Provision of Medical Advisers for Adoption and Fostering Panels - Expression of Interest/Market testing

Description

Brent Council is seeking expressions of interest for the provision of Medical Advisers for Adoption and Fostering panels. A brief overview and background to the opportunity are provided below: Background It is a statutory requirement for local authorities to provide medical advisers to provide health advice and guidance to Fostering and Adoption Panels. The legislative and regulatory framework includes: Children Act (1989, 2000). • The Children and Families Act (2004). • The Care Act (2014). • The Mental Health Act (2007). • Children and Families Act (2014) • National Minimum Standards for Fostering Services 2005 • The Children Act 1989 Guidance Volume 4: Fostering Services 2011 (as amended) National Minimum Standards for Private Fostering 2005 Children (Private Arrangements for Fostering) Regulations 2005 • Fostering Services Regulations 2011 • Care Planning , Placement and Case Review Regulations 2010 and statutory guidance Adoption and Children Act 2002 Statutory guidance in Adoption 2013 Adoption: National Minimum Standards 2014 Medical Advisers are registered qualified doctors and consultant paediatricians. In all cases where adoption, long-term fostering or Special Guardianship is being considered as the plan for a looked after child, the Adoption Agencies Regulations stipulates that a child should have an adoption or permanency medical. These medicals are undertaken by a registered medical practitioner, who has a particular role in assessing the wellbeing of Looked After Children and providing medical advice to the local authority and Agency Decision Maker (ADM). Reg 15 of the AAR 2005: make arrangements for the child to be examined by a registered medical practitioner; and(b)obtain from that practitioner a written report (“the child’s health report”) on the state of the child’s health which shall include any treatment which the child is receiving, any need for health care and the matters specified in Part 2 of Schedule 1,unless the agency has received advice from the medical adviser that such an examination and report is unnecessary. The Medical Adviser for adoption is responsible for: • commenting on the health assessments of all children with a care plan of adoption and providing medical advice to the Agency Decision Maker when they are considering a Care Plan of Adoption, • reviewing this information and providing a consultation and counsel adopters on the medical information available and any likely implications prior to panel making recommendations to prospective adopters prior to an adoption match with any Brent child in relation to any possible risk to the adopters or the child’s current or future health, and how this could be supported. The Medical Adviser for fostering is responsible for: • commenting on the adult health forms of all foster carers, kinship foster carers, connected person(s) carers, Special Guardians, and private foster carers – some of these health assessments are conducted annually, others every 2 years. • advising and attending the fostering panel. Role of the Medical Adviser for Adoption: • To see a child with a plan for adoption prior to writing medical advice to the ADM • To provide written medical advice to the ADM when they are considering a plan of Adoption, and again when they are considering the match of a child and to the prospective adopters as described. • To provide information to prospective adoptive parents on Brent children’s potential future health needs in a pre-counselling session prior to any adoption match, including provision of written report • ADM-Summary of advice which is understood by Agency Decision Maker following Somerset ruling. • Medical adviser to collate information from GP, social workers, health visitors, statutory medical assessments (IHA, RHA), forms M&B, CPR and provide an ADM report for this process highlighting medical concerns and future risks. • Counselling clinic- medical adviser needs to counsel all adopters prior to panel on children being adopted and provide a report to panel following collation of information, reading etc., • To add additional comments on future impact and health development of the child to the regular Health assessments and reviews conducted on each looked after child by their GP, including contacting Consultants allocated to the child for points of clarification or for further information where necessary. This role will continue for the duration of the child being looked after. Carrying out comprehensive paediatric health assessments and development assessments e.g. completing part B of the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) form Initial Health Assessment (IHA) • To prepare and submit written summaries to the adoption panel in relation to the above. • Preparing a report for an adoption review health assessment e.g. completing Part C of BAAF Form RHA-C or YP • All work in relation to Brent children with an adoption plan as outlined above will be the sole responsibility of the Brent Medical Adviser. • To add additional comments on the possible impact of the prospective adopters’ ability to care for an adopted child to the health assessments they undertake with their GP as part of the assessment. Summaries and reports are submitted to adoption panel. • Scrutiny/review of prospective adopter’s health assessments (including research needed, providing advice as required, liaising with health colleagues/Consultants and completion of report) – • Panel attendance: Brent’s Medical Adviser would be expected to attend 4-5 panels per year. Role of Medical Adviser Fostering (Mainly deals with adult’s health): • The health assessments (AH forms) of all prospective and current foster carers, connected person(s) carers, kinship carers and special guardians are completed by the GP on an annual or bi-annual basis depending on age and then reviewed by the Medical Adviser for Fostering. This includes liaising with any Consultants for further information where necessary, and providing additional comments on the possible impact this may have upon the applicants’ ability to care. These summaries submitted to fostering panel. Scrutiny/review of prospective and current foster carers health assessments (including research needed, providing advice as required, liaising with health colleagues and completion of report). • Medical adviser attends fostering panel once a month to share the above summaries and provide medical comment on anything that arises during the meeting. Written commentary to be provided for the panels not attended. Preparation time ahead of panel attendance is required. Activity levels • Medical Advisers for Fostering (Adult health) supported 130 cases from January 2022 to December 2022 • Medical Advisers for Adoption supported 12 cases from January 2022 to December 2022 For 2023: MA for adoption: • AMD cases = 19 • Adoptions = 7 • Cases gone to panel = 26 (AMD + Adoption) MA for fostering • Adult health reviews: 136 Activity is identified as 4 hours of programme activity (PA) Questions for the Provider • What is your Pricing structure i.e., per activity, time, menu of services, package/lot please can you provide details of your proposed costs? • How would you deliver the services? i.e. dedicated qualified Medical Advisers one for provision of Medical Adviser to adoption and one for qualified Medical Adviser for fostering or use a bank of Medical advisers as and when required? • Can you deliver both Medical Advisers for adoption and Medical Adviser for fostering? Keywords: Adoption, Health, Paediatrician, Medical, Foster, GP