Progress on the Care Home Procurement Process

Five companies have been chosen to enter into talks with The Highland Council to progress their bids to provide modernised care home services in Fort William, Grantown, Inverness, Muir of Ord and Tain. The companies have been asked to bid to provide a range of high quality services to meet a range of needs of frail older people from residential through to nursing care; to provide for short term breaks to enable supported early discharge from hospital and prevent emergency admissions.

Those involved are Care UK Community Partnerships Ltd; Community Integrated Care; Highland Care Ltd; Highland Future Care Ltd and Parklands Ltd.

They were judged by the Council's Care Home Sub-Committee to be best placed of the 11 organisations, who submitted a pre-qualification questionnaire to demonstrate their economic and financial standing and their technical and professional ability to deliver the project's objectives for the minimum of 15 years.

Their interest followed publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of an invitation to show interest in a procurement initiative to provide:-

• 30 care places and 14 day care places in Fort William currently provided at Invernevis House;
• 30 care places and 15 day care places in Grantown, currently provided at Grant House, Grantown, and the Wade Centre, Kingussie;
• 32 care places in Muir of Ord, currently provided at Urray House;
• 44 care places in Inverness, currently provided at Burnside and Ach-an-Eas; and
• 32 care places and 10 day care places in Tain, currently provided at Duthac House.

The Council aims to reduce the short-list to 3 companies by March; select a preferred bidder by the summer, and award a contract for the five homes by the end of next year.