A tender for the contract has been issued due to the current contract with HCRG Care Group ceasing at the end of March 2026. 

Providers will be invited to bid for the new community services contract, which includes all adult community services, along with the all age podiatry service, as part of a competitive tender process from 7 March 2025. The new contract will go live from April 2026. 

The community health services contract, along with an urgent care services contract, was originally awarded to Virgin Care in 2016 and went live in May 2017. Virgin Care was bought out by HCRG Care Group in 2022. Both contract lengths were for five years with an option to extend for two years. In 2022, NHS West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group extended both contracts by two years to the end of April 2024.  

Since July 2022, the ICB has held responsibility for planning NHS services in Lancashire and South Cumbria and approved continuation of both contracts from May 2024 to the end of March 2026.

The ICB intends to undertake a separate procurement exercise of urgent care services in West Lancashire with a new contract also commencing from April 2026.   

The ICB's vision is to have a high-quality, community-centred health and care system by 2035 focused on ‘well care' rather than ‘sick care' by prioritising prevention, wellbeing and early intervention.