Case studies

Transforming Community Services

Examples of our work in this area

• We worked with Tribal Consulting on the separation of Kingston PCT's provider arm, Your Healthcare, as a new social enterprise business. Your Healthcare submitted a "Right to Request" to establish a social enterprise and this was agreed by the PCT's Board. We advised on all the relevant issues including staff-side issues and consultation, pension implications, terms and conditions packages and the new enterprise's Constitution. Your Healthcare was very keen for a wide member based structure to take it forward patients as well as staff contribute to the management and running of the organisation. Your Healthcare went live on 1 August 2010.  We are now involved in about 20 other social enterprises, of various sizes, at various stages and each with its own project specifics.
• We acted for Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust became the first community services provider in the country to become an independent community NHS trust as part of the Transforming Community Services (“TCS”) programme.  This ground-breaking transaction which involved the transfer of contracts, staff and new arrangements for managing and occupying premises, to the new Trust to enable it to deliver community services as an independent organisation. Although the first of its kind, it raised a number of issues of general application across the TCS programme, such as: using the mechanisms contained in the NHS Act 2006 relating to the set up of an autonomous community services provider; and drafting and negotiating the terms of the asset and staff transfer, including contractual protections and the apportionment of liability.
• We recently carried out a full due diligence exercise in respect of three separate provider organisations that are in the process of being merged into one legal entity - in this instance the due diligence was for the benefit of the host PCT which will be taking legal responsibility for the merged business following transfer. The exercise involved assisting the client to decide what information would be significant for their purposes, gathering that information from the transferring PCTs, reviewing it and compiling a report, and helping the client to analyse the identified assets and liabilities, inherent risks and work out a legal framework for dealing with the risks through the business transfer agreement. Some of the key areas we looked into were staffing liabilities, third party contracts with outside suppliers and service providers, clinical governance, outstanding claims, property and other assets, and support services arrangements. Ultimately the goal of the exercise was to help the parties achieve the most advantageous deal for the pending transfer.