The care agencies that we use in East Lothian have been through a tendering process to make sure they meet the quality standards that we expect. The last framework (set of contracts with providers) expired on 31st March 2017. Therefore, the council had a statutory duty to re-tender these services openly, equally and transparently under the Procurement Regulations. After an extended engagement period with a wide range of stakeholders, including service-users, families, carers and providers, the council is now using the following providers.

They are:

What happens if I am not on this list

If your provider is not on this list-it does not mean they are not working in East Lothian. Many of the Providers not on this list will continue to provide support under self directed support option 1 & 2.

What happens next?

We will write out to service users if we can't contract with their provider directly. If this is the case we will offer a nother provider or you can use self diected support option 1 or 2 to purchase your support.

There are a number of possible outcomes for supported people and their families under the new Framework, including that:

The two frameworks (groupings of contracts with providers) that provide care at home and housing support expire on 31st March 2017. Therefore, the council had a statutory duty to re-tender these services openly, equally and transparently under the Procurement Regulations. This process got underway in December 2016, after an extended engagement period with a wide range of stakeholders, including service-users, families, carers and providers. The council has been assessing tender applications over the last few weeks and has now decided which providers should be included in the new Framework. They are:

  • the provider is successful and no change to service.
  • the provider is unsuccessful or chooses not to tender for new services in which case:
  • the provider's staff transfer via TUPE to a successful provider and service-use receives the same support worker and there is minimal disruption
  • the service-user opts to use option 1 or 2 of the Self Directed Support Act (2013) to manage their support themselves either with their current provider or another provider of their choice (person-centred care).

We will be working with families and providers to provide support and options. There will be a period of transition for all service-users affected by this change and we will work with providers to ensure all service-users are supported to make any changes required. In all cases, this means that the same support will continue past 1st April 2017 until the end of the transition period. Nobody will be left without support.

Quality services

We recommend looking at the Care Inspectorate website to view the current standards and ratings of quality of care by each provider.

Visit the Care Inspectorate website.

Ensuring quality services

We will be checking how providers are performing regularly, using the Key Performance Indicators laid out in our 2017 Care at Home Tender Framework and Care Inspection grades. We also welcome any feedback you would like to give us.