NHS Derby and Derbyshire CCG Integrated Community Equiment Service (DICES)

It is a partnership service, commissioned jointly by NHS Derby and Derbyshire CCG and Derby City Council, with a pool of prescribers drawn principally from Derby City Council, University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust and Derbyshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The partners are represented on a Partnership Board, which meets quarterly to provide oversight and strategic direction to the Service.

An Operational Managers Groups reports into the Partnership Board and is responsible for ensuring that Board decisions are implemented effectively by all partners, and resolving any operational issues. The service being commissioned is non-clinical and relates purely to the logistics of supplying, collecting and maintaining the equipment.

Clinical input to the service is provided through the pool of recognized prescribers, a clinical commissioning function provided by NHS Derby and Derbyshire CCG, and a multi-agency Equipment Review Group, which meets quarterly to consider changes to the range of equipment provided. The provider will work within this framework, ensuring that the agreed clinical governance arrangements, both for individual items of equipment and strategic decisions about the equipment to be provided/policies and procedures for equipment provision, are followed appropriately. Supporting patients of all ages to be independent and looked after in their communities, rather than in residential or acute medical settings is a key priority for Joined Up Care Derbyshire, the STP for the Derby and Derbyshire footprint.