Bid writing · Specialism
Care home, nursing and residential tenders.
Residential and nursing placements, specialist dementia provision, and children's residential and 16+ accommodation.
A different bid to domiciliary care.
Residential procurement is less about volume capacity and more about the building, the registration and the clinical case.
Your CQC rating is doing more work here than anywhere else in social care procurement, frequently as a gate rather than a scored item. One framework in our files placed a provider in a lower tier purely because the registered location had not reached 'Good' at tender close.
That is not something a bid writer can write around. It is something you need to know before you spend three weeks on the submission, which is exactly what the bid/no-bid stage is for.
The straight answer: if your rating is Requires Improvement, some lots are closed to you and no amount of good writing changes it. We will tell you that in the first call rather than take the fee.
- ResidentialOlder people, learning disability, physical disability
- NursingGeneral nursing, complex health needs, continuing healthcare
- DementiaSpecialist dementia units, advanced and behavioural need
- RespiteShort breaks, overnight, emergency and planned respite
- Children'sResidential children's homes, solo and multi-occupancy
- 16+Semi-independent and supported accommodation for care leavers
What evaluators probe
Six themes, weighted differently to home care.
The environment
Room sizes, en-suite provision, communal space, dementia-friendly design, outdoor access, and any planned capital works with dates.
Regulatory standing
Current rating, date of last inspection, any conditions or enforcement, and what you did about the last 'requires improvement' finding.
Clinical governance
Nurse staffing ratios, medicines management, falls and pressure ulcer rates, GP and district nurse interface, hospital admission avoidance.
Admissions
Pre-admission assessment, how quickly you can accept a placement, emergency and out-of-hours admission, and your refusal criteria.
Behaviour & restraint
Positive behaviour support, restrictive practice reduction, DoLS handling, and evidence of a placement stabilised rather than ended.
Placement stability
Breakdown rate and what causes it. For children's provision this is often the single most heavily weighted question in the pack.
Evidenced
Residential and children's awards on file.
Supported Living & Residential Services, Lots 1 to 3
Successful across all three lots applied for, through a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) stage with pass/fail conditions of participation.
Supported Living & Residential Services
Successful on both lots applied for, through an SQ stage including Conditions of Participation, pure pass/fail before any quality scoring.
Children's Residential & Accommodation Framework
Place awarded across three sub-lots of Lot 2 for 18+ provision following full evaluation.
Got a tender with a deadline on it?
Send the closing date and the portal link. We'll tell you honestly whether it's worth your time, before you pay us anything.