Tendering for Social Care Contracts: Advice from the Experts

Here’s 5 tips from expert Bid Writers for tendering for social care contracts

Want to know more about tendering for social care contracts? Maybe you want to learn how to find them and how to win! Luckily, we are here to help.

Tendering for social care contracts: Where to look for opportunities

If you’re aiming to start tendering for social care contracts, then you’ll need to find some opportunities. You could use a search engine such as Google. This will bring up countless sites for you to explore. The only issue is that these sites will all differ in how they present the tender information. You may have to read through entire tender documents to find certain crucial information. In turn, the process can take ages, and you may not even be eligible for these opportunities.

Thankfully, we have a solution! Hudson Discover is our opportunity tracking division. We have 11 sector-specific portals to help businesses find the perfect opportunity. We streamline the process of finding tenders by having hundreds of tenders in one place. Our portals list tenders based on subsector, keyword, location, price, and deadline. This means you can easily see key details about the tender, without having to read hefty documents.

Our Opportunity Trackers manually upload tenders to our portals daily. So, you save hours of your time searching! We don’t use CPV codes either, so tenders are listed correctly.

Discover Elite

If you want to streamline the process even further, you can sign up to Discover Elite via your chosen portal. With this service, a dedicated Account Manager will find live bids on your behalf. They’ll speak with you weekly to discuss opportunities that may interest you. This is especially helpful for those with little time to spare due to busy schedules.

Previous social care contracts

Curious about what tenders we feature on our portal? Here are a few that have previously been available via our Healthcare Tenders portal:

Community Support Service – Yorkshire – £50k

The buyer is looking for the provision and delivery of a community peer support service.

Social Awareness Campaign – Yorkshire – £210k

The successful supplier will work alongside multiple agencies in providing learning materials to remove stigmas around nursing services.

Abuse Support – South East – £635k

The buyer is looking for support services and referral strategies for victims of domestic violence and abuse.

Housing Services – East Midlands – Budget: Undisclosed

The buyer is seeking the delivery of housing that adheres to all of the buyer’s needs.

Carer Support – Wales – Budget: Undisclosed

The contracting authority is seeking the provision of interventions and support for parents and their children, from infancy to adolescence.

How to win when tendering for social care contracts

New to tendering for social care contracts? Perhaps you aren’t seeing the success you had hoped for. Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, have expert Bid Writers that can help!

If you don’t have the time to dedicate to writing a bid proposal, you can turn to their experts. They’ll handle the entire process for you. Check out their services page to find out more.

Do you prefer to write your bids yourself but need some guidance? Here’s some tips from our experts to boost your chances of success:

  1. Make sure your proposal is clear and concise.
  2. Don’t use technical jargon as this can confuse the buyer.
  3. Make sure you proofread the bid before submission. Leaving errors can give the impression you are unprofessional!
  4. Use bid management skills to stay organised. It will make the process easier and less stressful.
  5. Check your eligibility before you begin!

Summary

Now you should have a good idea of how to find and win opportunities when tendering for social care contracts. Let’s recap everything we covered.

To find social care contracts, you can use our Healthcare Tenders portal. The Hudson Discover Division has 11 sector-specific portals to help businesses find contracts. You can upgrade to Discover Elite to streamline the process further. We assign an Account Manager to find contracts on your behalf.

Here are tips from our experts on how to write winning social care bid proposals:

  1. Make sure your proposal is clear and concise.
  2. Don’t use technical jargon as this can confuse the buyer.
  3. Make sure you proofread the bid before submission.
  4. Use bid management skills to stay organised.
  5. Check your eligibility before you begin!

Need help writing your next tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. They offer four bid writing support packages to help you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a tender and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information about our bid management consultancy services.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite will ensure you never miss a tendering opportunity even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decision
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notices monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Contact us for more information.

Social Care Tender Writing: Insights from the Experts

3 tips for social care tender writing

Are you a healthcare business, searching for tips for social care tender writing? Navigating the NHS tendering process can be tricky, especially for businesses that are new to tendering for work. In this blog, we’ll provide you with three tips for social care tender writing. So, you’ll be ready to face your next social care tender!

3 tips to improve your social care tender writing

  1. Demonstrate your experience

To show the buyer that you’re suitable for the contract, you need to demonstrate your past experience. To do this effectively, you should include relevant case studies in your tender response.

Ideally, you will have two to three contract examples from the past five years. These should be similar in size, scope and complexity to the contract you’re bidding for. For example, for successful social care tender writing, you need to demonstrate your experience with social care contracts. Providing the buyer with evidence of your medical PPE or ambulance experience won’t do you any favours.

  1. Use clear, simple language

For effective social care tender writing, you need to use clear, simple language in your tender response. If the buyer finds your proposal difficult to read, then they’re unlikely to award you the contract. So, it’s important to use short, concise sentences. Don’t overcomplicate your response with ‘fluffy’ language and filler words.

You should also avoid using overly complex jargon in your response. The buyer might have knowledge of this terminology, however, there’s a good chance they don’t. If that’s the case, they’ll struggle to understand your response, and you’re likely to lose out on that tender.

  1. Proofread, edit and review

Our final tip for social care tender writing is to proofread and edit your bid responses.

This is crucial for tendering success. The tendering process is extremely competitive, with many businesses applying for the same contracts. For that reason, you need to focus on the tiniest details to make your tender response stand out. That includes making sure that your response is completely free of spelling mistakes and grammatical errors.

To ensure that your responses are error free, you could try:

  • Leaving your response for a few days and going back to it with fresh eyes
  • Asking someone else to proofread and edit your response for you
  • Enlisting the help of experts, such as professional Bid Writers.

Summary

There are certain things you can do to improve your social care tender writing and win contracts for your business. Remember to include relevant case studies that showcase your experience. You also need to use clear, simple language that is easy to for the buyer to review. Finally, make sure that you proofread and edit your response before submitting it.

Need help writing your next social care tender?

If you don’t have the resources or time to write a winning bid, why not outsource it? Our sister company, Hudson Succeed, boasts an 87% success rate and have over 60 years of collective bidding experience. We offer four bid writing support packages that can get you on the path to success. Whether you’re new to tendering, or simply need someone to proof your written response before you submit – we can help.

Tender Ready

Our Tender Ready programme is designed for those who have never tendered before. This 4-week programme works with you to ensure you have everything in place to tender successfully.

Tender Improvement

Tender Improvement can help if you’re already tendering but aren’t seeing success from your current efforts. Our Bid Writers will assess your previous submissions and supporting documents. They’ll give you feedback and guidance on how to improve, helping you to secure your next social care tenders.

Tender Mentor

If you’ve written a social care tender response and need someone to proofread it – Tender Mentor is for you. A Bid Writer will double-check it’s in line with the specification and free of any grammar or spelling mistakes.

Tender Writing

If you’ve found the perfect tender but don’t know where to start – we can help. Send the specification over to us and our Bid Team will do the rest. They’ll let you know what they need from you and provide you with a full Tender Writing breakdown. They’ll even submit it on your behalf, leaving you more time to focus on your business.

Get in touch to find out more information.

Where can I find social care tenders?

You may be wondering where you can find social care tenders. You likely don’t have the time to trawl through numerous websites, relying on inaccurate CPV codes. Luckily for you, we have a solution.

Our Healthcare Tenders portal uploads all the relevant tenders in the healthcare industry across the UK. This helps to streamline the process, saving you time and resources.

Below are previous social care tenders sourced on our Healthcare Tenders portal:

321000 – Social Community Care Supplies & Services – Adult

Wirral Borough Council – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

NHSE810 – Her Majesty’s Prison’s (HMP) Hull & Humber Primary Care Services Invitation to Tender

NHS England & NHS Improvement – North East – Budget: Undisclosed

Prior Information Notice – Qualification of Management & Delivery of Shared Lives Services (Via Adult Social Care DPS Lot 17)

Slough Borough Council – South East – Budget: Undisclosed

Healthwatch Southend Service

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council – Eastern – Budget: Undisclosed

Early Intervention & Prevention & Carers (Adult & Young Carers)

Wirral Borough Council – North West – Budget: Undisclosed

What makes Healthcare Tenders different?

Healthcare Tenders is a time-saving tool. Our Opportunity Trackers manually search numerous sites for the latest healthcare leads and opportunities. They upload a whole range of opportunities such as single-provider contracts, NHS frameworks and DPSs. Once they are uploaded to our portal, you can filter the results by budget, keyword, location and more.

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Book a free live demo today.

Want to save even more time?

Upgrading to Discover Elite can help optimise your tendering efforts even when you’re busy!

The Ultimate Time-Saving Tool offers your business:

  • An annual subscription to a maximum of two Discover portals of your choice.
  • Up to five bid breakdowns per month to help you make your bid or no-bid decisions.
  • Weekly phone calls with your Account Manager to discuss viable social care leads and tendering opportunities.
  • Award and pre-market engagement notice monitored on your behalf.
  • Public and private buyer portal management including registering, password management, downloading documents and assessing viability based on your bid strategy.

Contact us for more information.

5 Things Required for Mental Health Tenders in the UK

A breakdown of mental health tenders in the UK

If you’re applying for mental health tenders in the UK, it can be slightly overwhelming to know where to start. The process can seem confusing, but this blog will help clear a few things up.

One in four people will experience a mental health problem of some kind in England. The cost of mental health problems reached almost £120 million in England.

How are mental health services purchased?

The typical process for mental health tenders in the UK is that a buyer will first release a pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ). A buyer could be looking to procure good or services in the public or private sector. The majority of mental health tenders in the UK are procured by public sector organisations such as councils and the NHS.

Potential suppliers will then complete the PQQ which asks for general information on your business such as insurance and policies. It’s basically a box-ticking exercise ensuring that you meet the minimum criteria needed to fulfil the project.

If successful, you will then be sent an invitation to tender (ITT). The ITT will include the specification which you should pay great attention to. It will detail and specify how the response should be formed including word counts. It will provide a breakdown of:

  • Submission deadline – date and time
  • Procurement timetable
  • Scoring breakdown
  • Deadline for clarification questions

5 things that are required for mental health tenders in the UK

If you’re new to the tendering process it can be hard to know where to begin. Below are five things that are required for mental health tenders in the UK. It’s worth noting, however, that each tender may require additional information. This is a general guide covering the basics.

  1. Proposed methodology

Within the ITT, you will typically be asked for the proposed methodology for the project. You must clearly demonstrate how the aims will be met. Clearly explaining your business’s proposed approach to delivering the brief will help you score highly. You could do this by outlining the sustainability and robustness of your method.

It’s also worth noting the limitations of your proposed methods. Buyers want you to demonstrate your business’s ability to work flexibly as there can often be bumps in the road. Showing how you can adapt and overcome these challenges will help you stand out from your competitors. The proposed methodology should also demonstrate that you are able to meet the timelines that are outlined in the specification. This further demonstrates that you have paid attention to what is needed and can fulfil this.

  1. Staffing and capacity

Mental health tenders in the UK will often require you to include staff CVs. This is because buyers want to know that you and your staff are qualified to carry out the project. This is particularly due to the sensitive nature of the job. You will be asked to provide relevant qualifications, competency and specialist skills that you and your staff hold. You should show that you have the capacity to perform the job at hand. This will be in the specification, and it’s worth double-checking that you have the resources before starting your response.

  1. Timetable and delivery

Mental health tenders may ask you to provide a timetable for the delivery of each of the key tasks. These will be outlined in the specification and you should formulate a realistic timetable. You may be required to highlight project milestones as well as the allocation of staff for each task.

You should pay particular attention to the timetable as the buyer may want it to form part of the contract. This will often be specified if this is the case, but it’s’ something to consider. You shouldn’t be adding an unrealistic timetable that you won’t be able to use when the time comes.

  1. Risk assessment

A risk assessment is a crucial part of mental health tenders in the UK. Buyers will want you to identify any risks associated with the project and you must explain how you’ll mitigate them. Mental health is a complex sector with built-in unpredictability, so you want to demonstrate a balance between control and care. Risk assessments can help keep patients, staff and all others involved safe.

  • IOSH (Institute for Occupational Health and Safety)
  • ISO 22301; 31000

A risk assessment should typically:

  • Identify potential hazards.
  • Determine who might be harmed and how.
  • Evaluate the risks and implement precautions.
  • Record your significant findings.
  • Review your assessment and update if necessary. 
  1. MEAT 

In the public sector, the tender will be awarded to the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT). This means that the buyer is looking at more than just the price. The weightings of mental health tenders in the UK range from 70 – 80% quality and a smaller percentage on price. Often the buyer will rank tenders on a range of factors such as:

  • Value for money and ability to meet timelines.
  • Approach to identifying and managing risk.
  • Your approach to the project, including the proposed methodology.
  • Fit to requirements of the brief, including proposed outcomes.
  • Your approach to equality, diversity and inclusion.
  • Your unique value to deliver the project.

Where can I find mental health tenders in the UK?

Tendering for work can help secure a pipeline of contracts for your business. You may be wondering where you can find mental health tenders in the UK. There are thousands of sites across the UK that post live opportunities for your business. It can take hours out of your day scrolling to find the right one for your company.

Usually, tenders are uploaded and tagged with CPV codes. These are often inaccurate, and you can end up missing out on the perfect opportunity for your business. If only there was one, easy-to-navigate industry-specific portal that you could use.

Enter – Healthcare Tenders

Our Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sites for the latest public and private healthcare opportunities. This includes single-provider contracts, NHS frameworks, DPS and spot provider frameworks. They then upload them to our Healthcare Tenders portal where you can filter the results by keyword, location and more. This can save you even more time, helping you find a tender that suits your business.

Here are some recent mental health tenders in the UK that were sourced on our Healthcare Tenders portal:

Advocacy Services – Lot 2 – Independent Mental Health Act Advocacy

Cumbria County Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

31-01-2021

Colne Valley Mental Health Intervention Service

Kirklees Council- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

01-02-2021

Community Mental Health Support Services

Midlothian Council- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

11-02-2021

Provision of a Mental Health Service in Brent (Peer support, Befriending, Outreach workers and General & Wellbeing Recovery Offer)

Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust- London- Budget: Undisclosed

05-02-2021

Support and Accommodation Framework for people with a Learning Disability, Mental Health Problem, Autism or a Physical and/or Sensory Impairment

Cumbria County Council- North West- Budget: Undisclosed

29-01-2021

We source healthcare tenders for the following sub-sectors:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Book a free live demo today.

If you’re struggling with writing your response for mental health tenders our sister company, Hudson Succeed, can help. Our Bid Writers have over 50 years of bidding experience and an 87% success rate. We offer four bid writing packages to suit every tender need.

Get in touch today to find out how we can help your business grow.

Understanding (and Winning) Your Place on a Social Care Framework

Understanding a Social Care Framework

A social care framework is usually a large contract in the care sector, open to more than one supplier. They’re often split into smaller, more manageable categories called lots – another term for services. For example, Leicestershire County Council is undertaking a procurement process to identify and appoint a number of service providers. This social care framework will provide a range of disabled children’s services, and is split into the following 2 lots:

  • Lot 1: Short Breaks (Play and Leisure).
  • Lot 2: Domiciliary Care.

To secure your place on a social care framework, such as this one, you need to undergo a tendering process. Tendering can often feel like a barrier to new service providers, but it doesn’t have to be complex or difficult. We think information on tendering should be accessible for everyone! So, here’s a guide to understanding and securing social care frameworks, using advice from our tendering experts.

What does the future of social care frameworks look like?

The number of available social care frameworks is currently rising as the public sector utilises frameworks more and more. Covid-19 has also disproportionately affected disabled, elderly and vulnerable people, who are dependent on social care.  The knock-on effects of the pandemic are also increasing the strain on mental health services across the country. All of this adds to the need for a larger, more unified approach to social care.

Matt Hancock, the Secretary of Health and Social Care, recently emphasised plans to join up health and social care. He also noted the need for a systems approach in care, and praised systems that are already in place, saying:

I have seen so many examples this year of systems working together for the benefit of patients, because that is what system working is all about…I have seen healthcare teams working side by side with charities and community groups to offer clinics for hard-to-reach patients.  

It seems overarching systems and social care frameworks are more important than ever, as we head into 2021.

What are the benefits of social care frameworks?

For new service providers and small businesses, tendering for frameworks can be more beneficial than tendering for single-supplier contracts.

While the benefits of social care frameworks vary, here’s a brief overview that highlights the common benefits for service providers:

Ongoing work

Upon securing a framework, suppliers can be guaranteed work for multiple years. For instance, in the previous example of Leicestershire County Council, this framework lasts for at least 1 year. The contract can then be extended for a further 3 years, taking the contract term up to 4 years.

Multiple lots

Within a social care framework, a range of verified suppliers can suit all requirements: from regional SME specialists, to national providers. The option for multiple different services means there are more open opportunities, and thus more chances of securing a place.

There is also the option to tender for multiple different lots at once, which can further increase your chance of success. For example, let’s look at the current framework for Technology Enabled Care Services. This social care framework provides a compliant route to access various health and social care technologies.

It has four lots:

  • Lot 1 – Electronic Assistive Technologies
  • Lot 2 – Alarm Technologies and Services
  • Lot 3 – Continuous Monitoring Services
  • Lot 4 -Schedule Remote and On Demand Services

This framework is serviced by seventeen suppliers in total. Four of these suppliers work within multiple lots. Our free Tender VLE masterclass on frameworks touches on tendering for multiple lots in more depth.

Large contracts

Large contracts offer very valuable experience for smaller business and can bolster your chances of winning future work. Framework experience helps prove you are a reliable and credible service provider.

Further benefits…

Social care frameworks benefit buyers, too, of course. The NHS Shared Business Services states its social care framework agreements are designed to:

  • Ensure competitive pricing
  • Help drive savings
  • And improve efficiencies.

There is also the freedom to re-award contracts to approved providers on social care frameworks. This is a benefit for both buyers and suppliers. If a supplier is on an approved provider list, this essentially means they have a ‘seal of approval.’ The buyer can award them work repeatedly, without the need to re-advertise or reapply the selection and award criteria. This method of procurement is proven to deliver better value year on year.

Service users also benefit from social care frameworks in the following ways:

  • Personalisation of care. Social care frameworks promote the personalisation of care. Approved provider lists help achieve this by allowing people to draw upon a range of ‘approved’ services.
  • Flexible contract terms. Access to a number of contracts enables users to find tailored care for their individual needs.

How do I win work on social care frameworks?

At Hudson, we help businesses secure public and private sector contracts. We’ve been doing so, and seeing success, for almost two decades. Our Healthcare Tenders portal was created due to popular demand, as we were supporting many healthcare companies through Hudson Succeed. We wanted to give these companies a sector-specific platform for sourcing tenders with better results and accurate tracking methods. Since creating the portal, we’ve since been able to assist hundreds of care organisations. We’ve secured work on frameworks for recently established businesses and helped larger organisations grow their business in the care sector.

So, what do our bid writing consultants, at Hudson Succeed, advise when it comes to social care frameworks? Here’s their top three recommendations for NHS tenders:

  1. Seek relevant experience

If you’ve never tendered before, you should seek experience that is relevant to the social care framework.

Our consultants recommend contacting your local authorities and asking about any ongoing social care frameworks in your sector. Ask if they need any subcontractor SMEs for additional assistance. This can gain you contractual experience, which is essential when tendering, in the majority of cases. You need experience to back up your tender responses in order to be considered by a Procurement Manager.

  1. Secure relevant accreditations

The tender may require you to have certain accreditations with evidence. Find out which accreditations will increase your eligibility for social care frameworks before applying. 60% of public sector tenders we have worked with require suppliers to have an ISO 9001 prior to contract commencement. And whilst it may not be a requirement for all tenders, it won’t ever hurt your chances.

The ISO 9001:2015 standard is particularly useful for social care frameworks. It ensures high quality service, which is the core principle of social care. Now, more than ever, suppliers need to meet ever-changing regulations and bid against competitors. The ISO 9001:2015 offers an independently assessed quality standard which applies to all social care providers across the UK.

It gives an advantage when seeking social care frameworks, as it ensures compliance with all legal, regulatory and local policy requirements. This includes all of the following:

  • The Department of Health (DOH)
  • The Care Quality Commission (CQC)
  • The Care and Social Services Inspectorate Wales (CSSIW)
  • The Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW)
  • Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS)
  • The Healthcare Environment Inspectorate Scotland (HEIS)
  • The Regulatory and Quality Improvement Authority Northern Ireland (RQIA)
  • The Medicines and Healthcare Regulation Authority (MHRA)
  • National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE)
  • The NHS Legal Authority (NHSLA)
  1. Create a strong tender

Creating a strong tender is absolutely essential to winning work on social care frameworks. Read our consultants expert advice on composing strong health and social care tenders for more insight into the process.

If you lack the writing skills or corporate literature to write a detailed and compliant tender, don’t worry. You can seek tender writing support from experts or outsource your tender writing if needed.

We offer four packages of bid writing assistance:

Each one is tailored to different needs, whether you simply require advice on previous tenders, or want to outsource a tender completely.

Our team of health and social care tender writers at Hudson Succeed hold an 87% bid success rate. They are trusted by over 700 businesses, globally, so you can rest assured that your bid is in safe hands. Once we have written your bid, we’ll go ahead and submit it for you, too. Tendering has never been easier!

Looking for further support?

We can support through the NHS tendering process and help you bid for social care frameworks. From the beginning of your tender, right through to securing your lot.

We can find social care frameworks that are right for you. Our Healthcare Tenders portal is dedicated specifically to the healthcare and social care industries. Our team of Opportunity Trackers manually search thousands of sources, daily, to find tenders that are relevant to the portal. (Importantly, these trackers are real people – not inaccurate CPV codes!) These tenders are then uploaded to one central system where they are categorised with industry-led keywords.

When you sign up, we’ll send you a daily bulletin with newly uploaded opportunities that are relevant to your business.

Book a free live demo to tour the Healthcare Tenders portal. Browse the tenders and see how the system can help your business secure work on social care frameworks.

Below are previous Social Care Framework agreements sourced on our portal:

Framework for Standard Home Care Services

Derby City Council- East Midlands- Budget: Undisclosed

Framework Agreement in Relation to Home Care Services – Tender for Lot A Lead Provider (Tier) 1 Cluster Area 3 and 4

Southampton City Council- South East- Budget: £12,480,000

Framework Agreement for the Provision of Low, Mid and High-Tech Homecare Services

NHS London Procurement Partnership- London- Budget: Undisclosed

Framework Agreement in Relation to Home Care Services – Second Anniversary Re-Opening

Southampton City Council- South East- Budget: £120,218,632

Short Breaks Pseudo DPS/Framework

East Riding of Yorkshire- Yorkshire and Humber- Budget: Undisclosed

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Care Framework Agreements: An Expert Guide

What is a care framework?

Care framework agreements are a great way to establish your company in the care sector and build experience.

A care framework is usually one buyer seeking to establish a contract with multiple suppliers in the care sector. It’s common for tenders in the care sector to be large public sector contracts, and therefore part of a framework.

Many jobs in the care sector are temporary or fixed-term contracts which rely on the renewal of funding. When you secure a place on a framework, you can become an ‘approved supplier’ for the duration of the agreement. This can be anywhere from 2-10 years or more. Obviously, this is a great way to secure ongoing work.

Framework agreements are an effective way for SME’s and new businesses to build experience and work towards securing larger contracts. Buyers don’t always require as many credentials or as much turnover as if the contact was to be delivered by a single supplier. And, in the long run, this experience can continue to benefit your company even after the contract is over. Experience on a care framework proves you are reliable and able to work effectively within a larger project. This will bolster your company’s future tender responses and help you build experience.

So, care frameworks can be a valuable stepping-stone for smaller businesses. They’re certainly worth tendering for, if you have the credentials to back up your services.

What types of care framework agreements are available in 2020? 

Care frameworks provide a wide variety of employment opportunities across the country. It’s hard to overstate the variety of work available. The care sector employs over 1.5 million people across 38,000 different organisations and support services. The adult social care sector alone contributes an estimated £43billion to the economy.

People often underestimate the breadth and scope of the care sector in comparison to healthcare. In fact, it’s a huge industry with lots of employment opportunities. It rivals the NHS as the biggest employer in the country. Much like healthcare, the social care sector is vital to society and a rewarding source of work. Due to its size, there are a wide range of care frameworks in need of qualified, skilled service providers.

Here are just a few of the settings your company may work in as part of a care framework:

  • Care homes
  • Private homes
  • Hostels
  • Probation centres
  • Shelters
  • Hospitals
  • Prisons.

The work you undertake may fall into any of the following categories:

  • residential care
  • domiciliary care
  • supporting living
  • childcare and early years
  • guidance and counselling
  • social care
  • child protection
  • community work
  • fostering and adoption
  • housing
  • occupational therapy
  • probation
  • psychology
  • art therapies
  • youth and community work.

Who are the main employers for care frameworks in 2020?

Care framework agreements can stem from a range of buyers and employers. These include:

  • The Nation Health Service (NHS) – e.g. hospitals, clinics, mental health trusts
  • Local authorities – e.g. city councils, social services
  • Charities – e.g.  Age Concern, Barnardo’s
  • Residential and non-residential care organisations
  • Private organisations
  • Educational facilities – e.g. schools, colleges and universities
  • HM Prison and Probation Service.

Each of these lists is simply intended to showcase the diversity of the care sector. They are by no means exhaustive lists of examples. For such a large and ever-changing industry, it’s impossible to showcase all of the opportunities available in this blog!

For a more in-depth look at buyers and opportunities available, book a free live demo of Healthcare Tenders portal. When you sign up, our opportunity trackers will send all relevant tenders direct to your inbox. You’ll never miss a tender! Your subscription to Healthcare Tenders gives you:

  • Unlimited access to the portal containing all active healthcare contracts in the UK.
  • An easy way of searching by filtering the contracts according to budget, location and keywords (including such terms like, social care, supported living and mental health tenders).
  • A daily bulletin sent straight to your inbox, containing all the new contract notices our Opportunity Trackers have found that day. These opportunities are sourced by real people – not CPV codes – so we can guarantee accuracy to your sector.
  • A dedicated Account Manager who will deal with all queries relating to Healthcare Tenders or to tendering in general;
  • A free 20-minute phone consultation with our bid writing experts from Hudson Succeed. They will answer your questions and provide advice and guidance related to your tendering journey.

What are the core issues within care frameworks in 2020?

The care sector has been one of the worse affected sectors during the coronavirus pandemic. Elderly and vulnerable people, who often depend on care workers, are at high-risk to severe COVID-19 symptoms. This has put extreme pressure on the care industry throughout 2020 – and shown how resilient of an industry it is!

Both residential and domiciliary care patients are severely affected by coronavirus. Between March and June 2020, 29.3% of all deaths of care home residents were linked to COVID-19. During the same period, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) also reported 6,523 deaths of recipients of domiciliary care. This was more than double the three-year average. Social care staff were also more than twice as likely to die from COVID-19 as other adults during the pandemic.

When tendering for care frameworks in 2020, consider how you can adapt your services to keep up to date. Can you demonstrate how you’ll keep staff and service users safe as the pandemic continues?

Here are two key factors you should focus on to improve your tenders for care frameworks.

  1. Adapting your quality of care

Quality of care is the single most important evaluation criterion for care frameworks. Unlike other industries, pricing is often less important than quality. If your services don’t meet the required qualities set out in the care framework, it’s not worth tendering for.

Most importantly, you must provide specific evidence to back up your quality of care. Demonstrate how your company aligns with the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) required standards, which include:

  • Person-centred care
  • Dignity and respect
  • Consent
  • Safety
  • Safeguarding from abuse
  • Food and drink
  • Premises and equipment
  • Complaints
  • Good governance
  • Staffing
  • Fit and proper staff
  • Duty of candour
  • Display of ratings

Consider the issues coronavirus has caused within quality of care, including:

  • Reduced staff availability (due to sickness)
  • A lack of personal protective equipment (PPE)
  • Patients being discharged from hospital into the incorrect care setting that does not fully meet their needs. This was due to the need to free up hospital beds during the pandemic.
  • Reduced, suspended or cancelled services. E.g. day centre closures and charities scaling back their services to ensure the safety of staff and service users.

Now more than ever within care frameworks, you must be able to tackle and overcome issues that arise, as they arise. Can your tender outline the ways in which you’ll overcome quality of care issues?

Care workers are adapting to and tackling these issues in inventive ways. For instance, the directors of adult social services (ADASS) produced an informative guide to care home infection control. The guide features case studies such as using motor homes for additional sleeping capacity for staff. Even simple solutions, such as using different coloured t-shirts to help staff work in new teams, have been effective.

  1. Evidencing your social value

Public sector contracts now put a stronger focus on the wider, positive impact that your business will provide whilst delivering a contract. If the tender is for work totalling over £180k, the buyer is legally obliged to ask about social value. Suppliers can demonstrate their social value in the form of:

  • Policies and procedures;
  • Spending;
  • Training;
  • Volunteering;
  • Community engagement;
  • Mentoring.

Social value is especially important in care frameworks, due to the sensitive nature of the work. It’s also more likely that your work will benefit the wider community and improve the lives of local people. Can you demonstrate your community engagement?

Emphasising the social value of your service can be key in strengthening your tender and winning the contract. Avoid being vague when you demonstrate the social value of your work. For example, will you improve the local community by employing local staff and ensuring an environmentally friendly workspace? If so, showcase this with specific figures, dates, and tangible objective and targets.

Need support bidding for care frameworks?

It can be difficult to win a place on a care framework. Care work is a particularly sensitive and emotionally challenging industry. Regulation standards are therefore very high and care frameworks have particularly strict evaluation criteria.

You may feel your services are perfect for the requirements of a care framework but fail to secure the work. If this has happened to your company before, you’re not alone. Losing a bid to a supplier with experience that is more specific or niche than yours? That’s a common occurrence due to the stringent criteria of care frameworks.

Our team of bid writers at Hudson Succeed can help you craft care framework tender responses that hit the mark. We can present your company in the best light possible to increase your chances of winning great opportunities. Or, if you’re new to tendering, we can guide you through the NHS tendering process, offering support at each stage.

If you need support to find tendering opportunities, our Healthcare Tenders portal can help. We will make sure you don’t miss out on any current care frameworks that are out to tender.

Below are previous care frameworks sourced on our portal:

WCC – Warwickshire Care at Home Services Lot 1 Spot Purchase – 2

Coventry – Solihull – Warwickshire- West Midlands- Budget: £450,000

Dec 2020 Re-Opening – Gloucestershire Health and Social Care Pseudo-Framework 2020-2024

Gloucestershire County Council- South West- Budget: Undisclosed

Live at Home Framework

Essex County Council- South East- Budget: £400,000,000

Care at Home: Homecare and Reablement Flexible Framework

The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames- London- Budget: £57,412,490

Domiciliary Care Framework

London Borough of Bromley- London- Budget: Undisclosed

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Domiciliary Care Tenders

Medical PPE

Social Care Contracts

Medical Supplies & Consumables

Mental Health Tenders

Supported living Tenders

Medical Equipment Tenders

Want to receive all care frameworks, direct to your inbox? Book a free live demo with Hudson Discover today.

Let us help you to help others.

Now is the time for Healthcare Tenders.

Social Care Framework Agreements

How to Become a Supplier on Social Care Framework Agreements 

Social Care Framework Agreements are in continuous demand throughout the UK and further afield. The public sector, including the NHS and Local Authorities are in need of high-quality social care services within their areas.

The range of social care framework agreements are vast. Hudson Discover now operates a new Healthcare Tenders portal that brings all of these opportunities together, in one place! Hudson understand the priorities of our clients who provide Social Care services. They must prioritise their time in order to best care for their patients. Leaving less time for them to find and consider opportunities to advance and enhance their businesses.

Our portals are updated with opportunities daily by our procurement team, ensuring that suitable social care framework agreement opportunities are readily available for your business to review and make quick, easy bid/no bid decisions. This is made possible by the fact that all the tender documentation is just a click away, saving the hassle of navigating through a seemingly never-ending series of links and pages.

To become a supplier on a social care framework agreement, you need to understand the NHS tendering process. Typically, social care framework agreements will follow the typical procurement process: first an initial selection questionnaire (SQ) or pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) and then an ITT for those passing the first section. As part of the open procedure, the SQ procedure can be eliminated altogether, instead jumping straight into the ITT. Social care tenders tend to evaluate you on your ability to:

  • Deliver a quality, consistent service;
  • Demonstrate a person-centred approach;
  • Showcase a comprehensive understanding of incident management and safeguarding;
  • Evidence previous examples of delivering Social Care. 

This list is non-exhaustive – indeed, buyers may ask you about any element of your service.

Opportunities are available through a variety of contracts. In general, there is more demand for public sector opportunities, than private. The public sector is accountable for spending public money, so the procurement process must be transparent and regulated. 

Types of Social Care Framework Agreements

The UK currently spends over £140bn a year on the public provision of Health and over £20bn on Social Care. The healthcare sector in the UK could not run efficiently without private sector suppliers. As a result, our Healthcare Tenders portal sees a constant stream of Healthcare contract opportunities, concerning a variety of disciplines, including Social Care frameworks crop up all across the UK. 

An estimated 1 in 3 NHS clinical services tenders are won by private sector contractors. The NHS is always looking for innovative new partners and they regularly award contracts worth many thousands of pounds to the successful bidders. Types of social care framework agreements readily available via the public procurement process include:

Supported Living 

Supported living is a blend of accommodation provision and bespoke support. It gives those living in the accommodation individual tenancies, to maximise their independence. Supported Living tenders are extremely varied, from budget, to scope, to types of service user; so, you can be sure that there is one that is right for your business. There are Supported Living tenders for many different demographics, which may specify and/or comprise one or more of the following groups:

  • Young people with learning disabilities;
  • Adults with learning disabilities;
  • Care leavers aged 16+;
  • Young asylum seekers aged 16+;
  • Homeless young people;
  • Young offenders.

Supported Living premises are often grouped into the following categories:

  • Floating/flexible support (those who require less or varied levels of support);
  • Standard;
  • Complex needs (those who display risk-taking/harmful behaviours of some sort).

The varied nature of the service users who may be housed in supported living premises means that providers should have experience in caring for specific needs. Differing levels of risk/support also influence the accommodation requirements and tender specifications. It is worth browsing all available tenders and their pertaining documents, because there’s bound to be one that dovetails perfectly with your service offering and your staff’s areas of expertise.

Mental Health 

Mental Health forms an ever growing part of the Social Care industry within the UK. This has resulted in the appearance of more Mental Health Tenders being released into the public domain. As the discussion on mental health within the UK has grown within recent years, more tendering opportunities have become available via the public procurement process. This is due to the fact that more people are attempting to access community mental health services.

The NHS and leading mental health charities predict that this trajectory will rocket in the fall out of the COVID-19 pandemic. As many suffer through economic and social hardships, the likes of Mind and Mental Health UK expect the need for mental health services to rise dramatically. Our in-house opportunity trackers are already beginning to see an increase in mental health tenders appear on our Healthcare Tenders portal.

Domiciliary Care

As the lifespan of the average UK resident continues to grow, as does the need for domiciliary care. Over recent years the issuing of domiciliary care tenders has risen drastically. The personal care of the elderly and the disadvantaged and vulnerable is consistently and continuously being outsourced to private organisations. Providing opportunities to care providers of all statures – from small start-ups to large agencies.

Securing a place on Social Care Framework Agreements

Increasingly in the sector, works are being contracted in the form of a greater number of smaller contracts, typically handled by local authorities. Hence, this provides small, even start-up health and social support providers with a golden opportunity to secure a place on social care framework agreements of all varieties. Based on our experience’s, we have found the main influences on success in tendering for social care opportunities are:

  • Past Experience 

As is a common theme in the process of tendering for work, your evidence is key. Contracting authorities want to see solid evidence of your experience and competency. It is especially important to show this regarding the challenges you might face on the contract for which you are bidding. Without firm evidence, including numbers, dates, figures and details of specific challenges, you may struggle. Indeed, building up a bank of case studies to draw on, is a key first step toward winning healthcare tenders.

  • Accreditation & Qualification 

To be awarded a place on Social Care frameworks, or to be in with a realistic chance thereof, you have to be able to display appropriate accreditations and qualifications. Otherwise, you will fall at the first hurdle. Tendering authorities need to know that you’re a safe bet. They need to know that you and your team are a safe, competent and respectful pair of hands. Displaying some basic, internationally recognised qualifications quality accreditations and information security standards for your organisation will help. Accreditations such as ISO 9001 and ISO 27001, as well as appropriate NVQs (usually level 3 or above), can typically help you make the first cut in evaluation procedures and help you to reform your business with national best practice.

  • Quality Responses 

Quality is almost always the most pressing aspect of any Social Care tender. Pricing, although important, is typically of secondary consideration to most tendering authorities within this sector. We at Hudson Succeed, recently submitted a bid on behalf of a healthcare provider, which was judged on 100% quality. Meaning price was not even considered! Tendering authorities are more interested in getting a good quality service that meets the needs of service users fully, rather than a cheap service.

Providing additional evidence as part of your submission, will back up your quality responses. For example, providing policies and/or risk assessments, among other items, will inspire further confidence in your organisations ability to provide a safe, quality service.

  • Corporate Social Responsibility 

Social value is becoming more and more prevalent in all tenders, across all business sectors. Buyers want to see you demonstrate how you will bring value to their communities. Typically, this value can be brought through commitments to environmental, social and economic initiatives. 

Authorities tendering Social Care services don’t just want to see your organisation’s commitment to your service users. They also want to see your commitment to the wider picture.

Nowadays, it is very likely that you will encounter at least one question about social value or community benefits.

A strong social value response can be the difference between a strong care tender and a weak one. 

How can we help? 

If you don’t see success first time around when bidding a place on Social Care framework agreements, don’t be disheartened.

Due to the sensitive and challenging nature of this type of work, Social Care framework agreements are often accompanied by strict evaluation criteria. A failure may well not be a reflection on your company, but simply the case that a contracting authority has found someone with more specific or niche experience.

Let Healthcare Tenders help you – we will make sure you stay ahead of the game; notifying you of all current social care framework agreements out to tender. 

Below are previous social care framework agreements sourced on our portal:

Children’s Residential Care Framework

Hampshire County Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

Framework for the Provision of Short Break Services for Disabled Children/Young People with Special Educational Needs and Disability

Darlington Borough Council- North East- Budget: Undisclosed

Flexible Framework Agreement for Education and Social Support Services (Children and Families)

Dundee City Council- Scotland- Budget: Undisclosed

Provider Engagement Event for the Framework Agreement for the Provision of Day Opportunities for Working Age Adults and Older People

Darlington Borough Council- North East- Budget: Undisclosed

WCC – Warwickshire Care at Home Services Lot 1 Spot Purchase – 2

Coventry – Solihull – Warwickshire- West Midlands- Budget: £450,000

We source healthcare business leads for sub-sectors including:

Your subscription to Healthcare Tenders includes:

  • Unlimited access to the portal containing all active Healthcare contracts, which you can filter according to budget size, location and keywords (including such terms like, social care, supported living and mental health tenders). 
  • A daily bulletin sent straight to your inbox, containing all the new contract notices our Opportunity Trackers have found that day;
  • A dedicated Account Manager who will deal with all queries relating to Healthcare Tenders or to tendering in general;
  • A free 20-minute phone consultation with our bid writing experts from Hudson Succeed – who can answer specific questions and provide advice and guidance related to your tendering journey.

Want to receive all the social care frameworks published daily direct to your inbox?

Get in touch with Hudson Discover today for a free trial / free demo. 

Let us help you to help others. 

Now is the time for Healthcare Tenders.