Communicator Guides offer support to Eligible Persons who have developed sight and hearing impairments, often as they get older. These difficulties can cause people to become increasingly withdrawn, depressed and isolated. With the right help, deafblind people can live fulfilling lives at home and in the community. The Communicator Guide Service supports sensory impaired Eligible Persons within Staffordshire by providing suitably trained and qualified 'Communicator Guides.' The Service supports Eligible Persons either in their home or in the community in accordance with their Care Support Plan to achieve their agreed assessed outcomes. The Communicator Guide Service support for each Eligible Persons will depend on their individual needs as stated in their Care and Support Needs Assessment and their Care Support Plan. The Service will to be delivered to meet the support needs of the Eligible Persons. The Service will be delivered within the Contract Area as defined in the Framework Agreement but ultimately will be Staffordshire wide. The service is a 7 day a week service. Communicator Guide Support will be provided to the Eligible Persons through the most suitable format of Communication. The Service's primary objective is to enable Eligible Persons to remain living independently and maintain a good quality of life, and to help them achieve their assessed outcomes, and to limit the extent to which a person's sensory loss detrimentally impacts on their life, and the lives of their family. The delivery and intensity of the Service will be flexible to reflect the support that the Eligible Persons requires, and to enable them to meet their individual outcomes as set out in their Care and Support Needs Assessment. The Open tender procedure is to appoint Suppliers to a Framework. The Light Touch Framework Agreement will have the option to re-open on an ad-hoc basis subject to capacity and demand on the Service if required to allow new entrants and resubmissions from previously unsuccessful tenderers to apply, after the Commissioner has reviewed the effectiveness of the Framework and determined that there is a need. The decision to re-open though will be made in line with the availability of resources from Procurement and Commissioning. The Council will also reserve the right to not open the Framework.

This Procurement is for a Framework Agreement between the successful supplier(s) and the Authority, to supply Services, as and when required under a Call-Off Contract. The Authority makes no guarantee as to the volume of business on offer and any figures / quantities / volumes given are indicative and are guidance only. Number of Suppliers to be awarded is unlimited onto the Framework Agreement.