Improving GPs' Access to Mental Health Support -NHS GP Health Service

Tender description

NHS Arden and Greater East Midlands CSU (NHS AGCSU) on behalf of NHS England (referred to as the Commissioners) is inviting suitably qualified and experienced providers to deliver NHS GP Health Service. NHS England is commissioning the NHS GP Health service to support Practitioners working in general practice who may be suffering from mental ill-health including stress and burnout and supporting those wishing to return to clinical practice after a period of ill health. It is part of a wider package of support for general practice set out in the General Practice Forward View[1] published April 2016. It is part of the Workforce 2020 plan[2] which has been jointly established with Health Education England (HEE), the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the British Medical Association’s (BMA) General Practitioners Committee (GPC) has three key strands: •improving recruitment into general practice; •retaining doctors within general practice; and •supporting those who wish to return to general practice. OBJECTIVES OF THE PROCUREMENT The NHS GP Health service (GPH) should be a nationally consistent offer across England, delivering to consistent national standards but allowing local flexibility to best support local population needs. The GPH service delivery model has been designed with 4 main principles / strategic objectives in mind: • To retain a healthy workforce and support return to clinical practice after a period of sickness • To reduce the perception of stigma amongst GPs who may be helped presently, or in the future, through accessing mental health services • Maintain a visible nationally consistent offer across England • To promote easy and timely access the service, ensuring Service User confidence and confidentiality The Provider must deliver the service to support all these objectives and all aspects of this service specification. The Provider will work with the Commissioner and its key partners to continue to develop the GPH Service throughout the duration of the contract. The Provider is expected to work flexibly with the Commissioner where it is deemed appropriate to make changes to the service specification. Anticipated timeline milestones are: 1.Contract award – Early October 2016 2.Service commencement date – 1st January 2017 Contract duration – 2.5 years with the Commissioner having the option to extend the contract for up to a further 2 years. Estimated Contract value excluding VAT is a range of - 2,000,000-4,000,000 GBP per annum, with an estimated total contract value excluding VAT for the contract duration of 4.5 years of a range between £9,000000-19,500,000 GBP. TUPE does not apply. For details of how to obtain documentation for this ITT and how to apply please see section 5 Additional information below of this Notice.