The Executive Director Resources and Executive Director Health & Social Care have decided to award a contract to Care Vision for a Digital Social Care Records System for Adult Provider Services.

URL: https://councillors.knowsley.gov.uk/ieDecisionDetails.aspx?ID=7481

Decision Maker: Executive Director Resources (Stephan Van Arendsen) and Executive Director Health & Social Care (Sarah Smith)

Outcome: Recommendations Approved

Is Key Decision?: No

Is Callable In?: No

Purpose: The purpose of this report is to seek approval, in accordance with Contract Procedure Rule 9.1.2, for the award of contract to Care Vision for a Digital Social Care Records System for Adult Provider Services.   The reasons for the decision are, as required by Contract Procedure Rule 9.1.2 – The services could only be supplied by a particular supplier i.e. competition was absent for technical reasons and there was no reasonable alternative.  In specific terms, a competitive procurement process could not be formalised via the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England Dynamic Purchasing System and assured supplier list as this had expired-on the 20th of December 2024 and has not been replaced since. Assured suppliers were approached outside of the Dynamic Purchasing System and only one supplier could meet the relevant selection criteria.   The assured supplier list, made publicly available by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, was used as a due diligence tool to ensure that the suppliers we engaged with had been pre-screened and pre-approved as an assured supplier of this solution, so, there is safety in the fact that NHS England have approved the supplier identified as being the most suitable supplier for Adult Provider Services.   The award of a contract without formal competition is being sought as, following extensive engagement and market testing with potential suppliers, only one supplier meets all the service requirements.  

Content: The purpose of this report is to seek approval, in accordance with Contract Procedure Rule 9.1.2, for the award of contract to Care Vision for a Digital Social Care Records System for Adult Provider Services.   The reasons for the decision are, as required by Contract Procedure Rule 9.1.2 – The services could only be supplied by a particular supplier i.e. competition was absent for technical reasons and there was no reasonable alternative.  In specific terms, a competitive procurement process could not be formalised via the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England Dynamic Purchasing System and assured supplier list as this had expired-on the 20th of December 2024 and has not been replaced since. Assured suppliers were approached outside of the Dynamic Purchasing System and only one supplier could meet the relevant selection criteria.   The assured supplier list, made publicly available by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care, was used as a due diligence tool to ensure that the suppliers we engaged with had been pre-screened and pre-approved as an assured supplier of this solution, so, there is safety in the fact that NHS England have approved the supplier identified as being the most suitable supplier for Adult Provider Services.   The award of a contract without formal competition is being sought as, following extensive engagement and market testing with potential suppliers, only one supplier meets all the service requirements.   By Executive Director (Resources):   (i)       That permission be granted to award a contract directly for the provision of a system of Digital Social Care Records for Adult Provider Services in accordance with Contract Procedure Rule 9.1.2.   By Executive Director (Health and Social Care):   (ii)       That a contract be awarded without competition to Care Vision CMS UK Ltd for a Digital Social Care Records System for Adult Provider Services from 9th June 2025 to 9th June 2027; and   (iii)      That the Procurement Team be authorised to make the necessary arrangements for the issue of the relevant contract documentation.   Do Nothing: This option was considered and rejected as this option would not support the Knowsley Council Transformation Programme. This option would mean the service would need to continue to manually handle  Social Care Records  across several service areas in Adult Provider Services which would result in a significant amount of management time and capacity being occupied for this purpose. Deliver in house: This option was considered and rejected due to the Council not having an appropriate system that meets the Business Requirements for Adult Provider Services. Seek Competition (Quotation / Tender): A Soft Market Test (SMT) was conducted between available suppliers on the assured supplier list. The SMT exercise identified potential systems, and each system provider was contacted directly with a request to submit a response to the Council’s requirements. A panel evaluated each submission and concluded that only one organisation met all the requirements.

Date of Decision: July 7, 2025