Provider contracts toolkit

Our ways of working

See the council's plans and priorities for inclusive growth, health, care and wellbeing and efficient and effective public services.

We also show how we approach adult social care with our model of working called Supporting Lives, Connecting Communities (SLCC) and what you can expect from adult care.

Equality, diversity & inclusion

In accordance with the Council’s Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) under the Equality Act 2010, Adult Social Care (ASC) will work together with providers of care to support the principles of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. The PSED requires public authorities to have due regard to:

• Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other conduct prohibited by the Act.
• Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not, and
• Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not.

Incident reporting

We are requesting that you use the online provider incident reporting form below to report incidents that occur within your establishment that do not require a Safeguarding Concern to be raised. This process is purely to report information regarding incidents that you have considered are not a safeguarding concern and do not require a time critical response. 

Before completing the form, please check the Suffolk Safeguarding Adults Framework and Raising an Adult Safeguarding Concern Guidance to ensure this is an incident and not a Safeguarding concern. All safeguarding concerns should be reported in the usual way.

Once you have submitted the details of the incident it will be reviewed by ASC, if for any reason we feel this should be reported as a safeguarding you will be informed and ask to submit a referral in the normal way. We are aware in some cases incidents may not be regarding individuals, in these cases please input ‘N/A’ into the mandatory service user boxes. 

Contract documents

Service delivery supporting documentation

Training and opportunities for providers not accredited with Suffolk County Council can be found here:

Digital Social Care Records (DSCR)

Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) Programme – Closure & Final Payments

The Digital Social Care Records (DSCR) programme officially concluded on 31 March 2025. Throughout the programme, funding was made available to help care providers implement DSCR systems.

If you are a provider who has submitted your evidence but have not yet received your final 20% payment, please contact us as soon as possible. The deadline to claim the final payment is 31 July 2025. Once we receive your request, we’ll confirm the next steps via email to support you through the final claim process.

We remain committed to supporting providers throughout this transition. If you have any queries or ongoing challenges, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Limited DSCR Funding Still Available

A limited amount of DSCR funding remains available. If you implemented a digital solution from an Assured Supplier before March 2025 and have not yet applied for DSCR funding, please contact Gina, we may still be able to support you.

Please note funding will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, so we encourage you to get in touch as soon as possible.

You can check whether your digital solution provider is on the Assured Suppliers List here: Digitising Social Care – Assured Solutions

Contact

Gina Trimble – Provider Liaison Manager
Tel: 07484 213469
Email: georgina.trimble@snee.nhs.uk
Email: dscr@suffolk.gov.uk

Local Business Development

There are a number of organisations in Suffolk that are able to work with you to develop your business.

• Care Development East provides information, advice guidance and training, supporting health and social care. 
• Menta provide business advice, masterclasses, seminars and networking opportunities for new, emerging and established businesses and those considering self-employment. 
• Suffolk Care Association (SCA) offers help, information, advice and guidance to providers of all types of care services in Suffolk. 

ICARE campaign

Community Social Care branding to add alongside your existing logos.

Business failure procedure

This is what will happen if a care provider suddenly finds itself unable to care for its customers. 

Locality Homecare and Support Framework

Since September 2019, Adult and Community Services have been commissioning home care and support through its locality framework. Providers working within this framework can refer to the information below. 

Use the table and parish-level map to identify applicable prices.

This strategy sets out our vision for the Care and Support Market in Suffolk. It has been established as a 3-year strategy for the period 2021/22 to 2023/24 and aligns with Suffolk County Council’s Corporate priorities.

Suffolk Marketplace

The information and data included within these appendices is intended to underpin and substantiate the aspirations developed within the Care and Support Market Sustainability Strategy. The data is correct to the best of our knowledge at February 2021.