WMCA News • 3 January 2023

Dear Care Provider,

 

The Council’s Cabinet have now approved the Commissioning Strategy 2023 for Care Homes (with and without nursing), Supported Living and Home Support Sensory Loss. A copy of the final Commissioning Strategy and the full report can be found here:

 

Decision Details: Regulated Adult Social Care Commissioning Strategy - Care Homes, Supported Living and Home Support Sensory Loss 2023+ (cmis.uk.com)

 

The current Care Homes 2018 and Supported Living 2018 contracts are therefore due to end on 30 April 2023.

 

The tender for the replacement contracts Care Homes 2023, Supported Living Services 2023 and Home Support Sensory Loss 2023 has now gone live and you can apply now using the link below:

 

Welcome to CareMatch Portal

 

Legal tender notices have been published via the following links:

 

Contracts Finder

Application to join the flexible contracting arrangements for the provision of Care Homes with and without Nursing Services and Care and Support (Supported Living) - Contracts Finder

 

Framework Agreement for the provision of Home Support Sensory Loss - Contracts Finder

 

Find a Tender Portal

Application to join the flexible contracting arrangements for the provision of Care Homes with and without Nursing Services and Care and Support (Supported Living) - Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk)

 

Framework Agreement for the provision of Home Support Sensory Loss - Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk)

 

Finditinbirmingham

View Opportunity | FinditinBirmingham

 

The anticipated start date for the new contracts is 3 April 2023. While the current 2018 contracts still remain open for applications, please consider applying to join the 2023 contracts only. N.B. providers successful in joining the 2018 contracts between now and 30 April 2023 will still need to apply for the 2023 contracts to continue to do business with the Council after 30 April 2023. Applications for the 2023 contracts will be prioritised for review over the 2018 applications.

 

 

How do I ask questions during the tender period?

 

As the tender process has now launched, there will be restrictions on the contact Commissioners may be able to have. Please do not contact Commissioners in relation to any aspect of the tender.

 

To ensure the tender process is fair and transparent, support will need to be accessed as follows:

 


 

 

Procurement Support Step 1 – Check the Guidance Document

 

Should you have questions about the procurement exercise or how to complete the Questionnaire, you should check the relevant guidance document which is available from the list of dropdown documents under each contract heading on the CareMatch Portal:

 

  • For Care Homes or Supported Living 2023, please read document “001 P0996 FCA SQ Instruction Doc FINAL”

 

  • For a Home Support Sensory Loss 2023 contract, please read document “001 P0995 Sensory Loss Framework Instructions Doc FINAL”

 

 

Procurement Support Step 2 – check the Clarification Log

 

Check the Clarification Log to see if your question has already been asked and answered:

 

Tender opportunities | Tender opportunities | Birmingham City Council

 

 

Procurement Support Step 3 – raise a clarification question via the CareMatch Portal

 

Raise a clarification via the Questions function in the CareMatch Portal. The answers to these questions will be published regularly here:

 

Tender opportunities | Tender opportunities | Birmingham City Council

 

 

 

How can I get support with the CareMatch Portal during the tender?

 


 

CareMatch Portal Support Step 1

 

Review the tender instructions document and any guidance in the CareMatch Portal, to check you are entering the correct type of information.

 

 

CareMatch Portal Support Step 2

 

Review the CareMatch Portal User guide for instructions, which can be found here:

 

User Guide for providers using Care Match Portal | Birmingham City Council

 

 

CareMatch Portal Support Step 3

 

Check the Clarification Log and bulletins, as we may have published some further information already to support you:

 

Tender opportunities | Tender opportunities | Birmingham City Council

 

 

CareMatch Portal Support Step 4

Only after you have attempted to resolve your technical issue using the above support, should you contact the Council’s Market Intelligence Team via email at:

 

marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk

 

Please ensure you give as much detail as possible in your email, including screenshots where possible and which stage of the process you are stuck at. The team will respond either by email or will contact you by phone if they cannot resolve easily by email.

 

Please be aware once again that the Market Intelligence Team can only answer technical questions relating to the CareMatch Portal and not about any other aspect of the tender process. Please see guidance above for how to raise procurement/tender related questions.

 

 

 

Market Intelligence Team

Adult Social Care & Health Commissioning

Birmingham City Council

marketintelligence@birmingham.gov.uk

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