NHS England Health and Justice South East - Social Prescribing Project (Art Boxes) for Secure Settings

NHS England South East (NHSE SE) seeks bids from providers who have the experience, capability and capacity to develop and deliver a Social Prescribing Project, based on the concept of 'Art Boxes' to vulnerable members of populations in children's and adults secure settings in the South East.

Context In the Long-Term Plan (LTP) NHS England committed to increasing the availability of social prescribing resources and this commitment is being met by increasing access to equivalent resources in secure settings. This includes investing in appropriate opportunities to engage people in secure settings in creative activities; NHSE Health and Justice SE are committed to investing in the availability of appropriate creative activities that actively promote mental and emotional wellbeing, particularly amongst more vulnerable members of secure setting populations. It is anticipated that the resource will support greater access to appropriate clinical support for people experiencing difficulties during their period of remand or sentence in the criminal justice estate.

NHSE SE Health and Justice seek a provider who can demonstrate a significant level of flexibility in the delivery and completion of a social prescribing project alongside an awareness of the experience of people in secure settings. The provider will design and distribute a number of Art Boxes for individual use during the term of the agreement. The provider will also be expected to complete a number of user feedback sessions on site, in secure settings, to ensure the contents of the Art Boxes remain appropriate for different populations. Feedback will also be used to inform further development of Social Prescribing projects. The feedback sessions will also need to include consultation with relevant practitioners from Healthcare service providers on site. The provider will be required to ensure that any contents for the Art Boxes are compliant with HM Prison & Probation Services (HMPPS) and Youth Custody Service (YCS) security expectations and will be supported with this aspect by project commissioners.

The Boxes will need to be suitable for men and women in the adult secure estate in the South East, as well as children in two secure settings. NHSE SE anticipate that the provider will be required to develop specific versions of the resource for the different cohort, with an agreed unit price for each Box to form part of bid submissions by providers.

The provider will produce a final Summary Report for commissioners and partners at the end of the Project.

The contract will be for a duration of up to 2 years, to commence from point of award. This is the maximum contract duration based on an anticipated contract start date of 1st April 2023 and a contract end date in line with the deadline to submit the final Summary Report by 31st March 2025. The total budget available to deliver the project, including the Summary Report is £100,000.