NHS Wales is establishing a new national framework for specialist care homes supporting adults with mental health conditions, learning disabilities or combined needs. With six lots covering residential care and care homes with nursing, the opportunity could provide an important route to NHS placements across Wales.
Providers seeking appointment from the framework’s launch face a tight initial deadline. A successful application will need to connect regulatory compliance, specialist staffing and safeguarding with clear evidence of person-centred outcomes. The total framework value may be significant, but providers must also demonstrate that individual placements can be delivered safely and sustainably.
The NHS Wales Care Homes Framework at a Glance
The official framework notice confirms that NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership, hosted by Velindre University NHS Trust, is leading the procurement in collaboration with the NHS Wales Joint Commissioning Committee.
The arrangement will be available to local health boards across Wales and covers services for adults aged 18 and over.
| Framework detail | Current information |
| Reference | COMM-CP-59341 |
| Estimated total value | £537 million excluding VAT |
| Estimated annual value | Approximately £50 million |
| Number of lots | Six |
| Initial deadline | 12pm on 19 August 2026 |
| Framework start | 1 April 2027 |
| Planned end date | 31 March 2035 |
| Geographical coverage | Wales |
| Submission portal | eTenderWales |
The framework will remain open for new applications at annual intervals. This gives providers that are not yet ready a possible later route onto the agreement, although organisations seeking access from April 2027 need to meet the current deadline.
Appointment will not guarantee placements or a minimum level of income. Referrals will depend on individual needs, available beds, location, commissioner decisions and the framework’s call-off arrangements.
What Do the Six Lots Cover?
The framework separates services according to the person’s primary needs and whether the care home provides registered nursing.
The six lots are:
- CMH: Care Home Mental Health
- CLD: Care Home Learning Disabilities
- CMHLD: Care Home Mental Health and Learning Disabilities
- CMH-N: Care Home Mental Health with Nursing
- CLD-N: Care Home Learning Disabilities with Nursing
- CMHLD-N: Care Home Mental Health and Learning Disabilities with Nursing
Providers can apply for the lots that match their registered services and delivery capability. However, previous experience of supporting one resident with a particular diagnosis does not automatically demonstrate suitability for the whole lot.
The home’s Statement of Purpose, registration, environment, workforce and operating model should all support the service being offered.
Understanding the different categories of NHS frameworks can also help providers distinguish this placement framework from broader contracts for clinical services, community provision, temporary staffing or healthcare technology.
Who Should Consider Applying?
The opportunity may suit:
- Specialist mental health care homes
- Learning disability care-home providers
- Dual-diagnosis services
- Care homes with registered nursing
- Providers supporting people with complex or distressed behaviour
- Rehabilitation and step-down services
- Regional groups operating suitable homes in Wales
- Providers developing new specialist capacity
Applications should be assessed at individual service level, not only group level. A provider operating several homes may find that different locations qualify for different lots.
As with other healthcare tenders, organisations should complete a disciplined bid or no-bid assessment before committing resources. This should cover eligibility, available capacity, workforce resilience, evidence quality and the commercial implications of accepting future placements.
Check Your Care Inspectorate Wales Registration
Care-home services operating in Wales must hold the appropriate registration with Care Inspectorate Wales. CIW describes registration as the gateway through which it assesses whether a provider is fit and likely to deliver good-quality care. Its public register also records the legal entities and individuals responsible for regulated services.
Before submitting, compare the framework application against the home’s current Care Inspectorate Wales registration.
Check:
- The legal service provider
- The registered service location
- The responsible individual
- The maximum number of residents
- The range of needs covered
- Whether nursing care is provided
- The Statement of Purpose
- Conditions attached to the registration
- Recent inspection findings
- Any outstanding regulatory actions
The application must not promise care or nursing provision outside the registered service model. A group-wide capability statement will not resolve a mismatch between the lot being selected and the registration of a particular home.
Providers planning to add new capacity should also consider whether the necessary registration variation can be completed before placements begin.
What Will NHS Wales Evaluators Look For?
The procurement documents and published evaluation criteria are the definitive guide. Even so, several themes are likely to be central to an NHS framework covering adults with specialist and potentially complex needs.
Person-Centred Care and Individual Outcomes
A strong application should explain how the home turns referral information, assessments and conversations with the individual into a personalised care and support plan.
This may cover:
- Personal goals and preferences
- Communication requirements
- Choice and independence
- Daily routines
- Positive risk-taking
- Relationships and family contact
- Meaningful activities
- Community participation
- Physical health
- Reviews and changing needs
Avoid describing residents as one diagnostic group. Two people placed through the same lot could require very different environments, communication methods and risk controls.
The Welsh Government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy 2025–2035 prioritises connected, person-centred and needs-led services, with people guided to appropriate support without avoidable delay.
Responses should demonstrate how this principle works in practice. Explain how residents are involved in decisions and how progress against personal outcomes is reviewed and recorded.
Specialist Mental Health and Learning Disability Expertise
Evaluators will need to see more than general residential-care experience.
Mental health services may need to demonstrate expertise in:
- Recovery-focused support
- Relapse indicators
- Trauma-informed approaches
- Self-harm and suicide risk
- Medication support
- Emotional regulation
- Partnership with community mental health teams
Learning disability services may need to cover:
- Accessible communication
- Reasonable adjustments
- Positive behaviour support
- Sensory needs
- Health inequalities
- Decision-making and capacity
- Advocacy
- Supporting greater independence
Combined-needs lots require an integrated approach. The response should not treat mental health and learning disability support as two unrelated workstreams.
Case studies can be particularly effective here. A strong example might show how the provider reduced incidents, improved engagement, helped someone rebuild daily-living skills or supported movement to a less restrictive setting.
A Stable and Competent Workforce
Specialist care relies on staff who understand the person and can provide continuity.
Providers should be prepared to explain:
- Staffing establishments
- Registered nurse cover where applicable
- Recruitment and retention
- Shift planning
- Absence cover
- Use of agency workers
- Induction
- Mandatory training
- Specialist competency
- Supervision
- Leadership visibility
- Workforce contingency arrangements
A training matrix may provide useful evidence, but it does not show how competence is assessed.
Explain how managers observe practice, address gaps and confirm that employees can apply their learning. Where residents have complex or changing needs, set out how staffing levels and skills will be reviewed.
High staff turnover can affect relationships, communication and safety. Suppliers should therefore connect their retention approach to resident outcomes rather than presenting it only as an HR measure.
Safeguarding, Risk and Restrictive Practice
Policies alone will not demonstrate safe delivery. Evaluators need to understand the decisions, responsibilities and escalation routes behind them.
Relevant areas may include:
- Safeguarding referrals
- Incident reporting
- Medication errors
- Missing-person procedures
- Clinical deterioration
- Self-harm and suicide prevention
- De-escalation
- Positive behaviour support
- Restrictive interventions
- Complaints and whistleblowing
- Learning after incidents
State who makes decisions, when outside professionals are contacted and how the resident and their representatives are involved.
Where restrictive practices may be used, explain the governance, authorisation and review arrangements. The response should demonstrate that restrictions are minimised and linked to an individual assessment, not routine service practice.
Connected Care and Community Participation
A placement should not separate someone from wider health services, relationships or community life.
Providers may need to work with:
- GPs and pharmacies
- Community mental health teams
- Learning disability teams
- Psychologists and therapists
- Dentists and other health services
- Families and advocates
- Education or employment services
- Local voluntary organisations
Strong links with community health services can support earlier intervention, continuity and a more coordinated response when a resident’s needs change.
Explain how appointments are arranged, information is shared and recommendations are incorporated into the person’s plan. The application should also show how residents are supported to maintain interests, relationships and a meaningful role within the local community.
Welsh Language and Accessible Communication
Communication is part of safe and person-centred care.
The Welsh Government’s More than just words plan aims to embed Welsh-language provision across health and social care. The Active Offer means services should identify and respond to language needs rather than repeatedly expecting the individual to request support.
Providers should consider:
- Recording language preferences
- Welsh-speaking staff
- Bilingual documents and signage
- Welsh-language activities
- Recruitment and training
- Communication passports
- Easy-read information
- Visual and alternative communication
- Access to advocacy
The response should be honest about current capability while explaining how Welsh-language needs will be identified and met.
Prepare Evidence for Each Home
Create a separate evidence profile for every care home included in the application.
This could cover:
- Registration details
- Inspection history
- Number and type of beds
- Current occupancy
- Staffing structure
- Nursing availability
- Specialist qualifications
- Property adaptations
- Accessibility
- Clinical partnerships
- Safeguarding performance
- Complaints
- Staff turnover
- Training compliance
- Welsh-language capacity
- Resident outcomes
Avoid relying on group-level policies and statistics when the question concerns a specific service.
Where possible, support claims with measurable results. This might include reduced incidents, improved staffing stability, training compliance, satisfaction feedback or successful transitions.
All examples should protect confidentiality. Remove unnecessary identifying information while retaining enough detail for evaluators to understand the starting position, actions and outcome.
Make Sure the Pricing Is Sustainable
The £537 million estimated value represents the potential framework as a whole. It does not guarantee occupancy for any provider.
Before submitting prices, consider:
- Core staffing
- One-to-one or enhanced support
- Registered nursing
- Agency exposure
- Clinical input
- Training
- Property and utilities
- Transport
- Equipment and adaptations
- Inflation
- Vacancy risk
The quality response and commercial offer must align.
A care model promising enhanced staffing, extensive community activity and regular specialist input needs a price capable of funding those commitments. Unsustainable pricing can place service quality and future placements at risk.
Providers should also understand how prices may be adjusted when an individual requires additional support beyond the standard placement model.
What Should Providers Do Before 19 August?
The response period is short, so the submission needs clear ownership.
- Access the complete procurement documents through eTenderWales.
- Select only the lots and homes that match your registration.
- Check every pass-or-fail condition.
- Reconcile the application with CIW information.
- Gather recent inspection and performance evidence.
- Confirm staffing figures and nursing arrangements.
- Develop outcome-focused case studies.
- Agree pricing and enhanced-support assumptions.
- Assign answer owners and internal review dates.
- Complete portal checks and submit before the deadline.
Do not leave final approval to the morning of 19 August. Care, finance, HR and compliance contributors should review all commitments affecting their areas before submission.
Strengthen Your NHS Wales Framework Application
The NHS Wales Mental Health and Learning Disabilities Care Homes Framework could provide an important national route for specialist providers. A strong application will need to connect regulatory compliance and workforce capacity with convincing evidence of safety, quality and resident outcomes.
Bidding’s healthcare bid writing services help providers interpret complex requirements, coordinate operational contributors and produce structured responses around the evaluation criteria.
We can support priority answers, review an internally prepared submission or manage the application from the initial document review through to final quality checks.
Speak to Bidding about strengthening your NHS Wales Care Homes Framework application.
