Independent Mental Health Advocacy Service and Mental Health Advocacy Service (IMHA)

The joint commissioning partners Dorset County Council, Borough of Poole, Bournemouth Borough Council, Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group and Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust (DHUFT) want to ensure that Mental Health Advocacy is available to people who access mental health services and that Independent Mental Health Advocacy (IMHA) is available to qualifying groups. The Mental Health Advocacy Service and the IMHA services are jointly commissioned by the commissioning partners. The lead commissioner is Dorset County Council and the other partners are associate commissioners. The Commissioning partners are commissioning the IMHA services to ensure that all qualifying patients covered by this service specification will have access to statutory advocacy support. The IMHA service provider's contractual relationship will be with Dorset County Council and all the commissioning partners will be responsible for monitoring and reviewing the service via quarterly contract monitoring meetings and for negotiating the operation of the service. The commissioned service will consist of Independent Mental Health Advocates and general Mental Health Advocates but the main focus of the service will be patients detained under provisions of the Mental Health Act 1983. The General Mental Health advocacy will support the IMHA service when a patient is not eligible for IMHA or where the IMHA work is complete but the patient still has some other advocacy requirement. Th e contract is to commence on 01 October 2015 and expire on 30 September 2018 (three years). There is an option to extend for a further period of up to two years. Any extension will be dependent upon the continued availability of funding and performance of the Provider during the contract period.