NHS England Health and Justice South West - Women's Health and Wellbeing Hub in HMP Eastwood Park.

This notice is placed as a Prior Information Notice (PIN) to seek expressions of interest from organisations who may wish to deliver services for a new Women's Health and Wellbeing Hub in HMP Eastwood Park on behalf of NHS England Health and Justice South West (the commissioner).

Women in prison have disproportionately higher levels of health and social care needs than their male counterparts in prison and women in the general population. They often experience barriers to consistently accessing the health and social care services they need in a timely manner. Funding has been allocated to enable NHS England Health and Justice Commissioners to establish Women's Health and Wellbeing Hubs within prisons across England.

Women's Health and Wellbeing Hubs (referred to as "hubs" for the purposes of this notice) are designed to work at the interface between primary and secondary care. They provide services that may be more specialised than what is typically available in primary care settings, for health issues which do not necessarily need a referral to secondary care. Hubs are not a replacement for primary care, secondary care, or specialist services. They should not duplicate existing services and should be tailored to meet local population needs.

The overall purpose of the hub will be to facilitate access to a wide range of services, including preventative healthcare and early intervention, with the goal of improving health outcomes and reducing inequalities. The structure, environment and delivery of services will be underpinned by a trauma-informed approach. There will be an emphasis on improving on-site service provision, in recognition of the emotional impact and stress associated with attending appointments off-site under escort, as well as the additional demand off-site appointments place on staffing capacity.

HMP Eastwood Park's hub will be expected to serve two main functions. The first is to provide access to a range of core healthcare services as specified in the national commissioning guidance (required services listed below). The second is to provide a single point of contact to facilitate multiple, integrated and opportunistic service delivery. The hub should provide signposting/clear referral pathways, and deliver health education and health promotion activities to ensure women are empowered to maintain their health and wellbeing. Wellbeing advice and support, for example advice on sleep hygiene, mindfulness, stress management and nutrition, should be provided alongside delivery of clinical interventions.

Interested providers are invited to complete a short questionnaire as part of an information gathering exercise by the commissioner to guide their strategic direction, informed by national commissioning guidance.

It is anticipated that a contract will commence in late spring / summer 2025 and expire on 30th September 2029. The estimated contract value is £150,000 per annum.

Additional information: This notice is an information gathering exercise rather than a call for competition in its own right, and therefore publication or response does not commit the Authority or respondents to a future procurement, nor provide any process exemptions or preferential treatment to any parties expressing an interest. The Authority is looking to establish what interest there might be in providing such a service from suitably qualified, capable and competent organisations.

The Authority will not be liable for costs incurred by any interested party in participating in this exercise. Interested parties should note that a response to this notice does not guarantee an automatic invitation to any subsequent formal procurement, which the commissioners will consider in due course.

Interested providers will be able to view this opportunity via the live opportunities list on the 'Health Family' e-procurement system, Atamis. Click on 'View our Live Opportunities' from the home page, available on the following link: https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome.

Once you have found the opportunity (via the search function, using the title or reference number), to gain full access to the relevant information and market engagement questionnaire, you will need to click on 'Register interest' - this will take you to the log-in page.

If you are not already registered on the system, you will need to do so before gaining full access to the documentation and to be able to submit your expression of interest / completed questionnaire using the correspondence function within Atamis. Expressions of interest / completed questionnaire must be received by no later than 12 noon, 31st March 2025.

These services are healthcare services falling within the Health Care Services, (Provider Selection Regime) (PSR) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, (and the 'Light Touch Regime' contained therein), do not apply to these services and thus do not apply to this notice.

This exercise is being managed by NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit (SCW) on behalf of the Commissioner.