Specialist Paediatric Palliative End of Life Care and Symptom Management Service

Location

Description

Children and young people's specialist palliative and end of life care and symptom management service.

Total Quantity or Scope

Specialist paediatric palliative care for children and young people in Surrey Heartlands offering a high-quality, compassionate, and tailored approach to this vulnerable cohort. Surrey Heartlands ICB has awarded the contract to the existing provider following Direct Award Process C. The approximate lifetime value of the contract will be £907,701 over a three-year term, from 1st April 2025 until 31st March 2028.

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 85323000 - Community health services

Legal Justification

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) contract award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award.

Other Information

** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. ** Shooting Star Children's Hospice (SSCH) is the sole provider of specialist children's palliative care in Surrey Heartlands ICB. The provider has consistently fulfilled contractual obligations, received positive feedback from stakeholders, and demonstrated robust performance against KPIs. There are no alternative providers with the required expertise in Surrey. The awarding of this contract does not materially differ from the existing contractual arrangement and ensures continuity of critical services for children of families with life-limiting conditions. Key Criteria and Justification: 1. Quality and Innovation (20% weighting): SSCH delivers an exceptional quality of care, and is weighted joint second highest for the reasons below: • Outstanding CQC rating for hospice and paediatric end-of-life care (PEOLC). • Clinical leadership in the regional SPAN network, with shared training to raise standards across Surrey, South West London, and Frimley. • Robust, multi-disciplinary complaint response and quality improvement processes. • Personalised, dignified care and a co-produced 3-year strategy developed in partnership with service users, supported by user-led governance structures, ensuring continuity without changes to service provision. • National policy contributions and co-leadership of the South East CYP PEOLC network. • All recommendations of the Quality Equality Impact Assessment (QEIA) are actively being met. 2. Value for Money (20% weighting): The SSCH SPACE service represents strong system-wide value, and is weighed joint second most highly for the following reasons: • Avoidance of fragmented care via a single, integrated specialist provider. • Reduced need for emergency care, ambulance transfers, and acute admissions. • Shorter stays in paediatric and neonatal intensive care units. • High-quality deaths supported by advanced care planning, minimising trauma and long-term mental health impacts for families. • A cost-benefit analysis confirms significant financial and human value. Without this service, risks to children with life-limiting conditions would not be adequately mitigated. 3. Integration, Collaboration, and Sustainability (25% weighting) : SSCH meets key national and local strategic aims for this Key Criteria which is weighted joint most highly for this service because the factors below contribute to the compassionate, tailored and reliable service for this vulnerable cohort: • Fully aligned with NHS England's 2023 Service Specification for CYP PEOLC and NICE NG61 guidance. • Actively contributes to the VCSE alliance and Surrey Youth Focus board and works to enhance links between health, social care, and community support services. • The provider works closely with NHS hospitals, including the Royal Marsden, Evelina London Children's Hospital, and Great Ormond Street Hospital, to deliver coordinated care. • Supports system flow and reduces pressure on acute services through in-reach, outreach, and domiciliary models of care, all of which contribute to a preferable experience for children and their families. • Collaborates across NHSE, tertiary centres, acute and community providers, VCSE partners, and social care. • Active participant in local planning for CYP care at Place level. • Ability to care for children in a single setting through a fully integrated, child-centred team which is also supportive of families and carers. • This service is integral to the delivery of the Fuller Stocktake, One System Plan, Clinical Strategy, and Health and Wellbeing Strategy. 4. Improving Access, Reducing Inequalities, and Facilitating Choice (25% weighting): The service is inclusive and tailored to meet the needs of vulnerable children and families. This Key Criteria is equally weighted most highly due to the child centred bespoke offer provided: • Provides person-centred, home-based care that minimises inequities in access. • Outreach model prevents gaps in access for Inclusion Health groups. • An Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) is completed, reviewed, and approved by Surrey Heartlands ICB. • The provider leads Transition Triage Partnerships in Surrey and southwest London, bringing together consultants and senior nursing staff from both children's and adult hospices. Through their Hospice at Home team, Shooting Star offers end-of-life and respite care in various settings, including homes and hospitals, ensuring families have choices about care locations. 5. Social Value (10% weighting): SSCH delivers and will continue to deliver meaningful social and environmental value by way of initiatives such as those below: • Inclusion of environmental sustainability within its 2023-2026 strategy demonstrated by installing solar panels at hospice sites to reduce reliance on non-renewable energy sources. • Implementation of recycling programs, including an annual Christmas tree collection and recycling initiative. • Integrating environmentally friendly practices within care services, such as reducing single-use plastics and promoting digital communication to minimize paper use. • Facilities such as hydrotherapy pools, sensory gardens, and bereavement services are universally accessible. • Bereavement support includes traumatic death such as suicide. • SSCH voluntarily fundraises to subsidise a significant portion of service costs, enhancing resilience and reach. Award Decision-Makers are: Commissioning, Contracting and Commercial Committee (CCC) - 22 October 2024 Surrey Heartlands ICB Executive Board - October 2024 Conflicts of Interest: All Decision-Making Forums requested that Conflicts of Interest be declared in order to accommodate mitigations that may be required. No declarations were raised. Individuals working on the programme declared no interests for the duration. Rationale and Transparency: The decision to award to SSCH is based on its delivery of a high-quality, integrated, and specialist service and a strong track record across all PSR criteria.