Work to deliver a further part of the development of the Scottish government’s proposed National Care Service has been given to a global management consultancy firm.

Six tenders were received for the £546,000 contract, before it was awarded to accountancy, audit and consultancy giant KPMG.

The online contract notice says KPMG will now ‘put in place the resources’ to enable the Scottish government ‘to map the current models across health and social care and support options development’, as well as develop a ‘high level roadmap for delivery’.

This latest outsourcing follows an outcry after a smaller £100,000 ‘design’ contract for the service was awarded to competitor PwC.

In response to that contract, the Scottish Trade Unions Congress (STUC) said they will “vigorously oppose any move towards outsourcing the vital project of creating a National Care Service to companies with a vested interest in privatised provision”.

Social care minister Kevin Stewart gave notice of this most recent procurement exercise in a letter to the Scottish parliament’s health committee in November last year.

He told MSPs the work was ‘standard practice in the progress of any such large-scale change and provides [an] independent assessment of the planned change’.

A member of the social covenant steering group and the chief executive of Health and Social Care Alliance Scotland were to be part of the evaluation panel, according to the minister.

The ALLIANCE this afternoon confirmed the organisation's former chief executive was part of the panel and was present at a pre-tender briefing meeting with KPMG just before Christmas.

A spokesperson told healthandcare.scot:

"The ALLIANCE are firm on our position that the voice of lived experience must be central to the design and delivery of services.  The Scottish Approach to Service Design team is now part of the social care team ( since early January) showing SG commitment to this.

"It’s the ALLIANCE's intention to be fully involved over the next two years in making sure the embedding of human rights underpins the new legislation."

KPMG has received close to £3m in government contracts since the beginning of the pandemic to support Scotland’s health and social care services.

The company provided administrative support on the planning and delivery of the covid-19 vaccination programme to the tune of £2.3m, with at least two smaller contracts awarded to them to advise the social care sector.

A Scottish government spokesperson said:

“The National Care Service will be the most significant change in public services since the establishment of the National Health Service.

"We are committed to delivering a National Care Service by the end of this parliament in order to ensure everyone gets the high quality care they are entitled to, regardless of where they live in Scotland.

“At its core will be human rights and person-led care and support that focuses on positive outcomes for individuals across Scotland.

“The decision was made to procure specialist services to support the development of the business case and operating models for the NCS, and this will provide a baseline and framework on which we will build the new system.

“KPMG bid for and won this contract following a procurement exercise under the Crown and Commercial Services Management Consultancy Three Framework.”

KPMG declined to comment.

 

Read more: Scotland must not rush into National Care Service; Yousaf: NCS blueprint not ‘fait accompli’; Budget: Major increase in social care spending

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