AWARD NOTICE: Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - Request for Quotation for East Berkshire Psychological Medicine Service Safety Planning Outreach Work

Tender description

Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (the Commissioner) sought to commission Psychological Medicine Service Safety Planning Outreach Work for East Berkshire. A number of studies have highlighted the importance of maintaining a connection with a person who has self-harmed as a protective factor against repeated suicide attempt. Individuals who are admitted to the emergency department or attend their GP with suicidal ideation or deliberate self-harm are at high risk of attempting or re-attempting suicide after discharge. As described in the National Suicide Prevention Strategy and National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health, continuity of care and smooth transitions can minimise this risk. The Psychological Medicine Service Safety Planning Outreach Work is a pilot project and part of the Wave 4 Suicide prevention work. It is for those adults who have been assessed by the East Berkshire Psychological Medicine Service as safe to be discharged back to primary care following an episode at A&E for self-harm or suicidal thoughts and deemed safe to work on their safety plan with the Primary Care Safety Planning Outreach worker(s). The aim of the service is to offer a follow up to support with developing a safety plan and making a connection with relevant community support services for the individuals referred. Safety plan interventions will focus on support options in the individuals' own community drawing from Third Sector services, Local Authority provision and Primary Health Care services. The Safety Planning Outreach will be a face to face follow up whenever possible. Online and telephone contact can be used where required and this will also depend on the persons preference and any pertinent risks identified in any face-to-face interventions. The Safety Planning Outreach Worker(s) will in collaboration with other community resources: • Promote connection and reduce isolation • Improve coping skills • Signpost to other services and sources of support • Provide educational strategies to help with difficulties that triggered self-harm Crucial to the role of is an awareness of local Third-Sector services, grass root services and other primary care services. The intervention can be delivered by a skilled individual who has experience of working with people with mental health issues or lived experience. The worker(s) do not need to be registered mental health workers. The service will not provide psychological therapy or crisis support and it is not an emergency service. It is an additional rather than alternative service for support and encourages people to engage with a safety plan. As such, as long as a individual is not already receiving support from secondary mental health services (an exclusion criteria based on the higher support needs of secondary mental health service users); there is no contraindication to existing plans.