ESCW(PH)4866 Locality Parent and Infant Wellbeing Coordinators

Contract Title:

Locality Parent and Infant Wellbeing Coordinators

Contract Reference: ESCW(PH) 4866

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) is seeking expressions of interest from interested organisations for the above services and / or goods.

Description:

The Public Health Department at London Borough of Tower Hamlets wishes to commission suitable providers to host the role of Locality Parent and Infant Wellbeing Coordinator to recruit and supervise a team of peer supporters/ volunteers to provide support for local parents and carers during pregnancy and the first year of the babys life (in partnership with a training provider being commissioned separately).

Pre-birth and the early years are a critical period for physical, emotional, social and cognitive development with lifelong effects on health and wellbeing.

There is growing evidence and recognition that a babys social, emotional and cognitive development is affected by the quality of their attachment to their parents and that a range of interacting factors, such as parental wellbeing and parent child relationships, impact on the childs resilience, ability to regulate their emotions and long term risk of mental illness.

Supporting mothers emotional wellbeing during the perinatal period is now recognised to be as important as the traditional focus on the physical health of the mother and child.

While health professionals (midwives and health visitors) play a key role in identifying maternal mental illness and supporting secure attachment with the baby, there is also growing recognition of the benefits of peer support and volunteering in complementing the role of health professionals and in some cases filling in the gaps where health professionals are unable to reach.

It is planned that there will be four Locality Parent and Infant Wellbeing Coordinators each covering a cluster of wards in Tower Hamlets. Initially two Locality Parent and Infant Wellbeing Coordinators will be commissioned in two separate lots. The remaining two posts will be established later in 2015. The funding available for each lot will be 30,000 per year for 2 years with 15,000 start up costs (a one off allocation).

It is envisaged that the role of Locality Parent and Infant Wellbeing Coordinator will be a part time role. The provider will have the option to recruit a dedicated person to this role or to add this role to an existing role in their organisation providing they can demonstrate that there is no double funding of activity.

The successful tenderer will be required to demonstrate:

A thorough understanding of the importance of early life experiences on the development of the brain and the unfolding of human behaviour;

An understanding of how to increase the odds of favourable developmental outcomes through planned interventions;

A highly visible and accessible service plus user participation in service design and delivery;