Safe Haven Service Tees Valley - NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board

This is a Direct Award being made under Schedule 5 Section 13 - Urgency of the Procurement Act 2023 and in accordance with the Procurement Regulations 2024 - Where- (a)the goods, services or works to be supplied under the public contract are strictly necessary for reasons of extreme and unavoidable urgency, and (b)as a result the public contract cannot be awarded on the basis of a competitive tendering procedure.

The action therefore of the Relevant Authority has been the Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition for a contract to last for maximum 12 months.

NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (the Contracting Authority) have awarded a contract without prior publication of a call for competition for a contract to last for maximum 12 months under Schedule 5 Section 13 - Urgency of the Procurement Act 2023 and in accordance with the Procurement Regulations 2024 under NHS Standard Contract 2025-26.

There is currently no Safe Haven Service provision within the Tees Valley area of the ICB and very little out of hours support for people in mental health distress.

Redcar and Cleveland local authority area has been identified as an area with a high rate of suicide as well as a higher rate of mental health hospital admissions within Tees Valley which has been consistent over recent years and has not seen any reduction in the current rates over the last 12months.

The service is to deliver a Safe Haven provision within Tees Valley where currently there is no service provision. The delivery of a Safe Haven in Tees Valley demonstrates commitment to the development of alternative to crisis methods of delivery for mental health services.

The Safe Haven will provide services to those people self-identifying as in a crisis and/or experiencing emotional distress and where these needs do not meet the criteria for secondary care crisis services and for this reason the Relevant Authority deemed necessary to urgently intervene to provide immediate support to those people self-identifying as in a crisis and/or experiencing emotional distress.

This direct award for maximum 12 months specifically addresses the immediate and urgent need for Safe Haven service delivery in Tees Valley and gives the space and time to complete a full PA2023 competitive procurement process and put a long-term solution in place.