We are seeking information from you regarding your Commissioning operating model (Adults, Public Health, Integration and Transition) information and we would like to understand further:
1. Please could you provide information regarding your current operating model? For example, is your commissioning function for social care only or do you have joint/integrated roles with health? Please could you provide narrative regarding this?
Commissioning activity for the areas stated is undertaken by Devon County Council (DCC) and NHS Devon Integrated Care Board (ICB). There are no joint health and social care commissioning roles:
- Adult Social care commissioning is undertaken by the DCC Integrated Adult Social Care team
- Public Health commissioning by the DCC Public Health team. Public Health has a distinct commissioning function that works closely alongside colleagues in other Council teams (adults’, childrens’, communities’) as well as District Councils and the Integrated Care Board. The Communities team additionally commission services relating domestic abuse, libraries, youth services, migration and resettlement and work relating to voluntary and community infrastructure.
- Children’s commissioning is undertaken by DCC Children’s Services Commissioning Team, there is currently a small linked SEND commissioning team to this
- Integration – We don’t have a specific integrated commissioning function, although there is some joint commissioning of services with the ICB where appropriate – for example those which are funded by the Better Care Fund, e.g. the Community Equipment Service
- We have assumed that in this context transition refers to the transition between Childrens and Adults services. DCC does not have a dedicated transition commissioner: commissioners and operational leads for both Childrens and Adults work together, governed by the “A Place Called Home” Board CYP colleagues.
2.What is the scope of the service areas within your current operating model. For example, does your model include services for adults, children’s, public health and integration, other (specify)? Please provide narrative as to how these service areas are structured?
Details as set out above. Structure details are on the DCC website: Strategic Leadership Team – Devon County Council
Public Health leads on the commissioning and delivery of services funded via the Public Health Grant (Public Health Nursing, sexual health, smoking cessation, substance misuse).
Communities commissioning covers services relating to Libraries, Youth Services, Heritage & Domestic Abuse
3.Do you have a separate commissioning operating model for adults, children’s, procurement, purchasing, brokerage etc or do you have a combined model? Please could you provide narrative regarding this?
Commissioning is as set out in response to question 1.
Procurement is led by our People Procurement function, which sits in our Finance and Public Value directorate – which can be seen in the link provided in the response to question 2
Brokerage in Adults is undertaken by our Arranging Support Teams, which sit in the operational team.
The Council doesn’t tend to use the term purchasing. The contracting function is led by the Quality and Contracts team (part of the IASC commissioning team), supported by the Procurement team.
Public Health has responsibility for all aspects of the commissioning and delivery of services funded via the Public Health Grant, working closely with the Council’s finance, legal, and procurement teams.
In Communities, commissioning sits within the service areas above and there are separate teams for procurement legal & finance.
The childrens commissioning team is made up of a strategic function, which deals with large scale strategic commissioning of Early Help services, placement sufficiency and joint commissioning with health, and a Home’s for Children’s Team, which managing the individual commission for children’s care packages.
4. What functions does your operating model include? For example, contract management, quality management, market shaping, locality commissioning, brokerage, purchasing, commissioning, procurement, other (specify)?
The Adults commissioning team has sub teams which cover:
Strategic Commissioning and Market Sufficiency – this includes market shaping and commissioning
Quality Assurance and Contract Management – quality assurance, contract management and tactical support
Adults brokerage and procurement are as set out in previous answers
The operating model in Public Health & Communities spans insight gathering, evidence and analysis to inform needs assessment, market engagement and market shaping, specification writing, tendering, contract, and/or performance management
The children’s commissioning team also has sub teams which cover:
• Strategic Commissioning and Market Sufficiency – this includes market shaping and commissioning of placements, early help and joint agreement with health (section 75) and strategic contract management mainly for regional frameworks.
• Homes for Children contracts team – Placement search, individual placement contract management and quality assurance
5. Do you have separate roles for the above functions or are they combined roles? Please could you provide narrative regarding this?
The Adults team is structured around strategic and tactical functions as detailed in the response to question 4.
Procurement is covered by the Finance and Public Value Directorate for all areas
There are separate roles within a single team for Public Health and combined roles in separate teams in Communities
There are no combined roles on Children’s
6. Which portfolios are managed within your commissioning operating model . For example- residential, nursing, preventative, day opportunities, home care, supported living, domestic abuse, purchasing, audit, other?
The Adults structure is split between tactical and strategic functions as described above. This is then further split broadly by market provision. Portfolios are flexible and the team work in an agile way which allows us to target capacity to the areas of greatest need
Domestic abuse services are commissioned by the Public Health team
Audit is also a separate function which sits under the Finance and Public Value directorate and can be seen in the structure chart in the link shared for question 2
Public Health manages all aspects of services related to Public Health Grant funding. For Communities, please see our response to question 4 above.
With respect to children’s, please see our response to questions 2 and 3 above.
7. Do you have structure charts for operating model you could share to help illustrate the above questions?
The structure charts for both Adult’s and Children’s are available via the link below:
For Public Health and Communities we do not hold this information.
8. Do you have a current commissioning intentions or framework policy/document you could share?
Adults strategies can be found on our website here: Our vision – Promoting independence
The children’s sufficient strategy is available online at: Sufficiency strategy
For Public Health and Communities we do not hold this information