Service to support the mental health and wellbeing of fathers/partners/co parents with lived experience of loss/birth trauma

NHS Lancashire & South Cumbria - area of Fylde Coast - Service to support the mental health and wellbeing of fathers/partners/co parents with lived experience of loss/birth trauma

NHS Midlands and Lancashire Commissioning Support Unit (CSU) are working on behalf of NHS Lancashire & South Cumbria who wish to award a contract for a service to support the mental health and wellbeing of fathers/partners/co parents with lived experience of loss/birth trauma.

The delivery of service will be as follows:

Scoping:

• Linking in with key partner organisations to gain insight into what provisions & resources are already available to fathers
• Record and analyse findings to share with the Lancashire and South Cumbria Reproductive Trauma Service Steering Group
• Create/link-into existing databases to share what is currently available locally for fathers/partners and co-parents to access i.e. peer support, groups and one to ones

Consultation:

• Obtain insights of fathers/partners & co-parents with lived experiences of loss/birth trauma and what services would support their mental health & well-being

Gap Analysis:

• Identify and understand the gaps in provision across our communities for fathers/partners/co-parents

Co-production and service design:

• Work with partner organisations to establish provision for dads/partners and co-parents.
• Support the design of an 'assessment document' which explores fathers/partners and co-parents mental health and wellbeing.
• Support the design and development of community led resources & services based on the results from phase 1

Service delivery:

• Collaborate with key partners to develop new groups - supporting them to increase their knowledge of what fathers/partners and co-parents want to see - providing feedback to support funding applications where appropriate.
• Establish social media platform for fathers/partners/co-parents accessing the service to connect - share worries, ask questions and seek support
• Develop digital & in-person support groups containing bespoke content for fathers / partners & co-workers who have experienced loss / birth trauma.
• Support an event for sharing findings, development, and potential sustainability ideas.

Sustainability:

• Explore opportunities for longer term sustainability delivery across Lancashire and South Cumbria which continue to meet the needs of the service
• Support the Peer Support Co-ordinators to recruit volunteers into the service

Additional information: This Contract Award Notice is published under the Public Contract Regulations 2015. It is for clinical services which are Light Touch Regime services for the purpose of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as specified in Schedule 3 of the Regulations ('Regulations'). Accordingly, the contracting authority is only bound by those parts of the Regulations detailed in Chapter 3 Particular Procurement Regimes Section 7. The contracting authority is not voluntarily following any other part of the Regulations.

It was agreed at ICS level that this pilot project could be funded for two years non-recurrently via MMHS underspend after it was identified through the University of Central Lancashire evaluation that support for fathers who have experienced loss/birth trauma was often overlooked. Options for the dads work were discussed at the MMHS steering group and it was agreed that it was important to work with an organisation that had established expertise and access to local 'dads' networks across L&SC. Benefits include:

1. Meeting the ambition set out in the LTP to assess and support dads to access appropriate support within the perinatal period
2. Sustainability and longevity to develop a service which works alongside the MMHS utilising the already established expertise of Dadsnet
3. Ensure the services we deliver through Peer Support are meaningful, relevant and engaging
4. Create a bespoke assessment for dads which we can evidence through the involvement of the University of Central Lancashire
5. Meet the needs of fathers who require MH support due to loss/trauma or have a fear of their partner giving birth
6. Support the 'birth reflections' pathway which is currently being developed