Tower Hamlets Young People’s Mental Health Service: Partnership Delivery Model

The CCG is interested in commissioning a young people’s mental health service which delivers interventions, rather than training or consultation/ liaison to other organisations.

In terms of complexity and severity, the service is envisaged as between universal and specialist services.

The young people’s service is intended to ‘meet young people where they are’. This means not only in locations across the borough where they may engage with services outside school or study, but also on engagement on their own terms - for example when they'd find it hard to recognise when something they were experiencing was affecting their mental health. In many cases, young people may be concerned about work, study, family, relationships, substance use, money and physical health – and their concerns about mental health may be tied up with these.

Based on discussion with local organisations, a partnership delivery model is supported in Tower Hamlets. This means the provider and strategic partner would deliver: • Joint wellbeing activities with existing young people’s and community organisations across Tower Hamlets, aimed at improving access, increasing awareness, promoting self-care, and promoting positive mental health. This may be mental health engagement activities, or co-working alongside youth workers. A link with a digital provider is seen as important here, as will cultural competence. • A programme of activities which can serve the borough as a whole, providing short-term wellbeing activities, or group work and individual counselling. Examples of successful young people’s mental health interventions elsewhere have included art therapy, drama therapy, and groups for self-harm, loss/separation/bereavement, LGTB(Q), young carers, family work, and skills development. Evidence suggests that peer support and mentoring projects are effective interventions. • Joint initiatives with specialist CAMHS services, for young for people with more vulnerable or complex needs, such as looked after children or those in contact with the criminal justice system. Examples may include co-facilitated groups, or assistance for a young person to engage with a specialist pathway. • Agreements to work jointly as part of other organisations’ programmes, and to organise activities in other organisations’ premises across the borough. (It is envisaged that the strategic partner would also have their own local base.)

Local context: Tower Hamlets has a range of local independent organisations for young people. The strategic provider would also work in partnership with statutory services.

The CCG would be interested to hear from providers interested in providing a young people’s mental health services. The CCG has drawn up a document which gives more details of its intentions and specific information requested from interested parties. PLEASE NOTE ALL EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST SHOULD RESPOND TO THE KEY REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT.

Additional information: NHS Tower Hamlets is keen to test the potential provider market for a strategic partner for targeted young people’s mental health service, to develop a partnership delivery model for young people from mid-teenage years to early twenties.

Potential providers with relevant technical capability and experience to deliver this service are requested to express an interest if they would be interested in bidding for this service should the CCG decide to carry out a competitive tender exercise and publish a Contract Notice for this requirement. The potential budget for this contract is £220k to £280k per annum.

You can express an interest in this market testing exercise by sending an e-mail to [email protected] and answering the questions in the attachment. The deadline for submitting a response for this market testing exercise is 12 noon on 19th November.

Please note that this is a market testing exercise to inform the CCGs’ decision making process. This does not commit the CCG to a carry out a procurement process.

Bidders expressing an interest in this market testing will have to express an interest should the CCG decide to procure this service and publish a Contract Notice (advert) for this requirement. PLEASE NOTE ALL EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST SHOULD RESPOND TO THE KEY REQUIREMENTS DOCUMENT.