NHS South Yorkshire ICB Children and Young people's OOH mental health crisis

Barnsley needs to implement a confidential, out of hours mental health crisis response service for children and young people. The service needs to be able to provide support if the young person:<br/><br/>o Feel they have nowhere to turn<br/>o Fell they can't go on living<br/>o Feel they are in crisis<br/>o Are finding it hard to cope with life<br/>o Are feeling angry, lonely, anxious or depressed<br/>o Are feeling confused or finding it hard to think straight<br/>o Are feeling unsafe<br/>o Are caring for a young person<br/>o Just want to talk<br/><br/>The service offer needs to include text, webchat and phone support and ideally needs to be operational between the hours of 17:00 and 09:00am (or for a minimum of a 12 hour period during these times), 7 days a week, every night of the year. Additionally, the provider of this service also needs to support the NHS England mandated NHS 111 Option 2 service for children and young people in Barnsley who contact the service and are under 16 years of age, as the current mandated service in Barnsley only supports people aged 16 and above." <br/> <br/>This notice is an intention to award a contract under the most suitable provider process.<br/><br/>This is a new service to be provided by a new provider.<br/><br/>The contract will run for two years from the date of the award of the contract.<br/> <br/><br/>Key criteria 1. Quality and innovation- Weighting 30%<br/>There is currently no commissioned service in Barnsley operating a children and young people out of hours mental health crisis response nor is there a solution to provide a robust NHS 111 Option 2 service for callers from Barnsley who are under 16 years of age. Discussions have been held with local, South Yorkshire service providers but none have been able to provide the level of support required. However, the Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Centre provide a bespoke mental health out of hours crisis response to children and young people for the majority of West Yorkshire - this includes working closely with SWYT in the West Yorkshire areas in which SWYT also provide NHS commissioned mental health services. There are limited options of local helplines operating out of hours specifically for young people where they can speak to someone about issues and potentially, in some instances, prevent these from escalating into crisis and in a recent system analysis, information was drawn from various sources( featuring the voices of children and young people) where out of hours support and helplines were raised, including the mentioning of the Leeds Survivor Led Crisis Centre Night Owls service as a solution to accessing helplines and as a specific service offering support through the night.<br/><br/>The Night OWLS service achieves the contractual KPI's and is expected to continue to do so in future years. The Leeds Survivor led Crisis Centre will also provide a response for Barnsley's young people who contact NHS 111 Option 2."<br/><br/>Key criteria 2. Value - Weighting 10%<br/><br/>Provision of The Night OWLS service together with the NHS 111 Option 2 service for children and young people offers good value for money and is favourable when compared with the cost of similar bespoke services provided in other parts of the UK or provided by local NHS Trusts There are a number of Case Studies that the service have shared with commissioners that highlights the hugely positive impact that this service has on the young people who are supported by it and there is evidence which suggests that this service helps to reduce the numbers of young people who attend their local Emergency Department for mental health reasons as well as reducing the numbers of young people who are admitted via the local Emergency Department for reasons of self-harm<br/><br/><br/>Key criteria 3. Integration, collaboration and service sustainability - Weighting 25%<br/><br/>Whilst there is currently no mental health out of hours crisis response for children and young people in Barnsley, discussions with local NHS mental health service providers and neighbouring commissioners suggest that Leeds Survivor led Crisis Centre (Night OWLS service) are integrated into local pathways and that they collaborate well with system-wide partners to provide the best outcomes for the children and young people from the areas in which they operate. The provision of a NHS 111 Option 2 service is an NHS Mandated requirement and the 'Night OWLS' service supports this and other NHS Plan recommendations.<br/><br/>Key criteria 4. Improving Access, reducing health inequalities and facilitating choice.<br/>Weighting 25%<br/><br/><br/>In addition to supporting the NHS Mandated functions, such as the provision of a NHS 111 Option 2 response for children and young people, the Leeds Survivor led Crisis Centre also support other recommendations of the NHS Plan by improving young people's access to mental health services and enabling the most vulnerable young people (e.g. those who are neurodivergent, children in care, LGBQ+ young people) to access appropriate support in a timely manner. The Night OWLS service is linked into local pathways to ensure that young people are signposted to the most appropriate service for them, should they require additional support that is out of scope of the Night OWLS service.<br/><br/><br/>Key criteria 5. Social Value - Weighting 10%<br/><br/>As a voluntary sector organisation and charity, the provider is able (and will continue) to access a variety of external funding sources such as grants from charitable trust, corporate donations and also from private financial donations. These other funding streams will be utilised to offer wider opportunities such as that are not funded by the ICB but contribute to the broader outcomes of the Commissioned Service offer.<br/><br/>Staff are currently on NHS pay bands, with none paid below the living wage. The Provider's environmental policy commits to lower the carbon footprint and environmental impact. Wherever possible the Provider will purchase ethically sourced and Fair Trade. Co2 emissions are reduced via efficient use of power i.e. good housekeeping e.g. turning down heating thermostats, reducing electricity usage e.g. LED lighting.<br/><br/>The Provider currently supports clients from West Yorkshire from it's Leeds based site, which is only 25 miles from the centre of Barnsley.