SWB - Supportive Discharge Transport Service

This Tender process is being undertaken on behalf of the Black Country ICS Trusts (The Authority/Authorities) as named below:

• Sandwell & West Birmingham NHS Trust

• The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust (optional beneficiary)

A bespoke solution is required to support patients who rely on a supportive and specifically-timed transport service to co-ordinate complex discharge plans – for example, to be sure to have returned home at a specific time for a same-day social care assessment. Before the inception of a bespoke transport solutions for this patient cohort, patients were facing delays and system resource was wasted through delays in the standard patient transport offer.

By nature, this bespoke service supports those who are vulnerable, and often frail / elderly, and such a service also requires a short additional period to ensure the person is safe and well at their destination – for example, ensuring the heating is on and that they have access to food and fluids until the care agency attend.

Finally, the ability to include ad-hoc journeys e.g. travelling via a pharmacy to collect discharge medications, before collecting the person and taking them home, represents improved patient experience, reduction in risk and facilitates timely discharges, which might otherwise add hours or even days to a person’s hospital stay.

The Trust is committed to providing a high quality, patient focussed service. This specification reflects the overall requirements of the Trust’s requirements for a supportive transport service, for patients to be conveyed in appropriate vehicles and for their discharge arrangements to be reliably co-ordinated between system partners.

The initial contract period is estimated to be 01/02/2027 to 31/09/2030 (3 years) with the option to extend for up to 2 further years.