Recommissioning of Mental Health Support Services (MHSS) in Brighton and Hove and West Sussex
Early November 2024, NHS Sussex, Brighton and Hove City Council and West Sussex County Council published invitations to tender for Lead Provider for the recommissioning of Mental Health Support Services (MHSS) in Brighton and Hove and West Sussex. The contracts will be for a five-year period, beginning in 2025.
As the existing Lead Provider of MHSS in Brighton and Hove (UOK Brighton and Hove) as well as in East Sussex (UOK East Sussex), we’re keen to invite providers to inform our tender submission to continue in the role in Brighton and Hove and take on the Lead Provider opportunity in West Sussex. To support this, we have recently hosted four partner engagement workshops and are now inviting providers to submit ‘Expressions of Interest forms’ (more details below).
“Thank you to the 93 individuals and 54 providers who participated in our four partner engagement workshops in November 2024. I also greatly appreciate the many individual meetings that have taken place, or are scheduled, with myself, Sonia Mangan, and Brooke Joyce. Your generosity with your insights, time, and thoughtful considerations is deeply valued as we work together to make a meaningful difference for the future of mental health services across Sussex. I would also like to express my gratitude to the members of the Lived Experience Advisory Groups, supported by Capital and Possibility People, for their invaluable contributions about what truly matters to people with lived experience of mental health issues in their communities.
“As you know, the agenda for change is vast, and resources available to all of us are under, seemingly daily, pressure. In our workshops, we shared our experience and honest learning of working as Lead Provider in Brighton and Hove and more recently East Sussex. We hope that you found the sessions useful and that you feel confident in our vision, values, and capabilities to consider working to support our partnership approach.” – Neil Blanchard, our Chief Executive
Expressions of Interest
The next stage of developing our partnership is to ask all interested organisations to complete an Expressions of Interest form. This will provide us with a better understanding of what level of commitment and responsibility you may wish to make, as well as ideas that can strengthen the total support offer that the partnership could deliver across the three main delivery areas:
- Community Development, Prevention, and Promotion.
- Advice, Information, and Guidance.
- Getting Support.
When responding, we are asking potential partners to consider:
- What they currently do and how that fits with what is in the specification.
- What needs to change.
- Any new ideas or models to meet the underrepresented areas identified in the workshops – peer support/navigation, LGBTQ+ people, neurodivergent individuals, and people from racially minoritised groups.
There are two Expression of Interest forms (<£250k and >£250k) – please use which is most relevant. Each form includes details of how we will consider offers and next steps.
CLOSING DATE for Expressions of Interest is 12 noon on the 16th December 2024.
Also, please see the Service Specification and The Selection Questions that any confirmed subcontractors would need to complete ahead of the bid submission.
If you have any questions or queries please contact us at: MHSSRecommissioning.SouthdownTender@southdown.org
NB: Before sending us your questions, do first review the presentation we shared at the partner engagement events we hosted in November and a video recording of a following Q&A.
Thank you for considering to be part of this delivery and we look forward to speaking with you early in the New Year.