---
title: "NHS England South West - Specialist Counselling to Reduce Health Inequalities and a Befriending Service for Women Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence in Avon & Somerset"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04c094"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04c094"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04c094.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04c094.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NHS ENGLAND"
published: "2024-12-11"
---

# NHS England South West - Specialist Counselling to Reduce Health Inequalities and a Befriending Service for Women Who Have Experienced Sexual Violence in Avon & Somerset

Buyer: NHS ENGLAND  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04c094

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## Summary

NHS England South West is commissioning specialist counselling services aimed at reducing health inequalities, specifically targeting refugees, asylum seekers, and Deaf women, as well as a befriending service for women who have experienced sexual violence in Avon and Somerset. This procurement process, under the Provider Selection Regime (PSR), has reached the award stage with the contract being confirmed for a duration of 4 years and 6 months commencing on 1st April 2025. The contract is valued at £440,775 and utilises the National NHS Standard Contract. Key dates include the start of the standstill period on 27th November 2024, with representations required by midnight on 10th December 2024.

This tender offers significant opportunities for business growth, particularly for service providers specialising in rehabilitation and counselling services. The contract's focus on addressing health inequalities and supporting women with complex mental health needs aligns with current public health goals, making it an attractive prospect for companies in the healthcare sector. Businesses that excel in quality, innovation, and social value, and have experience in integrating and sustaining services, would be well-suited to compete in this procurement process. As the sole bidder, Womankind has been recommended for the award, demonstrating a successful outcome through a well-evaluated selection method.

## Notice

NHS England South West is commissioning specialist counselling services to address health inequalities, specifically for refugees, asylum seekers and Deaf women, and the provision of a 'Befriending' service, for women who have experienced sexual violence. This provision is for the area of Avon and Somerset, to continue the work of the 'Avon and Somerset Enhanced Mental Health Pathfinder' which has been running since 2022. The intention is to move from 'proof of concept' stage to an ongoing model of delivery based on proven outcomes. The Commissioner intends to contract for the Services using the National NHS Standard Contract. The contract term will be for a duration of 4 years and 6 months and will commence from 1st April 2025. The total contract value is PS440,775 over the 4 years and 6 months. This notice is placed to set out NHS England South West's (the Commissioner's) intention to award a contract under the Most Suitable Provider Process of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR).

### Lot Information

Lot 1

NHS England South West is commissioning specialist counselling services to address health inequalities, specifically for refugees, asylum seekers and Deaf women, and the provision of a 'Befriending' service, for women who have experienced sexual violence. This provision is for the area of Avon and Somerset, to continue the work of the 'Avon and Somerset Enhanced Mental Health Pathfinder' which has been running since 2022. The intention is to move from 'proof of concept' stage to an ongoing model of delivery based on proven outcomes. Scope: Specialist 'health inequalities' counselling service for women, specifically refugees, asylum-seekers, and Deaf women. Scope: The Befriending service to provide isolated women with complex mental health needs with a befriender. The services will be for people aged 18 and over. A notice was published for 14 days informing the market of the intention to follow the Most Suitable Provider Process. The Commissioner sought a provider/s who were suitable and capable to continue the delivery of this work. To express an interest, providers were required to complete and submit a short Most Suitable Provider Questionnaire through the Atamis portal. Only 1 expression of interest was received, from Womankind. A Request for Information (RfI) was sent to them seeking the return of further information to support the Commissioners assessment. After conducting an assessment, taking into account the key criteria and applying the basic selection criteria, NHS South West is content that the they will likely satisfy the proposed contract to a sufficient standard. The Commissioner intends to contract for the Services using the National NHS Standard Contract. The contract term will be for a duration of 4 years and 6 months and will commence from 1st April 2025. The total contract value is PS440,775 over the 4 years and 6 months. This notice is placed to set out NHS England South West's (the Commissioner's) intention to award a contract under the Most Suitable Provider Process of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR). This is an existing service being awarded to an existing provider. This exercise was carried out by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioner.

### Procurement Information

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by midnight on Tuesday 10th December 2024. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/039837-2024 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 11 Dec 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 26 Nov 2024 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £440,775 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NHS ENGLAND |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Post town | South East London |
| Postcode | SE1 8UG |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI4 Inner London - East |
| ITL 3 | TLI45 Lambeth |
| Local authority | Lambeth |
| Electoral ward | Waterloo & South Bank |
| Westminster constituency | Vauxhall and Camberwell Green |
| Delivery location | TLK South West (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | WOMANKIND |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85312500 - Rehabilitation services

## Release History

- 11 Dec 2024 at 09:08 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/039837-2024
- 27 Nov 2024 at 17:26 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/038364-2024

## Notice URLs

- https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
- https://www.england.nhs.uk

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04c094. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04c094.json.