West Sussex Crisis House Service

This notice is to inform the market of the intention to directly award a 12-month contract to Turning Point Ltd for the provision of a Crisis House Service for NHS West Sussex Clinical Commissioning Group ('the CCG') from 10th January 2022.

The intention is to directly award this contract to Turning Point Ltd as the current provider of a similar service for NHS East Sussex CCG.

The CCG wishes to implement a similar service model and as such considers Turning Point Ltd are best placed to deliver this interim provision and are able to mobilise quickly, with the existing infrastructure, staff, relationships with people with lived experience and in-depth knowledge of the current service and pathway.

The 12-month direct award for this interim service will allow delivery of this critical provision in West Sussex whilst allowing sufficient time to carry out a procurement for a longer-term service to commence 10th January 2023.

Given the known benefits that the model will bring to the acute mental health system, which is suffering from exceptionally high bed occupancy, West Sussex CCG has endorsed a 12 month direct award to Turning Point Ltd.

Crisis accommodation is an established and clinically defined provision.

Crisis Houses play a critical role in the Mental Health Urgent Care Pathway as part of the Crisis Alternatives aligned with Mental Health National policy direction.

From 2019, aligned to the Long-Term Plan for Mental Health, all STP's/ICS have been expected to invest in complementary and alternative crisis services and expand local community offers over the course of the five years through transformation funding.

Crisis Houses have been developed across the UK to offer alternatives to A&E or inpatient psychiatric admissions for adults experiencing a mental health crisis.

The West Sussex Crisis House will offer a non-medical, therapeutic offer through a short stay (3 to 5 days) recovery option in a safe and calm environment where crisis home treatment is not possible and inpatient stay is not necessarily required.

In addition, the service will also offer telephone support to people who have previously accessed the service.

After 3 months of provision, the commissioner will complete a review of the service enabling any learning to be incorporated into the new specification for the upcoming procurement for the longer-term provision.

This proposal to directly award the contract is made in the context of identified patient need and pressures on local mental health inpatient beds and as such supporting and increasing capacity within the existing urgent care pathway.

This is aligned to the Long Term Plan (LTP) and will enable delivery of targets outlined and associated expectations to invest in and provide complementary and alternative crisis services to A&E and admission thus facilitating 100% coverage of 24/7 age-appropriate crisis care by 23/24.