Care tender writing in the South East

The South East is the most populous English region and its care contracts are dominated by big two-tier shire counties. Kent, Surrey, Hampshire, West Sussex, East Sussex and Oxfordshire run substantial home care and supported living frameworks, often split into many geographic lots so providers bid only where they can realistically cover. The two-tier structure means the county council holds adult social care while districts handle other services, so the county is your commissioning counterpart.

Unitary authorities add their own arrangements across the region, including Brighton and Hove, Medway, Portsmouth, Southampton, Milton Keynes and the Berkshire unitaries such as Reading, Slough and Wokingham. High care costs and acute staffing pressure, sharpened by the proximity of the London labour market and a high cost of living, make rate cards and recruitment evidence central to scoring.

Several integrated care boards cover the South East and increasingly shape joint commissioning for continuing healthcare, discharge and learning disability services. The same service can be bought by a county framework in one area and an ICB pooled budget in another, so identifying the real buyer matters. NHS Continuing Healthcare packages are frequently brokered jointly with county teams.

We track these buyers so each tender answers the method statements and lot rules of the specific council or board, rather than a one size fits all bid.