Decision details

      i)        That the award of a contract for the pre-construction services for the Heathlands redevelopment be approved to Tenderer A which is within the budget approved by the Executive in March 2019

     ii)        That the Council continues to work in partnership with the East Berkshire Clinical Commissioning Group and Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust to confirm provider arrangements through continued discussions to agree and formalise partnership arrangements to operate the EMI nursing care beds.

   iii)        That a flexible approach should be taken to the management of void beds in the first 2 years of operation of a new Heathlands facility, including permitting alternative Health and social care uses of one or more wings in the building so long as these would not conflict with its prime on-going purposes of providing nursing care for residents with EMI needs and intermediate care services.

   iv)        That a further report be presented setting out detailed partnership arrangements that consider and allocate risk and reward appropriately between the various parties prior to approving the main works contract.

Council agreed at its meeting on 27 February 2019 to include a budget of £10.95m in the capital programme for redevelopment of the former Heathlands residential care home, and a business case was considered and approved by the Executive in March 2019.  The recommended tender for design and pre-construction services is affordable within the budget previously approved and the procurement plan agreed by the Executive.

There continues to be evidence that Bracknell lacks local provision for dementia nursing care that has the ability to cater for those with more complex needs.

A partnership agreement of some form will be most appropriate to set out the roles and responsibilities of each organisation rather than a simple contract for services.  It is anticipated that the scheme could realise improvements in the following areas:

- Health and social care integration
- Workforce stability and upskilling
- Outcomes for residents
- Market control and stabilisation
- Continued improvement across the system

The alternative options were detailed in the Executive Director: People and Director: Finance's report and involve exempt information.