Contract for hosting and managing the Peer Associate Workers (Part of Kent and Medway Designated Keyworker Programme)

Kent County Council is looking to appoint a supplier, to host and manage the Peer Associate Workers who are part of the Kent and Medway Integrated Care System Designated Keyworker Programme. This procurement is for social and other services referred to in Regulations 74 of the Public Contracts Regulations (2015) and as such, the intention is to use the light touch regime, rather than the full regime described in Regulations 28 (Restricted Procedure).

The Kent and Medway Designated Keyworker Programme is an NHS England-funded programme that is being implemented by Kent County Council (hereafter referred to as ‘the Council’) on behalf of Kent and Medway Integrated Care System.

The 'Keyworking’ function was developed in response to the NHS England and NHS Improvement Long Term Plan (LTP) commitment that, by 2023/24, children and young people with a learning disability, autism or both, with the most complex of needs will have a designated Keyworker, as recommended in the Lenehan Report (2017). It was designed to:

• ensure that autistic and learning-disabled children and young people, aged 0-25, (hereafter referred to as ‘CYP’) and their families get the right support at the right time and that local services are responsive in meeting their needs in a holistic and joined up way.
• prevent avoidable admission to any form of acute mental health hospital or institutional care.
• where a CYP is admitted to an acute mental health hospital, ensure discharge plans are developed and in place, and that their length of stay is as brief as possible.

The ethos of Keyworking is to ensure a preventative and personalised approach for each CYP and their family. The Peer Associate role is one of several keyworking functions that collaborate to help the CYP and their family to effectively navigate the system through facilitating shared and clear person/family-led formulations or stories which enable effective and enhanced interventions by addressing physical/psychological/social/other issues contributing to risks of admission or placement breakdown.

There are currently six Peer Associates representing [6 staff equivalent to 5.4 WTE] who provide lived experience support and advocacy to CYP and their families who are receiving complex care support from health, education, and social care. The Peer Associates are pivotal to assuring that the voices of children/young people and their families are heard within their community and wider care and support systems.

This Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to advise prospective providers of the Commissioners intention. It is our intention to hold a Virtual Market Engagement event via MS Team, with providers, in order to finalise the development of the service specification on Wednesday 8 February 2023 at 9:30am - 11:00am.