Secure mental health transport
Overview
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The NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board (SNEE ICB) is planning a procurement process for secure mental health transport services under the industry category of health services. The procurement, currently in the planning stage, will focus on the secure and appropriate transportation of individuals with mental health needs across Suffolk and potentially the entire United Kingdom, excluding North East Essex and Waveney. A framework accreditation opportunity is expected to be released in autumn 2025, and interested providers can submit responses and receive the current draft specification by emailing procurement@snee.nhs.uk before the deadline of 17:00 on 31 July 2025.
This process is part of the Provider Selection Regime with applicable regulations from the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. This procurement presents a significant opportunity for businesses specialising in health services, particularly those experienced in patient transportation and mental health care. Companies capable of providing secure transportation with a person-centred and trauma-informed approach would be well-placed to benefit from this opportunity.
Businesses with expertise in maintaining positive relationships with mental health service providers and excelling in quality assurance could thus increase their growth potential. Engaging in this tender could enable businesses to expand their operations in Suffolk and potentially further across the UK within the healthcare transport sector.
SNEE ICB are planning to formalise the commissioning arrangements in relation to the appropriate and secure transportation of people who have mental health needs in Ipswich and East and West Suffolk. North East Essex and Waveney are currently out of scope for these arrangements. The secure transportation should be delivered with a person-centred and trauma informed approach and should not adversely impact the mental wellbeing of the service user.
Transport will be required within the county of Suffolk and may be required from Suffolk to any area within the United Kingdom. These transport arrangements will contribute to the operation of the crisis and urgent emergency system in Suffolk; and commissioned transport providers will need to have regard to prevent any negative impacts on patient flow across the system.
In the autumn 2025, SNEE ICB intends to release to the market an accreditation opportunity to provide secure transport services for people with mental health needs in Suffolk on a framework. The current activity cost for secure mental health transportation is PS407,746 per annum. Prior to this the ICB would like to understand the level of interest in the market and gather input and feedback from interested providers about the current draft specification - to receive a copy of the specification please email: procurement@snee.nhs.uk In conjunction with this, we are also interested to hear your responses to the following questions: * What factors and/or processes need to be in place to enable you to establish and maintain a positive working relationship with the mental health provider and the advanced mental health practitioner (AMHP) service? * What key points should be included in a shared risk assessment agreement between a secure mental health transport provider, the mental health provider and the AMHP service? * Once a vehicle has been booked how many minutes do you consider to be a reasonable response time within the Suffolk geographic area? * In what ways, other than quality inspections, would you be able to give assurance to ICB commissioners about the quality of your provision and the experience of service users? Please send responses in respect of the questions and any comments on the specification to procurement@snee.nhs.uk by 17:00 on the 31 July 2025. Please include direct contact information in case the Commissioners would like to discuss your responses further. Additional information: This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) Prior Information Notice. The awarding of any contract in a future procurement process will be subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply to any process which may be published in relation to this notice.
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