESOLVED: That the Executive be recommended to approve the commencement of a procurement process for a new Dementia Post Diagnosis Support Service (thereafter referred to as the Dementia Hub) from October 2019, subject also to CCG agreement . The new contract would commence on 1^st July 2020 for a period of 5 years with the option to extend for up to a further two years at an estimated annual value of £490k (whole life value estimated at £3.43m).