Scope
Reference
C385777
Description
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust, acting as the Lead Contracting Authority on behalf of Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust and Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust, invites suitably qualified and experienced Suppliers to submit tenders for the provision of Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) Services.
The FTSU Services will provide staff across the participating Contracting Authorities with a confidential, impartial, and accessible mechanism for raising concerns relating to workplace issues. These may include (though are not limited to) matters of patient care and safety, bullying, harassment, discrimination, unfair treatment, and other concerns regarding conduct, safety, culture, or working practices. The services must be delivered by qualified, accredited, and experienced FTSU 'Guardians' registered on the National Guardian's Office Directory, who possess the expertise necessary to deliver impartial support and guidance to staff concerned about potential shortcomings in behaviour, service quality, or organisational culture.
The purpose of the Services is to support the Contracting Authorities in delivering their strategic organisational aims by:
• empowering staff to speak up safely and confidently through impartial support;
• strengthening leadership behaviours and approaches;
• Enhancing organisational responsiveness; and
• promoting innovation, learning, and continuous improvement through a transparent and responsive organisational culture.
This procurement is being conducted in accordance with the Open Procedure under the Procurement Act 2023, alongside the Contracting Authorities' respective Standing Financial Instructions.
The opportunity is divided into three Lots, as follows:
• Lot 1: Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
• Lot 2: Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
• Lot 3: Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
Suppliers may submit a Tender for one, two, or all three Lots. A single Contract will be awarded for each Lot, covering the full scope of Services as defined in the Specification. Suppliers may be awarded multiple Lots, subject to the outcome of the evaluation process.
Please note that the contract values included within this notice are estimates only, reflecting the potential scale of the contract and optional extension periods. These figures do not however take into account:
(i) the application of indexation; or
(ii) potential increases or decreases in the demand for services during the Contract term as detailed within the tender documents. The Contracting Authorities do not guarantee any volume or value under this contract or in association with this notice.
Total value (estimated)
- £1,430,000 excluding VAT
- £1,716,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Options
The right to additional purchases while the contract is valid.
During the Contract Term, the Supplier and the Contracting Authority may explore alternative service availability models based on a standard core hours (08:00 - 18:00, Monday to Friday) approach, as opposed to the current 24/7/365 continuous availability arrangement. Any agreed modifications to the delivery model will be subject to the Contract Change Control Process and will require a comprehensive review of related requirements, including key performance indicators, the impact of the changes on the service, and an assessment of commercial viability and value for money.
Main procurement category
Services
CPV classifications
- 79400000 - Business and management consultancy and related services
- 85312300 - Guidance and counselling services
- 85312310 - Guidance services
- 79633000 - Staff development services
- 79414000 - Human resources management consultancy services
Contract locations
- UKJ4 - Kent
Not the same for all lots
Contract dates are shown in Lot sections, because they are not the same for all lots.
Lot 1. Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
Description
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust invites tenders for the provision of Freedom to Speak Up services, providing its staff with a confidential, impartial, and accessible mechanism for raising concerns relating to workplace issues, behaviour, service quality, safety and/or organisational culture
The Contracting Authority is a large Mental Health NHS Trust, providing a full range of adult mental health and learning disability services to our local population of 1.8 million people across Kent and Medway, as well as specialist services for adults in Sussex and Surrey. Each year we care for over 2,000 people in our hospitals and 54,000 people in the community.
The Contracting Authority will award one Contract for the provision of all services detailed in the Specification.
Lot value (estimated)
- £463,000 excluding VAT
- £555,600 including VAT
Contract dates (estimated)
- 9 June 2026 to 30 June 2029
- Possible extension to 30 June 2031
- 5 years, 22 days
Description of possible extension:
The Term may be extended provided that the duration of this Contract shall be no longer than five (5) years and one (1) month in total from the Services Commencement Date.
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and options are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 2. Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
Description
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust invites tenders for the provision of Freedom to Speak Up services, providing its staff with a confidential, impartial, and accessible mechanism for raising concerns relating to workplace issues, behaviour, service quality, safety and/or organisational culture
The Contracting Authority is one of the largest NHS community health providers in England, serving a population of about 3.6million across Kent, East Sussex and parts of London. The trust has over 70 clinical services, and has achieved the highly coveted 'Outstanding' CQC rating. The Trust provides wide-ranging NHS care for people in the community, in a range of settings including people's own homes, nursing homes, health clinics, community hospitals, schools, urgent treatment centres and mobile units.
The Contracting Authority will award one Contract for the provision of all services detailed in the Specification.
Lot value (estimated)
- £500,000 excluding VAT
- £600,000 including VAT
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2029
- Possible extension to 30 June 2031
- 5 years
Description of possible extension:
The Term may be extended provided that the duration of this Contract shall be no longer than five (5) years in total from the Services Commencement Date.
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and options are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Lot 3. Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
Description
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust invites tenders for the provision of Freedom to Speak Up services, providing its staff with a confidential, impartial, and accessible mechanism for raising concerns relating to workplace issues, behaviour, service quality, safety and/or organisational culture
The Contracting Authority is one of the largest hospital trusts in North Kent, with services at four sites serving a local population of over 500,000 people. The Trust's vision is to be an outstanding hospital Trust providing the best possible care for patients that is safe, well-coordinated, in the right place and designed around the patient's needs.
The Contracting Authority will award one Contract for the provision of all services detailed in the Specification.
Lot value (estimated)
- £467,000 excluding VAT
- £560,400 including VAT
Contract dates (estimated)
- 5 August 2026 to 30 June 2029
- Possible extension to 30 June 2031
- 4 years, 10 months, 27 days
Description of possible extension:
The Term may be extended provided that the duration of this Contract shall be no longer than four (4) years and eleven (11) months in total from the Services Commencement Date.
Same for all lots
CPV classifications, contract locations and options are shown in the Scope section, because they are the same for all lots.
Participation
Particular suitability
Lot 1. Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
Lot 2. Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
Lot 3. Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
- Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME)
- Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSE)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
13 March 2026, 12:00pm
Tender submission deadline
13 March 2026, 12:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
The Contracting Authorities are utilising an electronic Tendering system ("E-Tendering Portal") to manage this procurement and communicate with Tenderers. Accordingly, there will be no hard copy documents issued to Tenderers and all communications with the Contracting Authorities, including the submission of Tender responses will be conducted solely via the following link: https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome
A user guide can be found at the following link: https://services.atamis.co.uk/docs/Supplier_User_Guide.pdf
For any technical queries, please contact support-health@atamis.co.uk or via telephone on 0800 995 6035 (08:00-18:00 Monday-Friday excluding public holidays).
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
9 April 2026
Recurring procurement
Publication date of next tender notice (estimated): 3 January 2031
Award criteria
| Name | Type | Weighting |
|---|---|---|
| Technical Quality | Quality | 50.00% |
| Price | Price | 40.00% |
| Net Zero and Social Value | Quality | 10.00% |
Other information
Description of risks to contract performance
Contract Performance:
The Contracting Authorities have identified the following risks as risks that satisfy the criteria of Schedule 8 sub-paragraph (6)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 i.e. that the risk/s could jeopardise the satisfactory performance of the contract but, because of its/their nature, cannot be addressed in the contract as awarded:
(i) Increased demand for the services during the Contract term due to changes to the organisational structure, or services offered by, any of the Contracting Authorities.
(ii) Any national or NHS policy or regulatory amendments concerning Freedom to Speak Up and related services that necessitate adjustments to the Contract requirements to ensure compliance.
The Contracting Authorities has concluded that there is a possibility that the contract may have to be modified as a result of a materialisation of the known risk at a later date in accordance with Schedule 8 paragraph 5 of the Procurement Act 2023
Exclusions:
If at any time during the procurement, or post award, it comes to the attention of the Contracting Authorities, by whatever means, that a Supplier has become 'excluded' or 'excludable' as per Sec 57 of the PA2023, the Contracting Authorities, after compliance with its obligations under the PA 23, reserves the right to exclude said Supplier from the procurement procedure or terminate any contract they have been awarded.
Reservations of rights and disclaimers of liability:
The Contracting Authorities expressly reserves the right:
(i). not to award any contract as a result of the procurement process commenced by publication of this notice;
(ii). to make whatever changes it may see fit to the content and structure of the tendering Competition; and
(iii). in no circumstances will the Contracting Authorities be liable for any costs incurred by candidates
Applicable trade agreements
- Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Open procedure
Contracting authorities
Kent and Medway Mental Health NHS Trust
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PNZR-1968-PDPD
Priority House, Hermitage Lane
Maidstone
ME16 9PH
United Kingdom
Email: kmmh.procurement@nhs.net
Region: UKJ45 - Mid Kent
Organisation type: Public authority - central government
Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PWRB-2618-VVJG
Darent Valley Hospital Darenth Wood Road
Dartford
DA2 8DA
United Kingdom
Email: dgt.procurementhelpdesk@nhs.net
Website: https://www.dvh.nhs.uk
Region: UKJ43 - Kent Thames Gateway
Organisation type: Public authority - central government
Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust
- Public Procurement Organisation Number: PHVC-1716-LBDJ
Trinity House, 110 - 120 Upper Pemberton,
Ashford
TN25 4AZ
United Kingdom
Email: kchft.procurement@nhs.net
Website: https://www.kentcht.nhs.uk
Region: UKJ45 - Mid Kent
Organisation type: Public authority - central government