Harrow Council is working to secure a new community equipment provider after the compulsory liquidation of NRS Healthcare on 31 July 2025. While the specific factors that led to the liquidation are not detailed in the provided text, the council is acting to ensure the continuity of care for residents.
The council is working to ensure the continuity of care for residents who rely on essential equipment such as hospital beds, pressure relieving mattresses, and hoists. At a meeting on Friday 19 September 2025, Councillor Paul Osborn, Leader of the Council, was asked to delegate authority to officers to enter into contract arrangements with alternative providers.
The urgency stems from the fact that Harrow Council and NHS services in Harrow jointly order around 1,500 pieces of equipment each month. According to the Community Equipment Urgent Decision Report Final prepared for Councillor Osborn, without a community equipment service provider, the council and NHS would be unable to meet their statutory requirements under the Care Act 2014 and Children & Families Act 2014.
The council had been in negotiations with Essex Cares Ltd, but they were unable to proceed. As a result, Councillor Osborn delegated authority to the Strategic Director of Adults and Public Health to enter into an agreement with Provide Care Solutions Ltd. The delegation also allows the Strategic Director to negotiate with other providers if a commercial agreement with Provide Care Solutions Ltd cannot be reached.
Provide Care Solutions Ltd is expected to scale up the equipment service in the coming weeks, once contracts are signed and service delivery begins. In the interim, contingency plans are in place with alternative providers. These contingency plans are reported to be working well.
The report considered the option of not taking any action, but dismissed it as unrealistic, stating that Provide Care Solutions Ltd was able and willing to work with the council and could scale up an equipment service in the coming weeks.
The report noted that Harrow Council had been a member of the London Community Equipment Consortium, a group of 21 London boroughs that worked together to procure and develop community equipment services. Through the consortium, the council had a contract with NRS Healthcare for the provision of community equipment services. Across London, the 21 boroughs that were part of the consortium have worked in smaller groupings to put in place alternative service arrangements.
To ensure a smooth transition for residents currently receiving equipment, a data sharing agreement is being put in place to enable the eight local authorities working together to share data, and to ensure data is transferred between NRS and the new service provider. The data transfer will include information on orders and location of equipment that has been provided and is being used in the community.
The combined spend on equipment services in Harrow is around £2.9m per year. The community equipment spend is currently funded through a mixture of service revenue budget and funding from the Disabled Facilities Grant (DFG). While it's expected that the service will maintain expenditure within current projections where possible, short-term mobilisation, contract, and differentials of individual items costs will likely be incurred.
Risks associated with the situation include the possibility of the council being left without a community equipment provider and unable to meet its statutory duties. Mitigations include negotiations with Provide Care Solutions and the identification of alternative providers to deliver a contingency service.
