Provider Introductory Information

Contract Management

Your PCC Contract Manager will set up regular Contract Review Meetings with you. Support to embed the contract will be frequent and should give you a greater understanding of processes and procedures.

Individual Contract Manager

You will be given contact details for your named Contract Manager. This will be your point of contact for anything contract-related, including provider contract monitoring.

Example of a contract montoring agenda (PDF) [149KB]

Brokerage

The integrated Brokerage Team will communicate with you on a daily basis to understand your capacity, staffing position, and any issues for escalation. The team will work with you to source packages of care for our Plymouth residents, create solutions, and have access to Fibonacci map software to assist with constructing runs.

It is our expectation that Providers will keep Brokerage up to date on current and expected capacity and other pressures surrounding your workforce and business to assist them in managing the list of unsourced care.
Please ensure that the Brokers are informed as soon as someone in receipt of care is admitted to the hospital. This helps to make sure that they can be discharged under the correct pathway.

Plymouth City Council (PCC) Brokerage Team email address: BrokerageC@plymouth.gov.uk

Livewell Brokerage Team email address: Livewell.brokerage@nhs.net

Operation Shackleton

It is a contractual requirement of Providers working with PCC, to have their own Business Continuity Plans in place and these should be made available to Commissioners. In order to build on these plans, it is expected that Providers should support each other across the City when required to do so, to sustain care and support in extreme conditions.

When capacity issues exist for whatever reason, the Provider will be expected to implement its Business Continuity Plan, and this should be exhausted before triggering Operation Shackleton.

When a Provider is faced with an AMBER situation, (i.e., 15% loss of Carers) they should contact the Local Authority to provide details of the warning and to agree when and how Operation Shackleton might be triggered.

If a RED situation is developing, (i.e. 30% loss of Carers) the same procedure is required.

The Operation Shackleton Manual lays out the process to be followed and can be found below:

Operation Shackleton Manual November 2021 (PDF) [321KB]

Capacity Tracker

Capacity Tracker is a web-based digital insight tool built by North of England Commissioning Support (NECS) in partnership with NHS England and later other core health and social care organisations.

It enables domiciliary care providers to share critical information easily and quickly in real time. It is important to update the information on a regular basis within the tracker to:

Influence local, regional, and national teams with planning and policy decisions
Flag any issues within the provider setting so that these can be reviewed quickly
Support effective patient flow and patient safety across the system

The Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) have now mandated monthly completion of some data fields. The minimum data entry requirement for the mandated fields is currently once between the 8^th & 14^th of each month. To assist with our planning and provider support we would ask that you update as close to daily as possible. It is important that vaccination data is kept up to date to facilitate effective roll out of vaccination programmes.

The Capacity Tracker can be accessed via https://capacitytracker.com

All CQC registered domiciliary care providers must register an account by clicking on the 'create an account' link on this page. Once registered providers can access guidance on completing the tracker on the capacity tracker site via Help> Resource Centre. If you require assistance or encounter issues with registration or completion of data, please call the Contact Centre on 0191 691 3729

Provider Forums

The Council hosts a Provider Forum which is currently held face to face. The Forum allows the Commissioning Team to:

Bring updates and useful information
Invite professionals to inform and or deliver training
Give opportunity to discuss issues and potential developments in the sector

Invites to the Forums are sent from the Commissioning Team, and future dates, along with the forum Terms of Reference, are published on the POD Provider page: Dignity Forum for Domiciliary Care - Plymouth Online Directory

Topic's for discussions at the meetings are welcomed beforehand to be able to deliver information that is important to you

Recruitment Support

The following contacts are working with PCC to provide recruitment support to domiciliary care providers in Plymouth:

Skills Launchpad Plymouth, Health & Care Coordinators:

Jack Davies, Email: Jack.davies@plymouth.gov.uk or email: healthandcareskills@plymouth.gov.uk

Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) Plymouth:

Claire Schofield, Care Specialist Employer Advisor, Partnerships. Email: CLAIRE.SCHOFIELD1@DWP.GOV.UK

Up to date information on recruitment & training is available here: Training and development - Plymouth Online Directory