Seasonal Surge Support Programme

For the past few winter periods, health and care systems have seen increasing amounts of pressure, particularly in Urgent and Emergency Care. For the past three winters NHS England has funded national providers on a reactive basis to commission crisis surge support to relieve pressure in the most challenged areas of the system. Over the years the programme has developed to reach more patients in more locations, with a more diverse service offer, with tens of thousands of patients benefitting from home from hospital services, patient transport and community follow up care. As part of the Covid-19 response, winter pressures services were extended with more than 182 services across England at the programme's height. Recognising that pressures fluctuate and are not solely contained to winter there is a need to look at a more sustainable longer term approach to surge support which would also provide a proactive and planned approach to standing up surge support when needed. We also know that providers can be far more effective and agile if they can maintain a certain level of capacity to respond to needs of the health and care system and invest in development of services.

To this end NHS England & NHS Improvement is now seeking a single provider, or partnership of providers (consortium with lead provider), to provide a seasonal surge support offer that will be made available across England (working with the seven NHS Regions) to local NHS trusts/ Integrated Care Systems to support patient flow through provision of hospital discharge and community out of hospital wrap around care.

The core offer will be to provide surge capacity above and beyond BAU service delivery to relieve pressure and improve patient flow at times of need. The precise offer of support at each location will be determined and agreed with local regions and systems but as a whole the surge support offer must have the ability to deliver:

Please apply here: https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome