Smokefree County Durham

Durham County Council are seeking a provider to deliver a specialist stop smoking support service for people who live / work in County Durham, which comprises of evidence-based interventions including behavioural support and access to pharmacotherapy to support quit attempts. The service is to offer support that includes dedicated Stop Smoking Advisors (Level 3 provision) - responsible for direct support to key target groups. The Provider will be responsible for a coordinated approach to delivery of stop smoking support including but not limited to: •Promotion of services through the coordination and management of effective marketing and communications strategies. •Development and maintenance of local referral pathways and networks across a range of services including primary and secondary care within the NHS. •Direct provision of specialist stop-smoking support for targeted groups and people with complex needs. •Management, payment and coordination of universal stop smoking support provision (Level 2). •Provision of the recruitment, training, support and resource for the Vape + and NRT + offer (Level 1.5). •Sub-contract of the Smokefree App, or equivalent in consultation with commissioners, to ensure that there is a coordinated regional approach to app-based support to compliment behavioural support for those in service, but also to provide self-support for those who are not ready or do not feel that traditional stop smoking service support is for them. •Training of stop smoking support providers. •Building capacity of the wider health and social care workforce (Primary Care Networks, acute trust, mental health trust), and voluntary and community sector in very brief advice. •Contribution to place-based and settings work facilitated by Public Health. •Development of and access to self-help support, including, but not limited to the Smokefree App. •Coordination and management of data collection for the quarterly submissions to the Department of Health and Social Care. •Management of referrals and allocation to the correct advisor. •Membership of the Tobacco Control Alliance. •Supply a case management system from Year 2 of the contract. This Invitation to Bid (ITB) is issued under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 (Competitive Process) and is including a preferred supplier negotiation stage with the first ranked bidder. The highest scoring Supplier for will be invited to engage in further discussions with the Council as part of a preferred supplier stage. This stage will be used to finalise the agreed service delivery. It is expected that the following matters will be discussed as part of this stage, noting that the Council reserves the right to amend this list as required: • Service delivery • Staffing • Pricing including Management Overheads • County Durham Approach to Wellbeing • Case Management System • Smoke Free App • Invoicing frequency • IT Policies and Practices Please note, for the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to this opportunity.