Issue - meetings

The report sought agreement by Cabinet Member for Health, Social Care and Wellbeing to extend and vary the Council’s existing block contract with Magicare for the provision of 61 Nursing Beds at Priscilla Wakefield House. The extension requested was for up to two years, and the variations requested were; to allow the beds to be utilised as residential beds as required and an increase in the nursing bed price to £1,010 per week, with a temporary uplift for 2022/23 only to £1,034 per week to allow for inflation pressures.

Both the extension and the variation were allowed under CSO10.02.1(b) (variations and extensions valued at £500,000 and above to be taken by Cabinet) and CSO16.02, which provided that in-between meetings of the Cabinet, the Leader take any such decision that would normally be taken by Cabinet or may allocate this to the Cabinet Member with the relevant portfolio.

The contract was awarded by Cabinet in 2019 for an initial period of three years, to October 2022, with an option to extend for a further 2 years in 12-month intervals.

Extending and varying this contract would maintain access to local provision for older people and maintain much needed nursing and residential care capacity within the sub-region. It will also maintain certainty over price, securing sustainable prices for placements for Haringey residents.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED 

Pursuant to CSO 10.02.1b and CSO 16.02, the extension of the existing block contract awarded to Magicare Limited for the provision of 61 nursing beds at Priscilla Wakefield House, for a further period of up to two years from 1st November 2022 subject to satisfactory outcomes of monitoring,

To increase the nursing bed price from £969.10 to £1034 per week from the 1 April 2022. The maximum contract value over the two-year extension period would be £6,693,339, bringing the total value over the five-year life of the contract to £15,757,878.

To approve the variation of the existing contract to enable beds to be utilised as residential beds (at the costs set out in para 3.8 of the report) as and when required.

Reasons for decision 

The market for nursing care was largely a sub-regional one and the Council commissioned nursing care for its residents across North Central London (Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington). As with neighbouring authorities, Haringey commissioned across this area in order to meet demand and to respond to any specialist needs.

Local demand for nursing beds remained high, and although the number of Haringey residents in nursing beds decreased significantly during the Pandemic, demand was once again increasing and the local modelling indicateed a return to pre-covid levels of demand over the next few years.

In order to ensure both capacity and flexibility, the Council was keen to have a mixed economy of spot and block purchase arrangements in place for nursing beds. Many placements were commissioned on a spot purchase basis, but the proposal set out here – to continue an existing block contract – reflected the need to maintain  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5