Ad Hoc Care Technology

Some of our clients have already had their telephone lines switched from analogue to digital which renders any analogue units unusable in their properties. This is also the same for new clients. We have very few lifelines left in stock and the ones we do have are analogue only. This mean we are unable to provide back-up lifelines to our existing customers if their current one has a fault leaving them without the service they are paying for. We are also unable to grow the service if we do not have lifelines to issue to new clients. Due to the urgency and need for the equipment this is the quickest way to ensure we are not left with no lifelines to provide for our service. We have used these suppliers for some time as they are compatible with our platform in which we have a contract with. We started to complete a PIF and find frameworks in which are providers use but were unable to find one in which all 3 providers were on. The intention is to tender for this provision at the same time as we tender for the platform provision that is currently provided by Tunstall until November 2025. This waiver allows us to continue purchasing whilst we go through the tendering exercise for both equipment and platform and bring all Wightcare contracts into one place with one timescale to work to - currently there is no systematic approach to contracts in the service which is inefficient. This need to go out to tender is imperative as, when looking at financial information for the waiver most recently, the spend for ad-hoc equipment exceeded the required PS124k over 4 years. This is because of having no formal contract and the changes in management of the service where an audit trail of compliance has not been maintained. The main reason for selecting these suppliers is down to compatibility and outstanding renewals. If we were to go to a different provider that may be compatible with our system, we will need to change out over 1700 lifelines which will come a significant cost and will be very time consuming to our service. A VEAT was issued and a standstill period applied. Additional information: Please note the total spend is PS557,000 rather than this amount per supplier.