Public Health DPS Opportunity — Postural Stability classes.

Descriptions

Kent County Council (the council) is the largest county council in England covering an area of 3 500 square kilometres. It has an annual expenditure of over 900 000 000 GBP on goods and services and a population of 1 300 000.The Council provides a wide range of personal and strategic services on behalf of its residents, operating in partnership with 12 district council's seven clinical commissioning groups and 289 parish/town councils. The Council has a statutory responsibility for Public Health and procures a number of services, which aim to improve the health of the population and reduce health inequalities across the county.The contract opportunity.Kent County Council will shortly be inviting tenders to deliver evidence based community Postural Stability programmes in Kent.Each programme will be 36 weeks in duration and will deliver strengthening and fall prevention exercise classes for people aged 65 or above who are most at risk of a fall.The classes will be run within the 6 following areas:— Tonbridge and Tunbridge Wells;— Sevenoaks and Dartford;— Maidstone, Gravesend and Snodland;— Folkestone and Dover;— Ashford and Canterbury;— Thanet.Each postural stability programme must be delivered by qualified postural stability instructors that have been accredited to deliver the full FaME / Otago exercise programmes.Additional information.Kent has an ageing population and over the next 5 years it is anticipated that the population over 65 years will increase by at least 15 % (and by more than 20 % for those aged over 85 years). Falls are a significant public health issue, particularly among adults aged 65 or older and those aged 50-64 years who are judged by a clinician to be at higher risk of falling due to an underlying condition. Evidence shows 1 in 3 over-65s can expect to suffer a fall in a year and when this happens the consequences can be devastating for the individual and society.When older people suffer a fall, this could lead to a fracture, a lengthy hospital stay, an earlier than normal admission to a residential care home, reduced mobility and loss of independence. Furthermore, falls and fractures put huge pressure on the NHS, costing an estimated 2 300 000 000 GBP a year. There is a need to focus on preventative and early measures through joint working.A lot of falls can be prevented if at risk individuals are identified after the first fall, with interventions in place to prevent a second fall.Having in place a system that focuses on ‘multidisciplinary, multifactorial, health/environmental risk factor screening/intervention programs’ such as postural stability are likely to be beneficial with a falls risk reduction of 20 % according to the Cochrane Review on Falls Prevention.Postural stability classes will provide muscle strength training, flexibility and balance. The classes also include regular health talks in a sociable atmosphere which in turn helps to reduce isolation and sedentary behaviour which can cause loneliness in older people. Formal referrals into the service will be from health and social care professionals to target ambulant, frail, older people with a history and/or high risk of frequent falls.Further information about accredited FaME / Otago programmes and details of how to qualify as an instructor can be found at: http://www.laterlifetraining.co.uk/courses/postural-stability-instructor/Process.How to bid for the tender opportunity.Kent County Council's currently runs a Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for Public Health Services (notice number: 323771-2014) to allow the Council to buy Public Health Services from a list of approved providers who meet a certain minimum standards and agree to a common set of contractual terms approved providers will then be able to bid for the Council's contracts to deliver Public Health Services.Only providers who are currently on the Public DPS can receive the tender documentation for the Postural Stability classes, so if you wish to tender for the opportunity then you must apply and be accepted onto the DPS.How to join the DPS.Prospective providers who wish to join DPS, must go to the Kent Business portal contract opportunity page by clicking the below link and express an interest in the SS 13 164 Public Health Dynamic Purchasing System:https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/procontract/supplier.nsf/frm_opportunity?openForm&opp_id=OPP-HIS-9P7H-VMZCSE&contract_id=CONTRACT-9P7C-VYG25K&org_id=ORG-KENT-8YKEYH&from=— A link to the DPS application will be sent via email which you must complete and submit via the Kent Business portal no later than midnight Thursday 24.11.2016.— Submitted DPS applications will be assessed and prospective providers will be notified if they have successful joined the DPS.— If successful in joining the DPS, prospective providers will automatically be sent a copy of the tender documentation when published (date to be confirmed but by early December 2016).Already on the DPS.Please note that there is no need to reapply to join the DPS if your organisation is already been successfully admitted to the Public Health Services DPS because you will automatically receive the tender documentation when published (date to be confirmed but by early December 2016).Already expressed an interest but did not submit a DPS application.Please note that if your organisation has previously expressed an interest in joining the DPS but did not submit a DPS application then please just log into your Kent Business portal supplier account and locate the contract number SS 13 164 Public Health Dynamic Purchasing System to retrieve the application form.Guidance on how to use the Kent Business portal.However if your organisation is having any issues then please use the guidance document titled Kent Business Portal –Supplier guidance which can be found on the supplier page on the portal or contact the Care Procurement team via procurement.care@kent.gov.uk and we will endeavour to assist you with any issues.