NHS West Kent Primary Care Psychological Therapy (IAPT) Service

The commissioner for this service is NHS West Kent CCG. The Commissioner is supported in this project by NHS South East CSU (the CSU) and its procurement partner NHS Commercial Solutions (NHSCS), which is managing this procurement.

This is a repeat window of opportunity that allows additional service providers to join the existing Any Qualified Provider (AQP) list. The providers who are already on the existing AQP list do not need to re-apply. As a Qualified Provider there are no guaranteed levels of activity and payment is made based on actual provision of the service.

There is strong evidence that the effective delivery of appropriate, inclusive clinical services and pathways for people with common mental health problems (specifically depression and anxiety) can reduce an individual’s use of health services, contribute to their overall well-being and be of benefit to their economic productivity.

The purpose of this contract proposes the continuation of the current local stepped care model for the delivery of these services, based on the LIFT (Least Intervention First Treatment) model, originally launched under the IAPT (Improving Access to Psychological Therapies) programme in 2008; featuring the use of NICE recommended, primary care based, psychological (‘talking’) therapies to the adult population of West Kent for those with common mental health disorders; long term physical health conditions (LTCs), medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) and others with serious and enduring mental illnesses.(SMI).

Further details are provided in ‘Talking Therapies: a four year plan of action – http://www.iapt.nhs.uk/silo/files/talking-therapies-a-four-year-plan-of-action.pdf).

In securing services under the AQP process, the authority needs assurance of competence, quality and safety standards just as it would for services secured under a formal tender process. Any provider will be eligible to join the qualified provider list subject to demonstrating competency against specified criteria. Qualified providers will be expected to deliver the service under the NHS Standard Contract. As a qualified provider there are no levels of guaranteed activity. Payment is made based on actual provision.

The successful provider(s) will be required to sign the relevant national NHS contract for the service, accepting all terms and conditions. The service will be commissioned using Any Qualified Provider process.

Additional information: Details on how to apply are in the attached documents which you can download.