We were successful in supporting the quick turnaround of a block booking of beds urgently required for several elderly mentally infirm and general nursing patients.

Background

NHS Vale Royal Clinical Commissioning Group (VRCCG) required support to block book eight discharge-to-assess beds (four for the elderly mentally infirm (EMI) and four general nursing). ​ ​

Action

Two requirements were published (one for each block of four beds).​

NHS ML drafted a communication to providers for approval by VRCCG.​

adam set up new service categories for discharge-to-assess within the system.​

VRCCG held a provider event involving NHS Midlands and Lancashire (NHS ML) and adam. This included a short presentation and question and answer session. ​

Impact

The exercise was agreed as a success by all parties, especially when considering the quick turn-around of the required actions (within 17 working days of initial conference call between VRCCG, NHS ML and adam).​

The general nursing beds received eight offers and the EMI beds three. The EMI results, however, were more expensive than expected, so this requirement was rolled back out to the market for a further week to allow for more offers. This produced a new offer at a lower cost than expected from a provider just one mile from Leighton Hospital and this was subsequently selected. ​

Further information

If you would like more information about our services, you can contact us on mlcsu.personalisedhealthcare@nhs.net