Regional Mental Health Act Approval Panels

This future opportunity notice is intended to provide interested suppliers with the opportunity to gain Information and an understanding of a potential Department of Health (DH) requirement, and to provide information to interested suppliers about the associated supplier day which will be run in Central London on the morning of the 25th July.

The requirement - Under section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act 1983 (“the MHA”) the Secretary of State for Health approves, for the purposes of that section, registered medical practitioners who have "special experience in the diagnosis or treatment of mental disorder”(“s12 doctors”).

Additionally, under section 145(1) of the MHA, the Secretary of State is to approve persons to act as “an approved clinician for the purposes of the Act” (“Approved Clinicians”).

These functions are collectively referred to as ‘the Approval functions’.

The Approval functions have been vested in the Secretary of State since the enactment of the MHA, but had been delegated by virtue of regulations made under the National Health Service Act 1977 and directions issued under the National Health Service Act 2006, most recently to Strategic Health Authorities (“SHAs”).

SHAs ceased to exist when the relevant provisions in the Health and Social Care Act 2012 came into force.

The Department of Health became responsible for the Approval functions.

Following a review and a procurement exercise the Secretary of State contracted with four approving bodies.

These contracts are due to terminate on 31st March 2017.

The Department of Health (“DH”) plans to seek bids from organisations to provide the services as described in the attached draft procurement documentation (the specification, ITT part B).

As this notice (and the published prior Information notice) are at pre-procurement (pre Invitation to Tender) stage, the attached documents are therefore draft and for Information only, may change and may not fully reflect any eventual final versions.

The proposed Contract will cover four regions as described in the documentation; being Lot 1, Panel one - North of England.

Lot 2, Panel Two - Midlands and East.

Lot 3, Panel Three - London.

Lot 4, Panel Four - South of England.

A pre-procurement event will be held on the 25th July 2016 in Central London.

If you would be interested in attending this event, please email supplier.helpdesk@dh.gsi.gov.uk to register your interest by the 20th July.

When expressing an interest organisation's should provide: (I) the contact details of the service provider's representative (ii) a single paragraph summary of your organisation's experience including whether you are a Small to Medium sized Enterprise or Voluntary Sector Organisation .

This summary may be shared with other participants in order to promote discussion.

An agenda and information pack will be sent to you.

This notice is for Information only and the Department of Health reserves the right to not proceed to tender.

See TUPE note.