Breastfeeding Support Service · UK public procurement notice

This Expression of Interest (EOI) seeks information relating to the Breastfeeding Support Service in order to:

• Identify capable suppliers
• Gauge market interest
• Develop the authorities' requirements and approach to the procurement

This is being conducted in line with the

• The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023

Contracting terms to be NHS Standard Contract (Short Form)

Contract Term: 1 year

Proposed start date: 01 May 2026 (earliest)

Budget: £61,000

SERVICE SPECIFICATION

The breastfeeding support service will provide in person support as part of the early intervention pathway. The Service will support the birthing population and babies of Dorset.

The overarching aim of the breastfeeding support service is to strengthen early prevention and improve long term oral health and infant feeding outcomes for families across Dorset. The service will focus on delivering targeted, evidence based breastfeeding support beginning on maternity and neonatal units and continuing into community settings. This approach ensures continuity of care, increases access to timely support, and helps families adopt healthy behaviours from birth. By prioritising prevention, the model aligns with national NHS 10-year plan ambitions to shift the health system away from treatment focused care towards proactive intervention and healthier lifestyles.

Within the scope of this contract, the provider is expected to deliver several outcomes that fall wholly within its control. These include improving the availability and quality of infant feeding support on maternity and neonatal units through dedicated peer support workers, increasing the number of support conversations and practical interventions with families, and offering consistent, seamless support from hospital to community settings. The provider will also be responsible for:

• Contributing towards increasing breastfeeding initiation and discharge rates
• Contributing towards increasing breastfeeding continuation rates
• Delivering targeted face to face support across maternity and neonatal units, providing practical education and advice on breastfeeding that strengthens healthy behaviours and leads to improved short and long-term health and wellbeing outcomes for both women and babies
• Improving service user satisfaction and confidence in relation to breastfeeding support, which will be measured via quarterly reports, in addition to feedback received from Maternity Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) and trust infant feeding leads

The service will be delivered on the maternity and neonatal units at Dorset County Hospital and University Hospitals Dorset and integrated with wider prevention pathways, including public health and oral health programmes. Breastfeeding support will contribute to early-prevention objectives and improved oral-health outcomes for children, with outcomes deliverable and measurable within the contract term.

The provider will deliver an in-person service for 18 hours per week, per site; working days and times will be agreed with each unit to address identified resource gaps. Delivery must reflect the clinical nature of breastfeeding support, including direct observation, practical guidance, and individualised assessment. The provider must comply with all relevant NHS Trust policies, guidelines, and standard operating procedures for each maternity and neonatal unit.

The provider must maintain a competent, appropriately supervised workforce to deliver infant-feeding and breastfeeding support on maternity and neonatal units. Staff must be trained to an accredited standard (OCN Level 2 or Level 3, or equivalent) and have current or previous knowledge and experience of delivering services on maternity and neonatal units.

The provider will work in partnership with maternity and neonatal infant feeding teams to support delivery of evidence-based infant-feeding practice in line with UNICEF UK Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI) standards. Support will be delivered in person on the units and tailored to individual need, ensuring families receive consistent, accurate information and timely assistance. The provider must maintain an up-to-date understanding of local infant-feeding provision across maternity, neonatal, and community services and of the population served, to ensure support is inclusive and responsive to local need.

It is desirable that potential providers already deliver a Dorset‑wide community offer that sits outside the scope of this EoI. When combined with the hospital‑based support service (this EoI) this will support the NHS 10‑Year Plan ambition to shift care from hospital to community settings, strengthening early prevention, and ensuring continuity of care following discharge. It's preferable that the community offer that is already being delivered is across multiple locations in both West and East Dorset, with consideration for rurality and areas of deprivation, to ensure fair and consistent access for all service users.

The provider will submit quarterly activity and performance reports that include, as a minimum, the number of support conversations, feeding method(s), service user feedback, and demographic monitoring (language, ethnicity, and deprivation), demonstrating monitoring arrangements and adherence to agreed evidence-based practice, and will produce an annual insight summary setting out key themes, learning, and contributions towards improved outcomes. The provider is responsible for staff 1:1 supervision; line management, mandatory training, and for ensuring all staff hold the required accredited training and current DBS checks.

KEY MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS

1. The provider must deliver an in-person breastfeeding peer support service on maternity and neonatal units at Dorset County Hospital and University Hospitals Dorset, for 18 hours per week, per site for with the ability to work flexibly with trust infant feeding teams to agree working days/times with each trust site to address identified capacity gaps and strengthen the overall breastfeeding support provision on the units.
2. The provider must demonstrate current or previous (within the last 2 years) experience of working with maternity and neonatal staff within NHS Trusts in Dorset or delivering breastfeeding support services and advice to Dorset service users.

This requirement reflects the significant transformation across Dorset's maternity and neonatal services over the past two years, which means the local context, pathways and service needs differ from neighbouring areas.

Recent changes in Dorset include:

• Hospital relocation
• Expansion of specialist workforce
• Development of tailored breastfeeding and infant feeding pathways
• Recruitment of dedicated roles to provide enhanced specialist support

Because of these developments, Dorset‑specific experience is essential to ensure that any provider:

• Has a current and in‑depth understanding of local service users' needs
• Can complement and strengthen the specialist services already in place
• Is familiar with existing pathways, configurations and staff teams
• Can begin delivering support with minimal induction, which is crucial given the limited duration of the 1‑year contract and the need to avoid disruption to care

3. The provider must have the skills and resource to develop quarterly activity and performance reports that include, as a minimum, the number of support conversations, feeding method(s), service user feedback, and demographic monitoring (including language, ethnicity, and deprivation), demonstrating monitoring arrangements and adherence to agreed evidence-based practice, and will produce an annual insight summary setting out key themes, learning, and contributions to breastfeeding outcomes.
4. The provider must operate and maintain their own central support functions and systems to ensure the effective delivery of staff one-to-one supervision, line management, and mandatory training. The provider must also ensure that the staff hold the required accredited training (OCN Level 2 or Level 3, or equivalent). and maintain a current DBS check.