Health New Zealand (HNZ) Procurement on behalf of Waikato District is seeking to procure the Services of interested Parties to provide medical oversight of convalescent patients at two Continuing Care Facilities in the Waikato District – Rhoda Read in Morrinsville and Matariki in Te Awamutu. 

Both facilities have up to 32 patients each (64 in total), mostly over 65 years recovering from an acute medical or surgical event.  The facilities are used as a step down for acute care i.e. transitional care model.  Average length of stay is 21-28 days at both facilities.  Admission criteria is available, and the level of care is at Primary Care General Practice (GP) level.   

We are looking for innovative responses to this Request for Proposal (RFP) from interested Parties to provide oversight of the patients in the two Continuing Care Facilities in the wider Waikato District.

The Service may be provided by a group of GPs or a collaborative team approach with a mix of Medical and Nursing Professionals with the experience and capacity to provide expert advice on the management of patients requiring short term support to transition from acute/subacute medical or surgical admissions to their own homes. It is preferred for consistency of clinical care that there is one centralised service provider.

The Facilities have a stable team of nurses providing care in the wards. Any additional Registered Nursing input would be in a consultancy and support role from Nurse Practitioner/Nurse Consultant/Nurse Specialist with experience in Primary, Convalescent and Palliative Care.

The preferred option is for onsite medical presence for ward rounds daily supported by experienced specialist nursing staff plus additional remote consults and On Call availability. Inpatients are generally low acuity, over 65, requiring convalescence, physical support and clinical oversight following discharge from Waikato Hospital, as a step-down facility to prepare for transition to the own homes.

The Waikato District stakeholders recognise that rather than having all oversight by Medical Staff there may be other effective models of care without a reduction in the quality of services provided. They also recognise the need to ensure the quality of patient care is balanced with fiscal responsibility.

This RFP includes an outline of the services required and the Performance and Reporting Requirements for this Contract.