Northamptonshire Children's Trust - Provision Of Daytime And Overnight Breaks/Respite For Children And Young People With Disabilities

Northamptonshire Children's Trust (hereafter referred to as the "Children's Trust") and NHS Northamptonshire Integrated Care Board wishes to invite Tender Responses for the supply of services in respect of this requirement.

Short breaks are part of a continuum of services supporting children in need and their families, offering day to night activities in various settings. These services, including overnight respite and day activities for disabled children, are crucial for families to lead normal lives.

Local Authorities and Integrated Care Boards (ICB) must ensure adequate short breaks are available, as mandated by the Children Act 1989 and The Children & Families Act 2014. This is critical for carers to manage their responsibilities and for fulfilling legal duties to children with special needs.

A Lead Provider will deliver overnight respite and daytime activities, including weekends and evenings, streamlining resources for more choice and support for families. The model aims to innovate and enhance service quality and accessibility, particularly for children with complex needs struggling to access non-residential short breaks.

All activities will utilise appropriate venues, equipment and staffing to meet the needs of the children and young people. The service will adopt a flexible working approach to service delivery to ensure that the service is child / young person family led and is in the interests of individuals and families accessing the service and delivered to meet the needs of individual service users.