The Clinical Commissioning Groups and Councils listed above are seeking a provider of an Integrated Community Equipment Service.

A single integrated community equipment (CE) service was introduced in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent in 2013, the aim of which was to increase personalised provision by responding to individual needs to promote and maintain independence, choice, control and quality of life through an integrated approach. This included a strategic shift towards early intervention and prevention delivered through community based services to reduce admissions and readmissions into urgent, acute or residential care, to support early hospital discharge, and to reduce the number of looked after children.

The Service is up for renewal and the main purpose is to provide an efficient and effective mechanism which enables Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent residents, their families and carers, to get timely access to the loan of Community Equipment, where there is an assessed need for such.

The required Service shall include the warehousing, supply, delivery, assembly, repair, collection, recycling and planned preventative maintenance (PPM) of Community Equipment across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent. This shall include Standard Community Equipment products, via an agreed Community Equipment Catalogue and which are subject to collection refund credits, and Special Community Equipment products outside of the scope of the Community Equipment Catalogue which shall not be subject to collection refund credits.

The Service shall include the loan of Community Equipment to children, young people and adults, predominantly within the administrative areas of Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Local Authorities, and in some circumstances to people residing Out of Area. The Provider shall loan equipment for an agreed period of time to people with an assessed health or social care need. Once the agreed period has ended, equipment shall be returned or the loan period extended.

Where the assessed need of the person is social care related, the person shall be ordinarily resident within Staffordshire or Stoke-on-Trent. Where the assessed need is health care related the person shall be registered with a GP practice covered by one of the six CCGs in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

This contract will be awarded for a period of 3 years plus potential two year extension.