Health services

Tender description

The 3 North Essex CCGs have experienced unprecedented levels of patients requiring to be placed in beds out of the area during the latter part of 2015/16. This increase in demand has emerged due to changes in clinical quality measures implemented by the current incumbent provider following a recent CQC inspection. Examples of recent changes include the cessation of utilising side rooms, moving to single sex wards and closing 12 beds in order to eliminate shared rooms. There is a national shortage of adult mental health acute beds, both within the public and private sector. This has meant that patients are regularly being placed out of area and often far from their homes and their support networks. South Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (SEPT) is the only local NHS provider that has confirmed that they have the ability to open a ward in order to aid the pressures on beds and that allows patients to remain within the Essex area, which can potentially have a substantial impact on patients' rehabilitation into a community setting as soon as possible. The proposed short term contract will be awarded until 31.3.2017 and is for the provision of 10 additional mental health beds on a block basis with scope to commission up to a further 10 beds' additional resource on a non-contract activity basis. The contract will also offer the opportunity to establish a strong working relationship between the incumbent provider and SEPT ahead of the proposed merger of these providers.