Purpose

We held an 8-week public consultation live in
October to December 2023 which received 64 responses from across
all three local authorities. 73% (47/64) respondents agreed with
our commissioning intentions and (78%) 49/63 respondents agreed
with our commissioning aims.
Following an open tender, we received three tender bids and the
successful provider is The Care Forum.

Content

Decision to award The Care Forum a three-year
contract with possibility of a further extension of two years, to
deliver BNSSG Healthwatch services.
Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Local Government
and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 (as amended by the Health
and Social Care Act 2012) to ensure an effective local Healthwatch
is operating in their area. The function of Healthwatch is to
understand the needs, experiences and concerns of people who use
health and social care services and to speak out on their behalf.
There will be a local Healthwatch service in each of the three
local authorities, run by a single provider.
The BNSSG Healthwatch service was first jointly commissioned and
procured through competitive tender and contract let by South Glos
in October 2019. Following a rotating lead-LA, Bristol City Council
have led the commissioning and procurement process this time on
behalf of BNSSG, in line with a revised collaborative commissioning
agreement which sets out each LA’s role in commissioning and
contract management.