Contract Timeline

Publication Date

11th April 2025 09:45:13 AM

Tender Deadline

28th April 2025 11:00:00 AM   Expired

Contract Summary

This is a call to competition under The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. The Council is looking to commission a Therapeutic Support Service (‘the Service’) to support children and young people aged 4-19 who have mild to moderate emotional wellbeing needs. The national and local context calls for a refreshed system-wide approach within Kent, which is now underway. The Therapeutic Support Service will be a key element within a wider transformation programme being led by NHS Kent and Medway to deliver high quality, responsive and better-connected emotional wellbeing and mental health support for children and young people in the county. The system vision is for future Services to operate as a ‘Mental Health Collaborative’, underpinned by a set of contracts to be led by NHS Kent and Medway from 2025/6 onwards, providing specialist, education-based and therapeutic Services. This third element will be known as the ‘Therapeutic Alliance’, and will support children and young people with predominantly moderate emotional wellbeing and mental health needs. The Council is commissioning the Service to complement the Therapeutic Alliance, by offering similar creative and therapeutic approaches, but which are tailored to meet mild to moderate needs and offer a preventative and early intervention model, rooted in the local community. Although this is being commissioned independently by the Council, it will share a common set of principles and values with the wider Therapeutic Alliance, to create a mutual framework for collaboration and partnership working between commissioners, Suppliers and stakeholders. At the heart of this commission is the recognition that supporting children and young people’s emotional wellbeing and mental health requires a partnership approach. Through our contribution to the wider county model, the Council will aim to create space for collaboration, strengthen connections between Services, and build resilience within families and communities so that more children and young people can receive the support they need at the earliest opportunity. Our vision for the Service is that children and young people (CYP) aged 4 (from entry to Reception) up to their 19th birthday who are experiencing mild to moderate emotional wellbeing difficulties are able to access timely, flexible support that helps them to meet their goals through a choice of creative and therapeutically-informed support delivered as part of the Family Hub network and connected to their local community; in co-ordination with the emerging children’s mental health Therapeutic Alliance in Kent. Please visit https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/ to access documentation relating to this opportunity.

Contract Details

Open Contracting ID

ocds-h6vhtk-04ed16

Publication Source

Find a Tender Service

Procurement Stage

Tender

Procurement Method

Selective

Procurement Method Details

Restricted Procedure

Procurement Category

Services

Tender Suitability

Framework / DPS

Contract Classification

CPV Code(s)

85323000

CPV Division(s)

85 - Health and social work services

Awarding Authority

KENT COUNTY COUNCIL

Buyer Name

Mr Matt Wellard

Buyer Email

Matthew.Wellard@kent.gov.uk

Buyer Phone

+44 3000413221

Buyer Address

Sessions House

Maidstone

ME14 1XQ

United Kingdom

Contract Timeline

Publication Date

14th March 2025 09:18:22 AM

Contract Summary

Prior Information Notice: Draft Specification – proposed Children and Young People’s Therapeutic Support Service ** This advert is for market awareness and engagement only ** This Prior Information Notice is to share extracts from a draft Specification for a proposed Children and Young People’s Therapeutic Support Service to be procured under The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. This is following an online market engagement event held on Wednesday 12th February 2025. (Please note: this proposal follows a Key Decision taken in March 2025). The proposed Therapeutic Support Service would support children and young people aged 4-19 who have mild/moderate emotional wellbeing needs. This means children and young who may need support with difficulties such as: • Nervousness or anxiety • Difficulty concentrating • Difficultly sleeping • Avoiding school or activities • Feeling low and not good about themselves • Not wanting to be with friends or family We are proposing that this service will be closely aligned with the proposed Therapeutic Alliance, being commissioned by NHS Kent and Medway to support children and young people with predominantly moderate emotional wellbeing and mental health needs. Feedback on draft Specification We would like to share the draft Specification with providers and invite comment and feedback using the following survey link by midday on Friday 21st March 2025: https://forms.office.com/e/a9urnqS19A We are also sharing the responses to questions raised at the Market Engagement Event held on Wednesday 12th February 2025 and through our feedback survey, alongside this PIN. How to access draft Specification In order to access the draft Specification please visit https://www.kentbusinessportal.org.uk/ and register your interest. Once registered please search under the current opportunities using keyword reference CN250246. Future Market Engagement We are no longer intending to hold a further in-person market engagement event, due to the proposed timescales, but to support collaborative conversations, we would like to invite any providers who would like to have their details shared with other interested organisations to complete the Provider Information form that will be available on the portal, and email it to phstprogramme@kent.gov.uk by midday on 21.03.25. By returning this form, you are giving consent for this information to be shared with other interested organisations who have also shared their details for this purpose. KCC will compile the responses into a provider prospectus and aim to distribute this document via email during the week commencing 24.03.25, to all providers who have submitted and consented for their details to be shared. Please note, we will not be providing further updates to the provider prospectus after this point. Proposed Next Steps: Following a Key Decision taken in March 2025, we propose to publish an Invitation to Tender on the Kent Business Portal in early April 2025.

Contract Details

Open Contracting ID

ocds-h6vhtk-04ed16

Publication Source

Find a Tender Service

Procurement Stage

Planning

Procurement Method

N/A

Procurement Method Details

N/A

Procurement Category

Services

Tender Suitability

Framework / DPS

Contract Classification

CPV Code(s)

85323000

CPV Division(s)

85 - Health and social work services

Awarding Authority

KENT COUNTY COUNCIL

Buyer Name

Ms Hannah Durling

Buyer Email

Hannah.durling@kent.gov.uk

Buyer Phone

+44 3000421154

Buyer Address

County Hall

Maidstone

ME14 1XQ

United Kingdom