The Kent County Council. Procurement for the provision of Kent and Medway prison based Substance Misuse Service

The Kent County Council are seeking a suitably qualified service provider to manage an integrated prison based substance misuse service for 7 prisons in the Kent and Medway area.

The contract will commence on 2nd October 2017 and has an annual value of £ 4,650,000 million per annum. The contract will be for duration of 3 years with the possibility of a 2 year extension option at the discretion of the Commissioner.

This service will provide specialist support for all those assessed as requiring interventions to address drug or alcohol misuse within the 7 prisons. It is commissioned as part of the overall Offender Health pathway within the prison and as such the model will ensure an integrated, recovery orientated treatment system both within the prison and referral into the community or another custodial setting. The service will focus on delivering a seamless, integrated structured clinical and psychosocial substance misuse interventions/services in prison and through the gate into the community to ensure effective continuity of care. Close joint working with other services is imperative to the success of the delivery in this service.

The substance misuse service is to be made available to drug and/or alcohol misusers including poly-drug misusers and include dual diagnosis clients. The successful provider must meet the unique needs of the establishments and take into account the needs of the population within that establishment, including short term prisoners, remand prisoners and young adults.

Site visits will be made available to prospective bidders, details contained within the invitation to tender documents.

The Commissioner will be contracting for the Services using The Kent County Council model terms and conditions of contract for services.

Bidders must be aware that, although this procurement is undertaken in good faith, potential government policy changes could enact changes to prison healthcare provision. Bidders/providers must be prepared to work with commissioners to implement any nationally mandated directives, whether during the procurement or the ensuing contract.

The Services are healthcare services within the meaning and scope of Annex XIV of Directive 2014/24/EU ("the Directive") and Schedule 3 to the Public Contract Regulations 2015 ("the Regulations"), which are not subject to the full regime of the Regulations, but is instead governed by the "Light Touch Regime", (Articles 74 to 76 of the Directive, and Regulations 74 to 76 of the Regulations).

The procurement documents are available for unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/scwcsu/aspx/Home