Community equipment services (provision of Daily Living Aids)
Case reference FOI2023/00277
Published 18 April 2023
Request
I am researching the varying provision of community equipment services ("CES") throughout the UK.
A community equipment service provides daily living aids such as crutches, commodes, profiling beds, etc. This service might be known under a different name locally, such as a joint equipment store or an equipment loan service. The service may also provide other equipment in addition to daily living aids.
Please could you answer the following questions separately under the Freedom of Information Act:
1) Is an outsourced organisation (or organisations) used to deliver the service? If so, what is their name?
2) Does the service provide other services or equipment in addition to daily living aids? If so, what are they?
3) For how long has the outsourced organisation(s) been providing the service?
4) If your service is shared or commissioned with other authorities, please name the other authorities and state who is the lead/coordinating commissioner?
5) When was the service last tendered?
6) When will the service next be tendered?
7) When does the current contract expire? Please provide details of any potential contract extensions.
8) Is equipment purchased separately, e.g. through a framework agreement rather than via the provider organisation? Please state the names of any agreements if so.
9) How much was spent on the service in the last financial year?
10) What is the size of the population covered by the service?
11) How many registered users does the service have?
12) Re: patient choice. Does the service routinely operate on Saturday or Sunday?
13) Re: patient choice. Does the service routinely operate after 5pm, Monday to Friday?
14) Re: patient satisfaction. Please provide the results of the latest patient survey?
Response
I am researching the varying provision of community equipment services ("CES") throughout the UK.
A community equipment service provides daily living aids such as crutches, commodes, profiling beds, etc. This service might be known under a different name locally, such as a joint equipment store or an equipment loan service. The service may also provide other equipment in addition to daily living aids.
Please could you answer the following questions separately under the Freedom of Information Act:
1) Is an outsourced organisation (or organisations) used to deliver the service? If so, what is their name?
Nottingham Rehab Limited (NRS Healthcare)
2) Does the service provide other services or equipment in addition to daily living aids? If so, what are they?
NRS also provide an expert assessor service for blue badges and disabled concessionary travel services, as an additional contracted service on behalf of Herefordshire Council.
3) For how long has the outsourced organisation(s) been providing the service?
Since 1 April 2014.
4) If your service is shared or commissioned with other authorities, please name the other authorities and state who is the lead/coordinating commissioner?
Herefordshire Council (lead commissioner) and Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group
5) When was the service last tendered?
2020
6) When will the service next be tendered?
The tender process for this contract will commence in 2024 to ensure we have a service provider in place for when the current contract ends on 31 March 2025.
7) When does the current contract expire? Please provide details of any potential contract extensions.
31 March 2025
8) Is equipment purchased separately, e.g. through a framework agreement rather than via the provider organisation? Please state the names of any agreements if so.
N/A
9) How much was spent on the service in the last financial year?
The gross expenditure for 2021/22 = £1,526,756
10) What is the size of the population covered by the service?
As of mid-2021, Herefordshire's resident population was estimated to be 187,600.
For more information on the population in Herefordshire, please refer to the Understanding Herefordshire website
11) How many registered users does the service have?
The number of users served in 2021/22 = 7,479
12) Re: patient choice. Does the service routinely operate on Saturday or Sunday?
No.
13) Re: patient choice. Does the service routinely operate after 5pm, Monday to Friday?
No.
14) Re: patient satisfaction. Please provide the results of the latest patient survey?
The latest user satisfaction surveys were completed in January 2023 with seven responses.
1) Overall, how would you rate your satisfaction with the service provided by NRS?
4.86 (out of 5)
Satisfied: 14.29%
Very satisfied: 85.71%
2) Based on your recent experience with NRS, how easy was it to arrange your delivery and / or collection?
Delivery: 4.71 (out of 5)
Easy: 28.57%
Very easy: 71.43%
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.