---
title: "Mental Health Practitioners and Physical Health Checks for Severe Mental Health Problems (SMI)"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-051c45"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-051c45"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-051c45.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-051c45.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NHS MID AND SOUTH ESSEX INTEGRATED CARE BOARD"
published: "2025-05-21"
---

# Mental Health Practitioners and Physical Health Checks for Severe Mental Health Problems (SMI)

Buyer: NHS MID AND SOUTH ESSEX INTEGRATED CARE BOARD  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-051c45

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-051c45)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-051c45.json)

## Summary

The NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board has recently completed an urgent procurement process under the Provider Selection Regime 2023 regulations. This process led to the award of a 12-month contract valued at £722,703 to Vita Health Group Limited for the provision of community health services. Specifically, the contract covers Mental Health Practitioners in Primary Care Networks and Physical Health Checks for individuals with Severe Mental Illness. Under the urgent circumstances provision, this decision was made to maintain continuity and avoid service disruption within the Mid and South Essex health economy, with the contract effective from 1st April 2025 to 31st March 2026. The procurement was conducted without prior publication of a call for competition, as allowed under the urgent procurement regulations due to extreme urgency caused by an abandoned tender process.

This procurement offers significant business growth opportunities for companies specialising in healthcare provision, particularly those with expertise in mental health and primary care services. The award was made to ensure immediate continuation of services, stressing the need for established infrastructure, workforce, and clinical expertise. Consequently, businesses with similar capabilities, especially those adept at delivering seamless healthcare services without transition delays, are well-suited to engage in future competitive tenders planned by the NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board. Such opportunities could expand their footprint in the healthcare sector, strengthen their service delivery capacity, and enhance their reputation as reliable providers in the industry.

## Notice

Urgent award notice under the Provider Selection Regime 2023 for the provision of Mental Health Practitioners in Primary Care Networks and Physical Health Checks for Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Services for NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (herein referred to as 'the Authority'). The awarded contract is for the provision of Mental Health Practitioners in Primary Care Networks and Physical Health Checks for Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Services comprises two (2) services: 1. The provision of a Physical Health Check for Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Service, aimed at improving mental health outcomes by monitoring and managing the physical health of individuals with severe mental illnesses (SMI). The aim is early detection, prevention, and intervention to improve overall health outcomes. 2. The provision of the Mental Health Practitioner in Primary Care Networks Service, which provides specialist mental health support within GP practices or primary care networks. They assess, triage, and manage mild to moderate mental health conditions, offering brief interventions, signposting to appropriate services, and working alongside GPs, social workers, and community teams to improve access to mental health care.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Urgent award notice under the Provider Selection Regime 2023 for the provision of Mental Health Practitioners in Primary Care Networks and Physical Health Checks for Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Services for NHS Mid and South Essex Integrated Care Board (herein referred to as 'the Authority'). The awarded contract is for the provision of Mental Health Practitioners in Primary Care Networks and Physical Health Checks for Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Services comprises two (2) services: 1. The provision of a Physical Health Check for Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Service, aimed at improving mental health outcomes by monitoring and managing the physical health of individuals with severe mental illnesses (SMI). The aim is early detection, prevention, and intervention to improve overall health outcomes. 2. The provision of the Mental Health Practitioner in Primary Care Networks Service, which provides specialist mental health support within GP practices or primary care networks. They assess, triage, and manage mild to moderate mental health conditions, offering brief interventions, signposting to appropriate services, and working alongside GPs, social workers, and community teams to improve access to mental health care. This contract is being awarded on an urgent basis due to the abandoned Most Suitable Provider (MSP) procurement process (Notice Number 2025/S 000-003056, Notice Reference 2025-040279) necessitating the continuation of services with the current provider to avoid disruption. A delay in awarding this contract through standard procurement routes would have led to a service gap, negatively impacting service users by increasing waiting times and deteriorating mental health conditions. Due to urgent circumstances, the Authority has awarded a 12 month contract to incumbent provider: Vita Health Group The contract period is for a total of 12 months from 01st April 2025 - 31st March 2026. The total aggregate contract value is estimated at PS722,703.00

### Procurement Information

This contract has been awarded under the urgent circumstances provision of the Provider Selection Regime (PSR). This contract has been awarded under 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 in this award. Rationale as to why this provider has been awarded: In line with the guidance for exemptions in urgent situations under the Public Contracts Regulations (PSR), the current provider has been awarded the contract due to the following reasons: *Continuity of Care: The current provider has established relationships with service users, ensuring seamless care and avoiding disruption that could arise from transitioning to a new provider. *Immediate Capacity and Expertise: The provider possesses the necessary infrastructure, workforce, and clinical expertise to continue delivering services without requiring additional mobilisation time. *Avoidance of Service Gap: Appointing a new provider would require a significant transition period, during which service users could experience delays or a temporary lack of access to critical mental health support. *Compliance with Urgent Procurement Regulations: this urgent award is justified as the ICB has identified extreme urgency that prevents the implementation of a competitive tender process to cover the service provision. The abandoned MSP procurement process has necessitated this approach to protect patient care, whilst a competitive procurement approach is being undertaken by the Authority to identify the most suitable and capable provider in order to award a single contract for these services. *Minimisation of Service Disruption: The incumbent provider is already embedded within the service infrastructure, ensuring minimal risk of disruption during the continuation of the contract. Proposed review date to conduct a full application of the PSR for that service: N/A as the Authority is undergoing pre-procurement planning for a competitive procurement process to determine the most technically capable provider to award these services.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024372-2025 |
| Notice type | Award 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 | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 21 May 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 31 Mar 2025 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £722,703 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NHS MID AND SOUTH ESSEX INTEGRATED CARE BOARD |
| Locality | BASILDON |
| Post town | Southend-on-Sea |
| Postcode | SS14 3HG |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLH East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLH3 Essex |
| ITL 3 | TLH37 Essex Thames Gateway |
| Local authority | Basildon |
| Electoral ward | Fryerns |
| Westminster constituency | Basildon and Billericay |
| Delivery location | TLH3 Essex |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | VITA HEALTH GROUP |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 85323000 - Community health services

## Release History

- 21 May 2025 at 17:59 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024372-2025

## Notice URLs

- https://www.midandsouthessex.ics.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-051c45. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-051c45.json.