Perinatal Mental Health Functional Mapping - Health Education England - SoEPS/17.365

NHS South of England Procurement Services, acting on behalf of Health Education England (the Commissioner) are commencing a tender for the delivery of Perinatal Mental Health Functional Mapping.

The perinatal period is commonly defined as the time from when someone is confirmed as being pregnant, to the date of their baby's first birthday. In mental health services, it can also sometimes include preconception interventions when they relate to a person's childbearing potential.

To identify the best service models on which to create new teams in specialist perinatal mental health, a functional mapping exercise could identify what has to be done to deliver a useable service specification based on the evidence based interventions along the patient journey. This process will generate an objective description of the pathway using language that allows different workforce options to be explored and compared and from which we can extrapolate the specific competences required, rather than naming roles or professions nominally and based on a traditional skill set or multi-disciplinary format.

A generic health 'functional map' will be developed which incorporates all activities (clinical and non-clinical) that take place within the perinatal mental health pathway, and this will be used as part of the process to help identify the skills and competences required by staff. This will provide a clear and systematic method of review of skill mix and roles within a service to ensure quality and safety for patients.

This will enable patient focused development of new ways of working, leading to improved efficiency in utilisation of roles. This will provide Health Education England with the basis for recommending and commissioning work-based and formal academic training where appropriate.

Current practices and use of the workforce will be analysed and constructively challenged.

The key output required is a detailed Functional Map for the perinatal service area which will describe and inform the workforce model for future services.

As the Functional Map is developed, consideration should be given to the skills levels at which the functions indicated in the map need to be delivered to meet quality and productivity expectations. This process enables objective review of the skill requirements and serves to bring out initial skill mix issues. Health Education England will then identify the multiple roles and functions staff involved in the care pathway for the perinatal mental health patient journey, and be better informed when developing plans and recommendations for the focus for education and training.

Please access the procurement documents for further information.

Additional information: Bidders are invited to access the procurement documentation at https://in-tendhost.co.uk/soepscommissioning.

The deadline for submission of completed ITT responses is Friday 10 November 2017 at 12:00pm (midday). Late submissions will not be accepted. The e-portal system will shutdown at 12:00pm and any unsubmitted bids not registered to the system at this time will not be accepted. Therefore, please submit in good time prior to the deadline date and time.

Project title: Perinatal Health Functional Mapping - Health Education England, please access the ITT for all documents. Should Bidders have any queries, or are having problems using the portal, they should contact the In-tend dedicated Supplier Helpdesk by calling 0845 557 8079 Monday to Friday (9am to 6pm) or email support@in-tend.co.uk.

All communications should be made via the messaging function on the In-tend E-Tendering portal. During the tender exercise the Contracting Authority requests that all communications are channelled through the e-portal system via the appointed procurement specialist on behalf of NHS South of England Procurement Services and not with the Contracting Authority itself. No Bidder, Bidder Member, or any of such Bidder's advisors, consultants or subcontractors may have ex parte communications with the Contracting Authority or any of their employees, advisors, contractors or consultants regarding the ITT, the Procurement, other than as expressly permitted in this ITT.