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Awarded· 25 Jul 2025

Suffolk Night Owls

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board · Ipswich, East of England

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board has awarded Suffolk Night Owls. It is a contract for other health and social care in Ipswich.

Source: Find a Tender, published 7 Oct 2025. Details are refreshed every 30 minutes.

Key dates

  1. 2025

    Contract awarded

    Suffolk Mind

  2. 2025

    Award notice published

    Award Notice · 15:10

    View notice
01

About this tender

In brief

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board has awarded Suffolk Night Owls. It is a contract for other health and social care in Ipswich. The contract went to Suffolk Mind. It was awarded on 25 July 2025. The contract value is £177,092.

It is run as an award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. Find a Tender published it on 7 October 2025. The notice number is 063000-2025. The OCDS ID is ocds-h6vhtk-05a9da.

Summary of the contracting process

The NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board has completed the procurement process for the "Suffolk Night Owls" service, categorised under health services. This service entails a local emotional support helpline operating every night for registered users with complex needs, from Suffolk regions. The procurement was conducted under the Health Care Services Provider Selection Regime Regulations 2023 via a direct award procedure, without prior competition.

The contract, valued at £177,092, was formally awarded on 26th July 2025 to the existing provider, Suffolk Mind, starting from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2027, ensuring continuity of service. Organisations specialising in telehealth, mental health support, and crisis intervention would find this contract pertinent. SMEs with expertise in these areas, and a strong capacity for call handling and follow-up services, can leverage similar future tenders for business growth.

The notice in full

A local 7 nights a week emotional support helpline for registered service users including via text and email for registered people with complex needs. This includes those with a diagnosis of Personality Disorder or who present with behaviours typical of such conditions. The service responds to requests to callbacks offering booked and timed appointments in-bound and outbound calls, and registered users can email and text.

A twenty-minute slot is allocated and where necessary the helpline staff will make onward professional referrals/contacts including safeguarding.

  • The service runs 7 nights a week from 6.30pm - 1.00am with calls being taken between 7.00pm and 1.00am.
  • The services offer time limited number of calls of approximately 20 minutes to offer support but with boundaries required for people with complex needs.
  • There are approximately 1300 people registered with 770 having not accessed the service to date with approx. 80 regular people in contact with the service. Some are in daily contact through to those with monthly contact.
  • The calls are RAG rated with the majority being amber rated, with a few being red rated.
  • Staff training includes Helpline Training; Suicide prevention; Risk Assessment and Management; Safeguarding; KUF and MHFA.

Lots (1)

  1. 01

    Lot 1Cancelled

    The SNO service consists of two trained helpline staff working from 6.30pm to 1.00am manning the incoming calls, ansaphone, emails and texts throughout the night. RAG rating and prioritising calls. - The staff on the helpline shall:

    • Support the client with their immediate crisis and assist them to develop strategies to deal with life events and gain insight regarding their mental wellbeing.
    • Suggest techniques for reducing anxiety and negative thoughts.
    • Focus on keeping the client safe and encouraging them to develop self-help strategies and resilience.
    • Signpost to the relevant service if deemed necessary when the call is ending, and the caller has not been de-escalated.
    • Call in the emergency services if required.

    The NHS Contract Variation will last one year from 1st April 2026 to 31st March 2027 The current service expires on 31st March 2026, and this will provide continuity of care for the registered clients. Recommissioning will be considered based on the findings of the full crisis alternatives review across the new cluster of ICBs with Suffolk and Norfolk and Waveney ICBs.

    No extension has been planned for this service this single year contract constitutes less than 25% of the total lifetime value of the SNO service (since 2019). Procurement to insert - NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board are awarding the contract named within this notice under the Direct Award C process which is outlined within the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.

    The provider named in this notice is an existing provider and has been reviewed through a Key Criteria assessment to ensure the awarding body is satisfied with current performance and reasonably expects the provider to be able to satisfy the contract which is the subject of this notice.

    The contract which is the subject of this notice has not changed considerably when compared with the existing / previous contract delivered by the named provider. The ICB may wish to introduce additional services during the lifetime of the contract ("Contract modifications"). Such contract modifications will be contemplated where additional requirements are similar and or complementary to the services already included in the Specification, at any given time.

    Such expansion would be by the addition of services commissioned by the Authority as named in the Contract Notice. To this end, after the award of contract, there is a possibility that the contract may be varied as allowable in accordance with the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.

02

Key facts

Every field the notice carries. Anything it leaves blank is listed under its table.

Contract

Service
Other
Procurement type
Standard
Category
Services
Contract period
Not specified - Not specified
Lots
1
Awarded to
Suffolk Mind
Number of suppliers
1

Procedure

Notice type
Award Notice
Procurement method
Limited
Procedure
Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
Current stage
Award
Stages so far
Award
Published on
Find a Tender Service
Awardee scale
SME
Buyer's portal
In-Tend

Values

Contracts value
£177,092

Not stated in the notice: tender value, lots value, awards value.

Status

Tender
Complete
Lots
Cancelled
Awards
Active
Contracts
Active

References

Find a Tender notice
063000-2025
Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05a9da
CPV code
85100000 - Health services
CPV division
85 - Health and social work services
03

Location

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board is based in Ipswich. The area the service covers can be wider, so check the notice and the lots.
Local authority
Ipswich
Town
Ipswich
Postcode
IP1 2BX
Electoral ward
Gipping
Constituency
Ipswich
Delivery area
Suffolk CC
Region
East of England
Sub-region
Ipswich
Area
Suffolk
Country
England
04

Buyer and supplier

Contracting authority

Organisation
NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board
Category
Services
Contact
Caryn Akers
Address
Ipswich, IP1 2BX · East of England · England

Not stated in the notice: phone.

Awarded supplier

Supplier
Suffolk Mind
Awardee scale
SME
Number of suppliers
1
Awards value
Not stated
05

Documents and links

Official sources for this notice. The tender pack itself sits on the buyer's portal.
06

Questions about Suffolk Night Owls

Who won the Suffolk Night Owls contract?

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board awarded the contract to Suffolk Mind on 25 July 2025.

How much is the Suffolk Night Owls contract worth?

The contract value is £177,092.

Who is the buyer for Suffolk Night Owls?

NHS Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care Board, based in Ipswich, East of England. The named contact is Caryn Akers.

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