Primary Health Networks (PHNs) were established with the key objectives of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of medical services for patients, particularly those at risk of poor health outcomes, and improving coordination of care to ensure patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time.
PHNs work in partnership to improve the way services are connected and to ensure they are accessible when people need them most. We work closely with health professionals, consumers and carers to scope the gaps, identify emerging community needs and procure services that address these needs.

The South Eastern Melbourne PHN catchment encompasses an area comprising 1.6 million people and stretches from St Kilda to Sorrento and as far east as Bunyip, including the major population hubs of Monash, Dandenong, Moorabbin, Caulfield, Cranbourne, Frankston and Pakenham.

From 1 July, 2016 PHNs adopted a commissioning approach to procuring medical and health care services which is based on an assessment of the health and wellbeing needs of the community. This work determines the priority areas and guides the scope of the commissioning process.

This Request for Tender is issued by the South Eastern Melbourne PHN as part of the tender process for the care finder program as part of a significant investment in aged care reform in response to the recommendations of the Royal Commission in to Aged Care Quality and Safety. Care finder is one of the first aged care programs to be delivered through PHNs.

Context
In the last decade, multiple initiatives have been introduced with an aim to reduce aged care system complexity and barriers to access. My Aged Care was established in 2013 to provide a single and centralised ‘gateway’. In the 2018-19 budget the Aged Care System Navigator (ACSN) measure was introduced as a program/trial to support people and help them engage with the aged care system.

Concurrently, the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety was established in October 2018 to inquire into a range of issues across aged care services and to ensure the delivery of person-centred services that allow people to exercise greater choice, control, and independence regarding their care. This inquiry reaffirmed that the Aged Care system is a complex single point of entry for people to find out about, and access aged care services. These challenges are likely to be exacerbated for some groups, including those considered ‘hard to reach’ as they find it more difficult than others to navigate and access the services they need, and they are under-represented within the engagement activities we traditionally use for service improvement.

The Royal Commission inquiry recommended the creation of a dedicated workforce to support people requiring intensive support to navigate and access aged care. The care finder program was announced in the 2021-22 budget as part of the Connecting Senior Australians to Aged Care Services measure and will be one of the first aged care programs to be delivered through PHNs.

The aged care system is complex, with some people finding it more difficult than others to navigate and access the services they need. While My Aged Care is the single-entry point for people to find out about and access aged care services, there have been long-standing calls for more localised and face-to-face support to help people navigate and access aged care.

The care finders program aims to connect and engage older people who have significant difficulty accessing aged care services and are at risk of “falling through the cracks.”

Service Delivery
The PHN will commission service providers to establish, deliver and maintain a network of care finders to provide specialist and intensive assistance to help people within the care finder target population.

This will include

• Supporting our senior community members to understand, access aged care and connect with other relevant supports in the community
• Provide specialist and intensive assistance to help the target population understand and access aged care services and connect with other relevant supports in the community
• Specifically assist those people within the target population to access My Aged Care, and
• Transitioning existing Assistance with Care and Housing service providers to deliver the care finders program.

SEMPHN Local Government Areas
This SEMPHN Request for Tender opportunity is limited to the Local Government Areas (LGA) of Kingston, Casey, Mornington Peninsula and Greater Dandenong.

Respondents must indicate in their eProcure submission which of these SEMPHN LGA/s their submission applies to. Respondents can apply to be a care finder provider for more than one SEMPHN LGA in one submission. Submissions to SEMPHN for other LGAs will not be accepted by SEMPHN and excluded from SEMPHN’s process.

Tender Information Session, 1:00 pm (AEST) on Monday 12 September 2022
An online information session will be conducted by a collaboration of Victorian Primary Health Networks for the purposes of providing an overview of the procurement. Interested tenderers should register their intention to attend the online information session. Tender Information Session Registration Link

Tenderers should note that attendance at the information session is not mandatory (i.e., attendance is not a pre-condition for lodging a tender). Nonetheless, tenderers are encouraged to attend.

For the purposes of informing any tenderers that do not attend the information session, the information session will be recorded and uploaded, along with any relevant