Suffolk Dementia Support Service

NHS Ipswich and East Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group, NHS West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group and Suffolk County Council are looking to commission a Suffolk Dementia Support Service across the Ipswich and East and West Suffolk localities.

The overall aim of the service is to help people with dementia and their carers across the county of Suffolk (West and Ipswich and East), to live independently, safely, and well, for as long as possible within their communities.

This includes helping people to manage the impact dementia has on their lives, make informed choices in planning for their future, and put in place practical solutions to stabilize situations and avoid crises. The main way this is to be achieved, is by bringing together, simplifying and coordinating timely and appropriate information, advice and support.

The service will be for anyone with diagnosed or suspected dementia, or those who are simply worried about associated communication, comprehension or memory issues, their carers, and wider family. The service will have a complete understanding of the Suffolk health and care system-wide offer of services and systems of support, as well as the demographics across the county. High quality, consistent advice and information will be offered to anyone accessing the service, appropriate to their needs at the time of contact, and paced according to their requirements.

The services will be subject to a block contract for 2 years with the potential to extend the contract for 1 year; more details are within the procurement documents.

The contract value is an indicative figure for all anticipated activity of the service within the localities outlined above.

Interested parties are invited to a virtual bidder event on the 4th August 2021 between 9:30am and 11:30am. The event will provide context and additional detail and time for questions to the commissioners. The session will also cover the tender process and how to submit your best bid.

To attend the bidder event, apply through the correspondence function within the In-tend portal providing attendee email addresses.

Contract review provision:

Please note that the services and associated specification and prices commissioned within this contract may be subject to review and change, any changes will be through a variation to the contract in accordance with Regulation 72 (1) (a) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Additionally, the contract may also be amended in terms of the original services supplied, where, following assessment it is identified that it is logical for additional services to be delivered in conjunction with this contract and by the provider, both in terms of actual service delivery and to avoid duplication of costs.

These services may include but are not limited to other services and specialties formally delivered in the community and secondary care settings where it is foreseen that these services can be delivered more effectively as part of this contract.