---
title: "Patient Discharge Bridging Service"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-060083"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-060083"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-060083.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-060083.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "EAST SUSSEX HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST"
published: "2026-04-07"
---

# Patient Discharge Bridging Service

Buyer: EAST SUSSEX HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-060083

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[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-060083.json)

## Summary

The East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust has awarded a contract for a Patient Discharge Bridging Service, aimed at facilitating timely and safe hospital discharges when local authority care packages are not yet in place. Located in St Leonards on Sea, in the region of UKJ2, the service belongs to the "Home medical treatment services" industry category. This procurement process falls under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR) and was conducted as a direct award under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. Key dates include the contract commencement in January 2026, with an initial term of 24 months and a possible 12-month extension. The project, with a maximum contract value of £4,000,000, was assessed equally across five criteria, including social value, quality, integration, innovation, and cost-effectiveness.

By providing integrated care solutions and facilitating smooth hospital-patient transitions, this tender opportunity can significantly benefit companies specialising in healthcare support services. Businesses with robust capabilities in digital care-notes platforms, workforce management, and care coordination will be well-positioned to compete. Providers that can demonstrate strong collaborative ties with community partners, governance structures to support timely discharge, and innovations that address health inequalities will find substantial growth prospects. As the procurement emphasises social value and innovation equally, companies prioritising quality improvements and sustainable service models will align well with the objectives of East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust.

## Notice

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice.

A Patient Discharge Bridging Service for ESHT. The service supports patients who are medically optimised for discharge and do not meet the criteria to remain in hospital, but whose long-term local authority care package is not yet in place.

The aim of the supply of care service is to enable timely, safe discharge from hospital, reduce unnecessary delays, improve patient flow, and ensure continuity of care until statutory services assume responsibility. Working collaboratively with ESHT, Local Authorities, and community partners to ensure safe handover and continuity of care and ensuring our teams are integrated into the ESHT teams to ensure that happens.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Service summary:
* Provide same-day or within-24-hour home-based support to enable timely and safe discharge from hospital.
* Deliver personal care and daily living support to eligible patients until their care is formally handed over to Adult Social Care.
* Operate under clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, supported by daily triage, robust governance oversight, and alignment with the MDT.
* Supply the required workforce, management structure, digital care-notes platform, reporting systems, and quality governance needed to safely deliver bridging care at a rolling capacity, trained to required CQC and NHS standards
* Source Care Teams from outside the local area to avoid placing additional pressure on local services.
* Work collaboratively with the Trust, local authorities, and community partners to ensure safe transitions and continuous monitoring of patient outcomes.
* Take responsibility for operational delivery, care coordination, risk management, data-sharing compliance, and performance reporting against KPIs, including discharge timeliness, length of stay, safe handover, and patient experience.
* Complete assessments for patients who are medically ready to be discharged upon arrival at home and prepare the referral for their ongoing pathway, in partnership with ESHT teams and appropriately Trained Assessors.
* The service Minerva provides to ESHT has a Rolling Care Capacity adjusted depending on the size of the service and patient numbers 

This is a a established service, which has been stood up and down with Minerva serveral times since 2022. The intention is to award under the most suitable provider process. The maximum contract value including extensions is PS4,000,000. The contract is nil comitment and services can be stood down up and down with 1 weeks notice.

Contract commencement - January 2026 - initial term 24 months, with option of a further 12 months. Additional information: The service was awarded equally across the five key criteria below (20%) each, as the Service felt each of the criteria require required equal consideration 

Social Value was given 20% weighting as the relevant authority felt it was important to give some priority to social and environmental well-being.
Quality & Innovation was weighted 20%, as the Authority wanted to ensure consideration was given to the requirements of the service, along with previous experience of innovation and quality improvement
Value was weighted 20%, as the Authority felt it important to balance the cost of the service against the patient pathway and improved health outcomes
Integration, collaboration & service sustainability was weighted at 20%, as the Authority must ensure the service model and service delivery are sustainable.
Improving access and reducing health inequalities was weighted at 20% as it is important this service supports safe discharge of patients and implement patient specific packages of care.
Award Decision Makers:
Claire Lockwood - Service Manager
Katy Lyne - Deputy Director of Operations
Abigail Turner - Deputy Chief Operating Officer Community 

No conflicts of interest declared

### Procurement Information

'This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to 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. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by 19th January 2026 at midday. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR'.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031570-2026 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 7 Apr 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 7 Jan 2026 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | EAST SUSSEX HEALTHCARE NHS TRUST |
| Locality | ST LEONARDS ON SEA |
| Post town | Tonbridge |
| Postcode | TN37 7PT |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ2 Surrey, East and West Sussex |
| ITL 3 | TLJ22 East Sussex CC |
| Local authority | Hastings |
| Electoral ward | Conquest |
| Westminster constituency | Hastings and Rye |
| Delivery location | TLJ2 Surrey, East and West Sussex |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | MINERVA NURSING |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85141210 - Home medical treatment services

## Release History

- 7 Apr 2026 at 14:27 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031570-2026
- 7 Jan 2026 at 08:03 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/000874-2026

## Notice URLs

- http://www.minervanursing.co.uk
- https://www.cedr.com/
- https://www.esht.nhs.uk/

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-060083. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-060083.json.