Agenda item

To receive a report which recommends a decision to approve the commencement of a tender process for the provision of Care Navigation and Social Prescribing services.

Christy Holden (Senior Commissioning Manager) and Sam Sheppard (Senior Commissioner) were in attendance for this item

1.    Christy Holden introduced the report which detailed the approach for progressing a Wellbeing and Resilience Strategy with a focus on an integrated Care Navigation and Social Prescribing Service. The report also provided an outline plan to progress to appropriate arrangements for a high number of current grant arrangements. The new arrangements would ultimately ensure full compliance with Kent County Council and national policy.

(a)    In response to a question, Anne Tidmarsh said that Kent County Council were working closely with the Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) in all areas of Kent. She said that the purpose of the report was to identify how resources could be spread and all of the localities would be serviced by the new care navigation contract.

(b)    In response to a question, Sam Sheppard said that the funding in the contract was directly related to salaried posts, therefore while the value of the contract was as stated in the report an annual review would take place to conclude the possibility of an inflationary uplift as part of the Pay and Prices review.

(c)     In response to a question, Sam Sheppard said that the contract duration would be four years, with an option to extend.

(d)    In response to a question, Sam Sheppard said that stakeholder engagement was undertaken last year with Kent County Council’s providers who provided community-based support, the public and carers, in relation to the core offer for older people, which included engagement relating to a new model of care navigation. Testing had been undertaken and the outcomes of the engagement had been reviewed to ensure that the needs of Kent’s residents were met.

(e)    In response to a question, Sam Sheppard said that organisations with a prominent position in the market often overshadowed the voice of smaller organisations. She said that all of Kent County Council’s engagement events were advertised through the Kent Business Portal to ensure that the engagement process was as accessible as possible, the event’s information was then added to the engagement pages on Kent County Council’s website.

2.    Penny Southern said that it was important that front-line staff communicated well with Kent’s residents and provided individual’s with accurate advice and information.

(f)      In response to a question, Anne Tidmarsh talked about social prescribing in Kent and said that GP’s were keen to offer social prescribing to their patients.

(g)    In response to a question, Sam Sheppard said that care navigation was a short-term service and said that it was important to ensure that the transfer process was as smooth as possible for service users. She said that colleagues would undertake work through the mobilisation period to mitigate the risk of transfer delays.

(h)    In response to a question, Sam Sheppard said that in relation to the CCG investment, the contract consisted of two key elements; community navigation, and community navigation for people with carers. She said that the majority of the CCG funding was allocated to community navigation for carers, and that was jointly commissioned between Adult Social Care and the CCGs. She said that the only investment into the community navigation element of the contract came from Dartford, Gravesend, Swanley and Swale where Kent County Council were jointly commissioning the service for that area.

(i)      In response to a question, Sam Sheppard talked about the positive conversations that had taken place between Kent County Council and the districts in Kent that used a care navigator model, specifically relating to housing related issues.

3.    RESOLVED that the decision proposed to be taken by the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, to:

(a)  undertake an open tendering process for a Care Navigation and Social Prescribing Contract;

(b)  establish interim arrangements from 1 April 2019 for a minimum period of nine months for the majority of the remaining historic grants to allow for the full tender or appropriate process by 2020 in relation to community-based wellbeing services; and

(c)  delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Adult Social Care and Health, or other nominated officer, to undertake the necessary actions to implement the decision,

be endorsed.