Planning

Patient Advocacy Services

  • Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, trading as North of England NHS Commercial Procurement Collaborative ("NOE CPC")

F01: Prior information notice (prior information only)

Notice identifier: 2024/S 000-006859

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-044534

Published 4 March 2024, 2:32pm



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, trading as North of England NHS Commercial Procurement Collaborative ("NOE CPC")

Don Valley House, Savile Street East

Sheffield

S4 7UQ

Contact

Kimberley Kay

Email

procurement@noecpc.nhs.uk

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UK - United Kingdom

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://www.noecpc.nhs.uk

Buyer's address

https://www.noecpc.nhs.uk

one.2) Information about joint procurement

The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body

one.3) Communication

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address

Electronic communication requires the use of tools and devices that are not generally available. Unrestricted and full direct access to these tools and devices is possible, free of charge, at

https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Body governed by public law

one.5) Main activity

Health


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Patient Advocacy Services

Reference number

C251453

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 85000000 - Health and social work services

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

NOE CPC are seeking engagement with providers of Advocacy Services to the NHS with a view to help inform the outputs of a future procurement of a framework agreement for these and other aligned services.

Everyone has a legal right to advocacy and public authorities are responsible for arranging independent advocacy services to assist people making or intending to make complaints, effectively supporting individuals during assessments, care planning, safeguarding and reviews and collaborating with families, friends, carers, commissioners and providers.

Our intention at present is to award a multi-lotted framework agreement.

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: Yes

two.2) Description

two.2.1) Title

Lot 1: Independent advocates for patients using social care services

Lot No

1

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 85000000 - Health and social work services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

• Independent advocates for patients using social care services (as per the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support statutory guidance)

two.2) Description

two.2.1) Title

Lot 2: Independent mental capacity advocates

Lot No

2

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 85000000 - Health and social work services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

• Independent mental capacity advocates (as per the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its Code of Practice)

two.2) Description

two.2.1) Title

Lot 3: Independent mental health advocates

Lot No

3

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 85000000 - Health and social work services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

• Independent mental health advocates (as per the Mental Health Act 1983 and its Code of Practice)

two.2) Description

two.2.1) Title

Lot 4: Advocacy for Adult Secure Services

Lot No

4

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 85000000 - Health and social work services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

• Advocacy for Adult Secure Services
Secure services provide treatment for adults aged 18-years and over with mental disorders, these include mental illness (MI), personality disorder (PD) and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) including learning disabilities (LD) and autism. There are three levels of secure services with specific criteria for each, High, Medium and Low.

two.2) Description

two.2.1) Title

Lot 5: Advocacy for Children and Young People

Lot No

5

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 85000000 - Health and social work services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

• Advocacy for Children and Young People
While it is anticipated that this procedure is for children and young people making or intending to make a complaint, it covers representations which are not complaints. For example, children and young people should be able to secure the support of an advocate in putting forward
representations for a change to be made in the service they receive, or the establishment
they live in, without this having to be framed first as a specific complaint.

two.2) Description

two.2.1) Title

Lot 6: Advocacy for Women’s Health

Lot No

6

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 85000000 - Health and social work services

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

• Advocacy for Women’s’ Health
Although women in the UK on average live longer than men, women spend a significantly
greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability when compared with men.
Not enough focus is placed on women-specific issues like miscarriage or menopause,
and women are under-represented when it comes to important clinical trials. There are also far too many cases where women’s voices have not been listened to; the responses to the Women’s Health Strategy for England from the Department of Health & Social Care found 84% of respondents felt that this was the case.

two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice

1 August 2024


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No


Section six. Complementary information

six.3) Additional information

NOE CPC are seeking engagement with providers of Advocacy Services to the NHS with a view to help inform the outputs of a future procurement of a framework agreement for these and other aligned services.

Everyone has a legal right to advocacy and public authorities are responsible for arranging independent advocacy services to assist people making or intending to make complaints, effectively supporting individuals during assessments, care planning, safeguarding and reviews and collaborating with families, friends, carers, commissioners and providers.

Our intention at present is to award a multi-lotted framework agreement, for the services detailed below:

• Independent advocates for patients using social care services (as per the Care Act 2014 and the Care and Support statutory guidance)

• Independent mental capacity advocates (as per the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and its Code of Practice)

• Independent mental health advocates (as per the Mental Health Act 1983 and its Code of Practice)

• Advocacy for Adult Secure Services
Secure services provide treatment for adults aged 18-years and over with mental disorders, these include mental illness (MI), personality disorder (PD) and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) including learning disabilities (LD) and autism. There are three levels of secure services with specific criteria for each, High, Medium and Low.

• Advocacy for Children and Young People
While it is anticipated that this procedure is for children and young people making or intending to make a complaint, it covers representations which are not complaints. For example, children and young people should be able to secure the support of an advocate in putting forward
representations for a change to be made in the service they receive, or the establishment they live in, without this having to be framed first as a specific complaint.

• Advocacy for Women’s’ Health
Although women in the UK on average live longer than men, women spend a significantly greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability when compared with men.

Not enough focus is placed on women-specific issues like miscarriage or menopause, and women are under-represented when it comes to important clinical trials.

There are also far too many cases where women’s voices have not been listened to; the responses to the Women’s Health Strategy for England from the Department of Health & Social Care found 84% of respondents felt that this was the case.

We are in the very early stages of consideration of this agreement, and would welcome feedback from the providers of these services as to the merits of this approach, including any perceived barriers to engagement with such a process, whether the services included are sufficiently extensive/comprehensive or whether there are any other elements we should be looking to include.

All information received at this stage will of course be handled confidentially, with a view to informing our next steps and the ultimate outputs from this agreement. Further engagement may take place following the responses to this PIN, prior to the commencement of a competitive process.

Interested providers are asked to register on the portal and express their interest via project C251453 Patient Advocacy Services and entering any feedback via the response envelope within the project.

The Atamis portal can be accessed at:
https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome

It is free to register on the portal. Should you have any queries, or encounter any problems with the portal; these should be raised via the Atamis helpdesk at:

Support-health@Atamis.co.uk or phone number 0800 9956035
The helpdesk is open Monday – Friday between 9am – 5.30pm

Expressions of Interest must be submitted by 12 noon on Friday 5 April 2024.