Creating a block bed contract

Overview

A block bed contract is a formal agreement between your care home and an external organisation - typically a local authority or NHS trust - in which the organisation reserves a set number of beds for a defined period. Rather than paying only for occupied beds, the contracting organisation pays for the reserved capacity, regardless of whether all beds are in use.

Block bed contracts are managed in Found under the relevant organisation's profile. To access them, go to the Contacts tab > Organisations, open the organisation record, and select the Block beds tab.

Using block bed contracts in Found helps you:

• Accurately track which beds are reserved and for whom

• Apply the correct fee structure to bookings covered by the contract

• Monitor capacity, occupancy, and voids over time

• Maintain a full history of fee changes and contract documents

• Assign incoming bookings directly to a contract for simplified billing

How to create a block bed contract

Step 1: Navigate to the organisation

1. Go to Contacts in the left-hand navigation.

2. Select Organisations and open the relevant organisation (e.g. a local authority or NHS trust).

3. Click the Block beds tab.

4. Click Add contract to open the creation form.

Step 2: Overview

Enter the contract details:

• Contract name  a clear, identifiable name (e.g. "Surrey County Council Block Bed 2025").

• Location: select the care home location that is covered by this contract.

• Start date: the date the contract becomes active.

• End date: the date the contract expires (optional at creation).

• Number of beds: enter the number of beds reserved under the contract. You can update this later with a new effective date if the capacity changes e.g. increases over the winter

Step 3: Pricing

Choose the fee structure:

• Fixed: a single flat weekly fee applies to all reserved beds, regardless of occupancy. This is the simplest model and is common for block arrangements where the funder pays a set rate per bed per week.

• Variable: separate fees are defined for occupied beds and void beds (unoccupied but still reserved). This allows the funder to pay a lower rate for void capacity.

Enter the applicable fee amounts. These can be updated at any point, and Found maintains a full history of all fee changes with their effective dates.

Once complete, click Create contract. The contract will appear in the block beds table with a status of Future (if the start date is upcoming) or Current (if it is already active).

Managing a contract after creation

Once created, the contract record has four tabs:

Updating capacity

If the number of reserved beds changes during the contract period, go to Details and add a new entry under Capacity history with the revised number and the date the change takes effect. Found retains the full history so you can see how capacity evolved over time.

Updating fees

To record a fee change, go to Details, select the relevant fee type, and add a new fee value with an effective date. The previous fee is retained in the history. A chart on the fee history screen visualises how fees have changed over the life of the contract.

Assigning a booking

When creating or editing a booking, you can link it to a block bed contract. Found will apply the contract's fee rates to that booking automatically. You can view all assigned bookings from the Assignments tab on the contract record.

Cancelling a contract

Open the contract, click the actions menu (three dots), and select Cancel contract. Note: contracts that already have booking assignments cannot be cancelled until those assignments are removed.

Contract statuses