Domiciliary FAQ
- Can the council provide TUPE information?
- Is it necessary for a provider who has downloaded the tender documents from the council website to register an interest separately?
- Can the council confirm that no pricing information is required at this the first stage of the tender?
- Will there be facility in the e-auction to combine bids and offer a reduction in price based on increased volumes?
- Is there a separate facility to submit a price for the tPCT service?
- The hours the council proposes to purchase does not account for all the hours the council states it currently purchases. Are the remaining hours provided by the in-house team?
- Should providers submit policy documents as part of their tenders?
- Is the council tendering for an Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) or is each provider allowed to use/purchase their own system?
- Please confirm that the council will contribute to the cost of providers using an EMS system with the tendered rates?
- Please confirm that providers might be given less than 24-hours notice to commence delivery of a care package?
- Is this effectively a ‘minute-by-minute’ billing contract?
- Please confirm there will definitely be an annual price increase, such as RPI?
- Please confirm that the tPCT service will be borough wide?
- Is there an ‘opt out’ clause for service providers?
- Please confirm that manual time sheets will not be required post EMS?
- What are the required insurance levels under the contract?
- Question SM8 of Evaluation - What do you mean by ‘exception to safe and well checks’?
- Please provide percentage breakdown of calls by call duration
- Please provide data of BME groups in receipt of the service
- Please can you provide an indication as to the split of business for days, and evenings?
Can the council provide TUPE information?
TUPE obligations do not arise for the Council as a consequence of this tender as Council employees are not affected. There may be TUPE implications between ‘old’ and ‘new’ service providers if an existing provider does not win a contract. There are currently 20 contracted service providers serving Walsall and the Council is unable to provide staffing information.
Is it necessary for a provider who has downloaded the tender documents from the council website to register an interest separately?
There is no need for any Service Provider to separately register their interest in the tender (even those who downloaded the documents from the Council website).
Can the council confirm that no pricing information is required at this the first stage of the tender?
No pricing information should be submitted as part of your response to this, the first stage of the tender. Pricing of bids is not an issue until the E-auction.
Will there be facility in the e-auction to combine bids and offer a reduction in price based on increased volumes?
Regrettably, there will be no facility at the E-auction stage for a bidder to combine his/her bids to achieve a reduction in pricing.
Is there a separate facility to submit a price for the tPCT service?
Separate bids may be made at the e-auction for the Council and tPCT services.
The hours the council proposes to purchase does not account for all the hours the council states it currently purchases. Are the remaining hours provided by the in-house team?
Care package hours delivered by the in-house Council team are not part of and have not been included in this tender.
Should providers submit policy documents as part of their tenders?
Providers must submit copies of all policies referred to in the Evaluation Pack.
Is the council tendering for an Electronic Monitoring System (EMS) or is each provider allowed to use/purchase their own system?
The Council will consult with successful providers in regard to the type of electronic monitoring system (EMS) required to ensure that provider systems meet the information needs of the Council. It is a contractual requirement that the EMS system is compatible with the data needs of the Council, however the choice of actual system purchased will rest with each individual provider.
Please confirm that the council will contribute to the cost of providers using an EMS system with the tendered rates?
The Council will not contribute to the cost of Service Providers’ EMS systems.
Please confirm that providers might be given less than 24-hours notice to commence delivery of a care package?
There may be occasions when a provider is given less then 24 hours notice to commence a new care package. In such circumstances the necessary paperwork my not be available. Sufficient information will be provided at the time and the necessary paperwork provided as soon as possible thereafter.
Is this effectively a ‘minute-by-minute’ billing contract?
The council will use ‘per minute billing’ for calls longer than 15 minutes save that calls which exceed the care package call time will be recorded as an exception and will not be paid unless the exception is approved in accordance with the contract. A visit which is shorter than the agreed call time i.e. 30 minute call; 25 minute duration, will be paid at 25 minutes but will also be recorded as exception.
Please confirm there will definitely be an annual price increase, such as RPI?
The council will review annually the fees paid to service providers. The review will take into account the annual council budget settlement and any efficiency targets set by government.
Please confirm that the tPCT service will be borough wide?
The tPCT service will be borough wide.
Is there an ‘opt out’ clause for service providers?
The draft contract has been amended to allow both parties to terminate the contract on the giving of 3 months notice.
Please confirm that manual time sheets will not be required post EMS?
Time sheets will not be required once Service Providers are using EMS.
What are the required insurance levels under the contract?
The Insurance levels required under the contract are:
- £10 million - Employers Liability
- £10 million - Public Liability
- £2 million - Professional Indemnity insurance
Question SM8 of Evaluation - What do you mean by ‘exception to safe and well checks’?
The term “exception to safe and well check” in SM8 refers to concerns raised by a care worker relating to the safety or wellbeing of a service user that come to the care worker’s attention whilst on a visit to the service user’s home. The question asks you to describe your organisation’s procedures for reporting these concerns.
Please provide percentage breakdown of calls by call duration
Please see the number of call units below for the final quarter of 2007:
| Call duration | Total number of hours | % of total hours |
| 0.25 | 1,728 | 0.89% |
| 0.5 | 3,126 | 32.38% |
| 0.75 | 1,206 | 5.75% |
| 1 | 4,799 | 33.24% |
| 1.25 | 626 | 0.32% |
| 1.5 | 1,601 | 5.95% |
| 1.75 | 51 | 0.03% |
| 2 | 460 | 10.50% |
| 2.25 | 54 | 0.03% |
| 2.5 | 1,270 | 0.65% |
| 3 | 4,203 | 2.16% |
| 3.5 | 130 | 0.07% |
| 4 | 1,228 | 0.63% |
| 4.5 | 198 | 0.10% |
| 5 | 715 | 0.37% |
| 5.5 | 226 | 0.12% |
| 6 | 672 | 0.34% |
| 6.5 | 85 | 0.04% |
| 7 | 252 | 0.13% |
| 8 | 1,024 | 0.53% |
| 8.5 | 238 | 0.12% |
| 9 | 6,480 | 3.32% |
| 9.5 | 1,425 | 0.73% |
| 10 | 700 | 0.36% |
| 15 | 1,575 | 0.81% |
| 18 | 252 | 0.13% |
| 22 | 616 | 0.32% |
| Total | 94,939 |
Please provide data of BME groups in receipt of the service
Data for BME groups in Walsall currently in receipt of domiciliary care (in accordance with the ethnic monitoring form).
| North East zone | |
| Indian | 2 |
| Carribbean | 2 |
| South zone | |
| Indian | |
| Pakistani | |
| Bangladeshi | |
| Any other Asian background | 3 |
| Caribbean | 16 |
| Any other ethnic background | |
| Any other black background |
| South Easton zone | |
| Indian | 3 |
| West zone | |
| Indian | 9 |
Please can you provide an indication as to the split of business for days, and evenings?
Number of hours for days/nights for final quarter of 2007:
| Day | Night | |
| Monday | 441.00 | 48.00 |
| Tuesday | 422.25 | 39.00 |
| Wednesday | 439.50 | 48.00 |
| Thursday | 444.00 | 48.00 |
| Friday | 437.25 | 39.00 |
| Saturday | 398.51 | 57.00 |
| Sunday | 361.25 | 48.00 |