Council took emergency action to award £35m contract to new care equipment provider
Peterborough City Council took emergency action to safeguard a vital health and social care service after its previous provider went into liquidation.
The authority, which leads the Integrated Community Equipment Service (ICES) on behalf of Cambridgeshire County Council and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Integrated Care Board, terminated its contract with Nottingham Rehab Limited (NRS) in July following insolvency issues with the company.
The ICES contract provides equipment to people of all ages and is responsible for the purchasing, delivery and installation, collection, recycling, repair and maintenance of a large range of health and social care equipment. It is a statutory service which also provides minor housing adaptations such as small ramps and handrails.
NRS, which held contracts with 41 local authorities nationwide, went into liquidation on August 1 and the city council's leaders decided to use emergency powers to terminate its NRS contract and directly award a replacement contract to Medequip Assistive Technology Ltd.
The new contract is worth up to £35 million over four years, with an annual maximum value of £8.7 million funded via pooled budgets. The city council covers around £520,000 of this per year.
A report to be put before a Peterborough City Council cabinet meeting on October 2 states: "The nature of the insolvency issues did not provide sufficient time to undertake a competitive procurement process, and termination and award of contracts had to be undertaken in such a way to ensure no gap in service provision occurred, enabling PCC to discharge its statutory duty."
The report states that the national market for ICES is limited to three main suppliers: Nottingham Rehab Limited, Medequip Assistive Technology Ltd and Millbrook.
Cabinet members will be recommended to support the emergency decision taken by their chief executive.
The ICES scheme annually provides over 100,000 items of equipment to people, with up to 14 driver technicians on the road every day.
The cabinet report adds: "The ICES contract is an essential part of the health and social care system providing equipment to support hospital discharge, prevent admission to hospital and care homes, keep people safe and independent at home and school and supports end of life.
"The provision of appropriate equipment to people at home can prevent, avoid and delay their need for more costly and restrictive forms of health and social care support."
It was noted that the absence of this service would have resulted in the council's failure to deliver its statutory service as well as a serious impact on people who required this support.