Berkshire Community Equipment Service seeks providers to cover its population from 2024
West Berkshire Council, acting as the Lead Authority for the Berkshire Community Equipment Service (BCES) Partnership, is seeking providers who could provide a Community Equipment Service to cover the population of Berkshire from 2024 to 2031.
Reading Borough Council’s policy committee have agreed to enter into a joint procurement process.
The six councils across Berkshire are responsible for adult social care in its respective areas. The councils collectively run the BCES, a joint contract for the provision of adult social care equipment for their residents.
Councillor John Ennis, lead councillor for adult social services, told Reading Today: “Many times in the past we have seen councillors, opposition councillors and the administration have talking about the need to work together and the economies of scale.
“We often look and think we can do more of this, I think this is an excellent example, led by West Berkshire, and we should thank them for that, when the six unitary authorities across the political divide work together to get a decent contract, which is as important as the equipment services disability aids for our residents.”
The current contract, which will run until 2024, is held by Nottingham Rehabilitation Supplies (NRS), also known as Healthcare Pro.
John also praised NRS for its work to reuse and recycle equipment if they are no longer required by the disabled person.
Recycling no longer required medical equipment has been a popular initiative, supported by Recycling Week, which ran from 17-23 October this year. Multiple companies and organisations took part, including hospitals across mid and south Essex.
Equipment including wheelchairs, rollators and stair lifts is used to help with daily tasks including bathing and toileting, patient transfers and mobility.
Just under 2,500 people in Reading use such equipment, with the average cost being £256.43 per user. Between 2017-2022, 47,527 pieces of equipment were delivered to a total of 12,279 people in Reading.
The successful contractor will be awarded £6.4 million over the seven-year contract period by Reading Borough Council.
