Award of Contract Peer coaching pilot in the mental health crisis pathway

This notice describes the direct award of a contract to Voiceability to provide a peer coaching pilot to support residents who have experienced a mental health crisis to move towards recovery in the community, and for officers to use the learning to develop a model that can be commissioned in the longer term.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the service was not fully operational until 7 September 2020, therefore commissioners are seeking to directly award a new contract for seven months from 1 September 2021 at a value of no more than £50,000. This will ensure the service continues to be delivered and allow officers enough time to fully test the approach, considering the challenges implementing the pilot in 2020/21. It would also continue with the strategy, as part of the original award, to align itself with the wider recommissioning plan for the Resilience Network, a collaborative of mental health voluntary and community sector providers. The new Resilience Network offer will launch on 1 April 2022.

Commissioners have NHS England Transformation funding available for 2021/22 to continue piloting this new approach to peer coaching in the mental health crisis pathway. Due to the short-term nature of the funding and the partnership approach required, a competitive process is neither practical nor desirable. Therefore, a waiver to Contract Standing Orders requirement for a quotation process is requested to directly award a further contract on the same general terms as the existing contract.