Tender

National Helpline for NHS staff

NHS ENGLAND

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

TenderUpdate

13 Dec 2021 at 10:40

Planning

09 Dec 2021 at 12:57

Summary of the contracting process

NHS England is seeking bids for a contract to operate the "National Helpline for NHS staff." This service aims to provide psychological support to health and care workers throughout the UK during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The procurement process is currently in the planning stage, with an estimated contract value of £18 million. Interested parties must submit their Expressions of Interest by 5pm on 16 December 2021, and the planned 12-month contract could potentially be extended for a further two years based on performance and budget approval.

This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses specialising in mental health services, counselling, and psychological support. Companies capable of delivering a 7-day service, with trained crisis support workers and clinical support if necessary, would be well-positioned to compete. The need for enhanced emotional support for NHS staff has been emphasised by the ongoing pressure exerted by the pandemic, making this an ideal time for service providers in the health industry to engage with this vital contract.

Find more tenders on our Open Data Platform.
How relevant is this notice?

D3 Tenders Premium

Win More Public Sector Contracts

AI-powered tender discovery, pipeline management, and market intelligence — everything you need to grow your public sector business.

Notice Title

National Helpline for NHS staff

Notice Description

The requirement is for a staff support helpline, to continue to provide a psychological support offer for all NHS staff. This will aim to be a service provided for all staff during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. The service is provided for all health and care workers across the country. Currently the helpline has experienced over 14,000 contacts directly.

Lot Information

Lot 1

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need of establishing a suitable health and wellbeing offer for all our staff. As a result, we have operated a national staff support helpline since April 2020, to support our NHS staff who are under enormous pressure every day. The NHS staff helpline was also a key recommendation of the NHS Staff and Learners' Mental Wellbeing Commission report in 2019: 'A national NHS helpline service should be developed with the aim of providing a complete emotional support service to NHS staff and those learning in the NHS'.

Common themes that have emerged on the helpline in the past 18 months, that we want to continue supporting our staff with include -
* Concerns about the workplace or study
* Mental health issues / concerns
* COVID-19 concerns
* Family issues
* Isolation/loneliness
* Physical health/illness
* Relationship problems

The helpline is also identifying to a lesser extent, concerns relating to:
* Bereavement
* Violence/abuse
* Finance/unemployment
* Drug and/or alcohol misuse
* Bereaved by suicide

The requirement is for a staff support helpline, to continue to provide a psychological support offer for all NHS staff. This will aim to be a service provided for all staff during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. The service is provided for all health and care workers across the country. Currently the helpline has experienced over 14,000 contacts directly.

The support line will offer NHS staff the opportunity to converse with trained crisis support workers, and if required, qualified clinical support where needed. The requirement will be to run a 7-day service, that can operate nationally, and is able to cater to all groups and demographics. The service will need to operate at the least, between 7:00am-11:00pm daily.

This will need to be set up and delivered at a relatively fast pace, to enable a continuation in service for our workforce. There is a clinical risk attached to the necessity to keep the service continuous for our users, and therefore a gap in service will not be acceptable (a short period of transition between an old supplier and a new one can be agreed however).

Additionally, the supplier should be able to provide anonymized and vital data, to the commissioning organisation, to provide further understanding of emerging concerns and issues related to the health and wellbeing of our workforce. The content, structure and delivery of the reports should be opened to change depending on the requirements of the commissioning organisation.

This will also conclude in an evaluation piece that will need to be carried out at intervals throughout the year. This will involve working with our evaluation lead to explore and deliver report/s through qualitive evaluation methods, such as interviews with users, to gain an in-depth understanding of helpline usage by staff.

Finally, the supplier should be able to provide some expertise and resource in supporting communications and marketing, to raise awareness of the helpline.

Pre-market Engagement

NHS England & Improvement are currently undertaking an options appraisal and as part of this have issued a Notice to the market to gauge supplier interest and capability in relation to continuing the delivery of this service.

NHS England & Improvement are aiming to enter into a 12-month contract with an approximate Year One value (12 months) of PS600,000 exclusive of applicable VAT. Dependent on budget and performance the contract may be extended for a further 2 years.

Supplier Expressions of Interest

Interested suppliers should read the details attached to the notice which specify further details about the requirement, how to register an interest in the possible procurement and the submission requirements for registering an interest.

The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest is 5pm on 16/12/2021

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-02ff48
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030914-2021
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Planning, Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Planning Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

85 - Health and social work services


CPV Codes

85100000 - Health services

85312300 - Guidance and counselling services

85312320 - Counselling services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£18,000,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
13 Dec 20214 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
17 Jan 2022Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Planned
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
NHS ENGLAND
Contact Name
Russell Greeenwood
Contact Email
russell.greenwood@nhs.net
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LEEDS
Postcode
LS2 7UE
Post Town
Leeds
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLE Yorkshire and The Humber
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLE4 West Yorkshire
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLE42 Leeds
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
Leeds
Electoral Ward
Little London & Woodhouse
Westminster Constituency
Leeds Central and Headingley

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

{
    "tag": [
        "compiled"
    ],
    "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-02ff48-2021-12-13T10:40:31Z",
    "date": "2021-12-13T10:40:31Z",
    "ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-02ff48",
    "initiationType": "tender",
    "tender": {
        "id": "ocds-h6vhtk-02ff48",
        "legalBasis": {
            "id": "32014L0024",
            "scheme": "CELEX"
        },
        "title": "National Helpline for NHS staff",
        "status": "planned",
        "classification": {
            "scheme": "CPV",
            "id": "85100000",
            "description": "Health services"
        },
        "mainProcurementCategory": "services",
        "description": "The requirement is for a staff support helpline, to continue to provide a psychological support offer for all NHS staff. This will aim to be a service provided for all staff during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. The service is provided for all health and care workers across the country. Currently the helpline has experienced over 14,000 contacts directly.",
        "value": {
            "amount": 18000000,
            "currency": "GBP"
        },
        "lots": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "description": "The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need of establishing a suitable health and wellbeing offer for all our staff. As a result, we have operated a national staff support helpline since April 2020, to support our NHS staff who are under enormous pressure every day. The NHS staff helpline was also a key recommendation of the NHS Staff and Learners' Mental Wellbeing Commission report in 2019: 'A national NHS helpline service should be developed with the aim of providing a complete emotional support service to NHS staff and those learning in the NHS'.<br/><br/>Common themes that have emerged on the helpline in the past 18 months, that we want to continue supporting our staff with include - <br/>* Concerns about the workplace or study<br/>* Mental health issues / concerns<br/>* COVID-19 concerns<br/>* Family issues<br/>* Isolation/loneliness<br/>* Physical health/illness<br/>* Relationship problems<br/><br/>The helpline is also identifying to a lesser extent, concerns relating to:<br/>* Bereavement<br/>* Violence/abuse<br/>* Finance/unemployment<br/>* Drug and/or alcohol misuse<br/>* Bereaved by suicide<br/><br/>The requirement is for a staff support helpline, to continue to provide a psychological support offer for all NHS staff. This will aim to be a service provided for all staff during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and beyond. The service is provided for all health and care workers across the country. Currently the helpline has experienced over 14,000 contacts directly. <br/><br/>The support line will offer NHS staff the opportunity to converse with trained crisis support workers, and if required, qualified clinical support where needed. The requirement will be to run a 7-day service, that can operate nationally, and is able to cater to all groups and demographics. The service will need to operate at the least, between 7:00am-11:00pm daily. <br/><br/>This will need to be set up and delivered at a relatively fast pace, to enable a continuation in service for our workforce. There is a clinical risk attached to the necessity to keep the service continuous for our users, and therefore a gap in service will not be acceptable (a short period of transition between an old supplier and a new one can be agreed however). <br/><br/>Additionally, the supplier should be able to provide anonymized and vital data, to the commissioning organisation, to provide further understanding of emerging concerns and issues related to the health and wellbeing of our workforce. The content, structure and delivery of the reports should be opened to change depending on the requirements of the commissioning organisation. <br/><br/>This will also conclude in an evaluation piece that will need to be carried out at intervals throughout the year. This will involve working with our evaluation lead to explore and deliver report/s through qualitive evaluation methods, such as interviews with users, to gain an in-depth understanding of helpline usage by staff. <br/><br/>Finally, the supplier should be able to provide some expertise and resource in supporting communications and marketing, to raise awareness of the helpline. <br/><br/>Pre-market Engagement<br/><br/>NHS England & Improvement are currently undertaking an options appraisal and as part of this have issued a Notice to the market to gauge supplier interest and capability in relation to continuing the delivery of this service.<br/><br/>NHS England & Improvement are aiming to enter into a 12-month contract with an approximate Year One value (12 months) of PS600,000 exclusive of applicable VAT. Dependent on budget and performance the contract may be extended for a further 2 years.<br/><br/>Supplier Expressions of Interest<br/><br/>Interested suppliers should read the details attached to the notice which specify further details about the requirement, how to register an interest in the possible procurement and the submission requirements for registering an interest.<br/><br/>The deadline for submitting Expressions of Interest is 5pm on 16/12/2021",
                "status": "planned"
            }
        ],
        "items": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "additionalClassifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "85100000",
                        "description": "Health services"
                    },
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "85312320",
                        "description": "Counselling services"
                    },
                    {
                        "scheme": "CPV",
                        "id": "85312300",
                        "description": "Guidance and counselling services"
                    }
                ],
                "deliveryAddresses": [
                    {
                        "region": "UK"
                    }
                ],
                "relatedLot": "1"
            }
        ],
        "communication": {
            "futureNoticeDate": "2022-01-17T00:00:00Z",
            "atypicalToolUrl": "http://health.atamis.co.uk"
        },
        "coveredBy": [
            "GPA"
        ],
        "amendments": [
            {
                "id": "1",
                "unstructuredChanges": [
                    {
                        "oldValue": {
                            "text": "18000000.00"
                        },
                        "newValue": {
                            "text": "1800000"
                        },
                        "where": {
                            "section": "II.1.5.1",
                            "label": "Estimated total value"
                        }
                    }
                ]
            }
        ]
    },
    "parties": [
        {
            "id": "GB-FTS-3717",
            "name": "NHS England",
            "identifier": {
                "legalName": "NHS England"
            },
            "address": {
                "streetAddress": "Quarry House",
                "locality": "Leeds",
                "region": "UKE",
                "postalCode": "LS2 7UE",
                "countryName": "United Kingdom"
            },
            "contactPoint": {
                "name": "Russell Greeenwood",
                "email": "russell.greenwood@nhs.net"
            },
            "roles": [
                "buyer"
            ],
            "details": {
                "url": "https://www.england.nhs.uk//",
                "buyerProfile": "https://www.england.nhs.uk//",
                "classifications": [
                    {
                        "scheme": "TED_CA_TYPE",
                        "id": "BODY_PUBLIC",
                        "description": "Body governed by public law"
                    },
                    {
                        "scheme": "COFOG",
                        "id": "07",
                        "description": "Health"
                    }
                ]
            }
        }
    ],
    "buyer": {
        "id": "GB-FTS-3717",
        "name": "NHS England"
    },
    "language": "en"
}