Nursing Care Beds - Discharge to Access Service (West Locality)

Suffolk County Council is seeking a provider to deliver bed-based nursing services for the Discharge to Access (D2A) service in the West Locality. This service supports the swift discharge of medically optimised patients from acute hospital settings as part of the Discharge to Assess model, enabling patients to receive ongoing care in community settings while their needs are assessed. The contract is being awarded directly to a new provider for 12 months with an option to extend for a further 12 months, due to the current provider's withdrawal from the service. The selected provider must demonstrate proven experience in delivering D2A services, have immediate capacity to mobilise staff and beds, and be prepared to work collaboratively with Suffolk County Council and partner organisation Morar Living. This arrangement is essential to ensure continuity of hospital discharge pathways, maintain stability in the local care market, enable staff recruitment and retention, and support the Council's preventative care obligations under the Care Act 2014. The 12-month contract period provides the new provider with sufficient certainty to establish operations effectively while allowing commissioners to develop a longer-term procurement strategy.