Colchester and Clacton Crisis Cafe Service

This is a Contract Award Notice to communicate a contract award by NHS North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (the "CCG").

The contract award is made to Mid and North East Essex Mind (MNE Mind) for the provision of a Crisis Cafe service in Colchester and Clacton, from 1st April 2021 to 31st March 2024.

The contract value pertaining to the three year term is £1,134,000.

MNE Mind in partnership with Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT) and The Haven, provide the existing crisis alternative in the form of the Clacton Crisis Cafe provision which commenced in 2019.

A similar crisis cafe service provision in Colchester via MNE Mind was commissioned by Essex County Council and is due to conclude in March 2021.

A proposal was submitted to NHS England and NHS Improvement which outlines that the two cafes will come under the one model with MNE Mind, building on the existing set up and outcomes and with a focus on continuity and continued integration with crisis pathways across wider Alliance stakeholders. EPUT will continue the clinical support provision, with The Haven expanding resilience groups.

During the previous 18 months, and in the midst of a pandemic a great deal of stakeholder engagement and communication has been initiated through the system Crisis Cafe Steering Group to embed the pathway, contact points and understanding of the criteria for use. During this time relationships have been strengthened across the partnership with shared patient reporting systems, trusted assessor approach derived and trust built via professional referring agencies such as the Police or EEast that this is a safe and appropriate place for people struggling with mental health problems. This has been supported by the local Mind agencies across Essex providing similar crisis alternatives.

The Services in scope of this Contract Award Notice fall within 'social and other specific services' within the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (as amended by The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020).

A voluntary ex ante transparency notice relating to this matter was published on 12 March 2021.