Health and social work services

Tender description

The Council is seeking to provide a high quality care and support service for vulnerable men and women, aged 18+, who have complex needs, including homelessness, substance misuse, offending backgrounds and mental and physical health problems. This group also includes those leaving mental health hospital-based care. The service will be provided within an established, Council owned property consisting of 29 one-bedroom flats in South Edinburgh and will focus on rehabilitation and recovery, where possible, with regular reviews to assess Service users’ capacity to live in more independent accommodation. The care and support offered should be flexible to meet the individual needs of Service Users and should enable them to lead fulfilling lives in the community, maximising life opportunities and independence, as well as enabling them to reduce the harms of their challenging lifestyles. 1) Introduction: The Council is seeking to provide a high quality care and support service for vulnerable men and women, aged 18+, who have complex needs, including homelessness, substance misuse, offending backgrounds and mental and physical health problems. This group also includes those leaving mental health hospital-based care. 2) Target Group: The Service users will be people who: — are leaving mental health hospital-based care and who require community-based alternatives, — may have had a poor/abusive/fragmented relationship with family and may have been looked after by the council, — have a history of being unable to effectively engage with a variety of people including professionals and people in their informal networks, — demonstrate difficulty in managing their emotional intelligence to an extent that affects co-operation with caring agencies, — have repeated engagement with services in a fragmented way that fails to effectively manage significant risk, — frequently fail to attend appointments or are not at home to receive to support, — do not follow care or support plans, — are viewed by services as disengaging from support, — engage more effectively with a worker in a service who concentrates on building a relationship — ‘skilled stickability’ — as opposed to focusing on tasks. 3) Service Description The service will be provided within an established, Council owned property consisting of 29 one-bedroom flats in South Edinburgh and will focus on rehabilitation and recovery, where possible, with regular reviews to assess Service Users’ capacity to live in more independent accommodation. The care and support offered should be flexible to meet the individual needs of Service Users and should enable them to lead fulfilling lives in the community, maximising life opportunities and independence, as well as enabling them to reduce the harms of their challenging lifestyles. 4) Objectives of Service 4.1) Aligned with Inclusive Edinburgh’s ‘Getting it Right for Everyone’ ethos, the following should be delivered in ways which clearly support the Service User to be: — Nurtured: have a safe, secure and comfortable place to live where people look out for them, — Active: have opportunities to take part in activities, such as sport and recreational activity, which contribute to health and well-being, — Respected: have the opportunity to be heard and involved in decisions that affect them, — Responsible: have opportunities and be supported to take an active and responsible role in their own lives, and in their communities. Being enabled to make decisions about things that affect them. Being enabled to promote the well-being of those who rely on them, — Included: have help to overcome social, educational, physical and economic inequalities and being accepted as part of the communities in which they live, work and learn, — Safe: protected from abuse, neglect or harm at home, at work, or in their community. Protected from causing harm to others or themselves, — Healthy: have the highest attainable standards of physical and mental health. Have access to suitable health and dental care. Supported to have or make healthy and safe choices. Being enabled to make healthy diet choices, — Achieving: Have opportunities and support to continue to learn and develop skills throughout life. Being confident about themselves and having positive self-esteem. 4.2) The Provider will deliver these facilities and interventions in ways which are likely to generate a positive impact for Service Users related to: — returning to the community from long-term mental health hospital-based care, — skills to support themselves in everyday living tasks, — their confidence and morale, — mobility, — supporting individuals’ recovery, — improved health and appropriate management of symptoms, — feeling settled within the unit.