The current Live at Home framework commenced in August 2021 and has a four year term. The framework covers a number of service types including personal care, carer’s support, carer’s break, night awake, night sleep and 24-hour live-in care.  It is structured as a two-tier framework, with a specific set of quality criteria that providers must satisfy in order to be eligible for inclusion on tier 1 (this includes holding a Care Quality Commission rating of at least Good overall and for the key lines of enquiry of ‘Safe’ and ‘Well Led’). Care packages are offered in order of the highest ranked tier 1 provider, then if no tier 1 provider will accept the package it is offered to tier 2, and then to the spot market. Providers on the framework have the opportunity to select rates from a price matrix, with rates for new packages being refreshed on an annual basis. For spot purchased care, providers select their own prices.

The majority of commissioned providers are using digital technology to manage care provision. However, the extent to which this is used varies - some providers are using

technology to manage all aspects of their business including the management of staff as well to support care planning and delivery (using electronic rostering, electronic homecare monitoring (EHM), digital social care records (DSCR) and electronic medications administration records). Framework providers are contractually required to use an EHM system (if they deliver care to 10 or more  adults) and 60% of care providers who responded to a recent survey use DSCR. The council is currently developing a proof-of-concept system to collate Electronic Home Care data from framework providers to improve the oversight and risk management of commissioned care delivery.