NHS Standard Contract for Community Services

In December 2008 the DH published a new standard contract for community services, which sits alongside the standard contracts for acute, mental health and learning disability, and ambulance services. The contract is now mandatory for for any NHS-funded community service, regardless of whether it is provided by the NHS, independent or third sector. It should also be used for contracts with your own PCT's provider arm, although it isn't legally binding in this case. The DH have also advised that the contract should still be used even where the contract value is very low, or the organisation is small.

The contract comes in two versions: Bilaterial, for an agreement between one commissioning organisation and one provider, and Multilaterial, for an agreement where several commissioning organisations are acting together in a consortium with a lead commissioner (or vice versa for providers). Most of the main body of the contract cannot be changed. The parts that can be changed are coloured green (can be completely changed or removed as appropriate) and orange (must be there in some format but the content can be changed).

If you are using the contract the most important thing you need to do are: 1. Rewrite all service specifications in the new standard format (schedule 2). The service specification headings should not be changed, and it has quite tight requirements in terms of performance indicators, so completing the spec can be difficult and time-consuming. You should allow 2-3 months for this if possible and be prepared to provide quite a lot of support to commissioners who are unfamiliar with the new format. 2. Fill out the information requirements schedule (schedule 5) in conjunction with both provider and commissioner informatics teams 3. If the contract is with your own provider arm, develop an in-house dispute resolution procedure 4. Create a Local Quality Improvement Plan.

This is the community services version of CQUIN (Commissioning for Quality and Innovation). You have to link 0.5% of your total contract value to the provider's achievement of this plan, and you can make it as easy or as stretching as you see fit. 5. Familiarise all relevant commissioners with the performance management procedure in the contract, as it is quite convoluted. 6. Agree the finance schedule with your provider There are various other parts of the contract that need to be filled in, but the above are what really took time and attention for us.

If you've got a query about the contracts that isn't answered by the guidance document, you can email contractshelp@dh.gsi.gov.uk and you will (eventually) get a response.

Posted by Lindsay Jones, NHS General Management Trainee, NHS Camden.

Date: 07/05/2009

Download: Blank standard bilateral contract for community services [DOC027]
Download: DH Guidance on standard contract for community services [DOC028]
Weblink: http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Managingyou...ssioning/Systemmanagement/DH_085048

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