Health and social work services

Tender description

NHS Salford CCG is seeking expressions of interest from appropriately qualified providers for the provision of maternity services from a free-standing midwife-led unit (FMU) in Salford. The service will deliver midwife-led services in line with the service specification and as part of our Maternity Pioneer status. New approaches to service delivery and collaborations between provider organisations will be particularly welcomed. The service will have a public health ethos and contribute to NHS Salford CCG's overarching strategic objective to ensure that all children have the best start in life and continue to develop well during their early years. Following the publication of the National Maternity Review in February 2016, NHS Salford CCG along with NHS Bolton CCG and NHS Wigan CCG were identified as one of seven national maternity pioneers. Salford currently has an FMU based at Salford Royal Hospital but this will not be the location of the new service. The Salford FMU plays an important role in the plans for the Pioneer in potentially widening the choice offer for women across the three CCGs. It is currently the only FMU planned in Greater Manchester which provides scope to further extend the choice offer. It also provides the opportunity for the provider(s) to be at the forefront of innovative ways of working that will inform and change the future shape of maternity provision including new ways of payment / incentive to encourage the choice of a midwife- led birth. The plans also include the FMU becoming a community resource featuring ante and post-natal groups and a range of other services that are synonymous with midwife-led care and the promotion of normalisation of birth. Of particular focus is how the service will be able to support our most vulnerable families and implement the early year's new delivery model.