| Under the partnering arrangement, between NCS and Norfolk County Council, in 2006/7 NCS delivered and install over 57,600 items of equipment a year to people with long-term disabilities within the county. This level is projected at increasing between 10% and 15% per annum.
The service encompasses procurement and storage of items, issue to service users, fitting of certain equipment (eg grab rails) in service users’ homes, and cleaning, refurbishment and testing of equipment such as hoists.
NCS Commercial Director Paul Bonham, whose background was in Social Services, said that the company supplies and manages all the transport used by Adult Social Services Department (ASSD) and that the arrangement provides greater efficiency at a time when service demand and budgetary pressures are increasing year-on-year.
“NCS are responsible for the day-to-day running of the service,” says Bonham, “whilst ASSD, who are best placed to assess and plan service users’ needs, retains responsibility for overall performance within Adult Social Services. This helps to clarify and focus the commissioner/provider relationship, and plays to each organisations’ core strengths.”
The 55 staff previously employed by the ASSD within Norfolk County Council, were TUPE transferred to NCS. The company also took over two equipment stores.
NCS is targeted with Key Performance Indicators for the service provision, including the government’s KPI D54, which requires at least 85% of items delivered within seven working days of the care inspection’s requisition being placed. NCS are achieving around 97.2% per annum.
With some equipment, such as stair lifts, NCS act as the procuring agents, outsourcing the work to specialist manufacturers and installers. As the contract develops however, a number of these areas are being taken in-house, for instance as of January 2007 NCS technicians install assistive technology and sensory equipment, such as alarms.
NCS are responsible for all stock management including end-of-use equipment collection; NCS use separate vans for delivery and collection to avoid any contamination. Wherever possible returned equipment is fully refurbished, leading to around 71% of equipment currently being recycled and representing a saving to the council of approximately £2.80 million against new purchase cost. |
