Commissioning and Brokerage Procedures

Commissioning and brokerage procedures include the processes and requirements for arranging care and support services for people with care and support needs and carers. For example, domiciliary care, residential and nursing placements, supported living, extra care and respite.

To read about commissioning responsibilities under the Care Act 2014, see: Commissioning Responsibilities under the Care Act.

The brokerage team in Tower Hamlets is responsible for managing the information from support plans about funded support and communicating this with the care and support providers. They also ensure that care and support providers are set up on Mosaic and purchase orders are raised so providers can be paid for their services.

Brokerage also provide information to practitioners when they are seeking a suitable provider to meet the outcomes in the support plan, this is done via a Brokerage Support Form. Brokerage will contact suitable providers and return the form with the information they have gathered. This process should be followed to ensure we are approaching suitable providers and getting good value for money. Also, if there are individual requirements these should be added to the form and the brokerage officer will use this information when approaching providers.

The direct payments monitoring team manage all support plans where the service will be provided via a direct payment. They will arrange for paperwork to be sent to People Plus. They will also monitor the use of the direct payments to ensure that funds are being used appropriately. This team also manage the emergency prepaid cards that can be issued when a person requires urgent funds to prevent harm.