Health and Justice Pathways

Tender description

Essex County Council (ECC) in partnership with NHS England, the 7 local Clinical Commissioning Groups and the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex are seeking bidders to deliver an expert integrated health service to improve health and justice pathways in Essex which incorporates: Liaison and Diversion Service - the service seeks to work with individuals who are in police custody and for whom the police suspect there may be underlying health issues (mostly Mental Health, Substance Misuse, Learning Disabilities and Autism). Individuals are screened and/or assessed and referred for ongoing support as appropriate. The Street Triage Service - this service works with individuals who have not been arrested but where the Police have been called out (by the public) due to concerns of erratic or other such behaviour. Individuals are screened and assessed and referred to more appropriate healthcare support if needed. This service currently largely responds to issues around mental ill health, but as part of the new procurement, this will be expanded to other vulnerabilities. Police Custody Healthcare - addresses the health needs of individuals in police custody and obtains forensic samples and assesses fitness to be detained under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. The service is aimed to support better outcomes, reduce duplication, improve community cohesion & social inclusion by reducing the re-offending rates, create safer communities and better health outcomes for vulnerable groups. The service is being procured as a single service to cover the whole of Essex, including Southend & Thurrock. Other contracting authorities in areas bordering Essex may wish to commission their services which are similar and/or complementary to the services included in the Integrated Health & Justice service contract where cross-border delivery of services would improve the service offering and delivery to the public. It is proposed that there is no maximum limit of bidders specified to be shortlisted at the Standard selection Questionnaire (SSQ) stage to be invited to tender. ECC will be holding a bidders information event on 11 September 2017 am, to express an interest in this event please request a place via the Bip Delta sourcing portal in the tender box for the opportunity, Access Code: VD663BXFY4.