DHSC: ASC RFI Foundation Specification

The purpose of this Pre Market Engagement (PME) is to invite current, previous and prospective suppliers of Case Management Systems (CMSs) for Adult Social Care (ASC) and Children Social Care (CSC) to Local Authorities (LAs) in the UK to provide feedback on the Department of Health and Social Care's (DHSC) procurement guidance - the Foundational Specification. DHSC at the request of LAs are developing procurement guidance which sets out 'what good looks like' for priority areas of CMSs.

We are planning to publish this specification in the summer of 2025 and in advance of this publication we would like to engage with current, previous and prospective CMS suppliers as we develop this guidance to ensure it is fit for purpose. In speaking to stakeholders across the care sector we have consistently heard that there is a lack of clarity on what a 'good' CMS looks like.

This in turn makes it difficult for suppliers to develop and implement CMSs and for LAs to procure cost-effective systems. In response to this, we are developing procurement guidance that will set out a clear, comprehensive and concise specification.

Part 1 of this project was completed in March 2024 and we are aiming to publish the final specification guidance in the summer of 2025. We are not planning for this procurement guidance to be mandatory for LAs or suppliers but it will act as a best practice resource to rely on; allowing the market to focus its time and attention on developing more innovative and interoperable CMSs.

As part of this work we are continuously engaging with LAs, regulatory bodies and other relevant department to ensure cross-government alignment. We are excited by this opportunity to better support and empower the CMS market and we want to develop this procurement guidance collaboratively with the sector.

As such we would appreciate feedback from all current, previous and prospective ASC CMS suppliers. We will be organising a set of interviews with relevant suppliers over the coming weeks. We will exercise our best judgement when deciding if a supplier effectively meets the criteria.