Digital Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Service for Children and Young People

NHS Somerset Integrated Care board (ICB) is seeking to secure a Prime Provider who has the capability and capacity to deliver a Digital Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing Service for Children and Young People. The Service will provide a digitally enabled emotional wellbeing and mental health support offer for children and young people in Somerset. The Service should contribute towards the outcomes outlined within this specification by improving access to timely emotional wellbeing support, supporting early intervention and prevention, reducing inequalities in access and experience, and helping children and young people access the right support at the right time. The Service should operate as part of Somerset's wider emotional wellbeing and mental health system and complement, rather than duplicate, existing statutory, education, community and voluntary sector provision. The Service should provide a safe, accessible and inclusive environment in which children and young people can access emotional wellbeing and mental health support, information, advice and guidance appropriate to their needs. In delivering the Service, the Provider should: • Promote emotional wellbeing, resilience and self-management. • Provide timely support for children and young people experiencing emerging, low-level and moderate emotional wellbeing and mental health needs. • Support early intervention and prevention, helping to prevent escalation of need where appropriate. • Provide access to appropriately trained practitioners and ensure that children and young people can access support in a manner that is safe, confidential and responsive to their needs. • Support children and young people to build resilience, develop self-management skills and access ongoing sources of support where appropriate. • Support children and young people who may be awaiting assessment, intervention or support from other services. • Facilitate access to wider support through appropriate signposting, navigation and referral arrangements. • Maintain robust safeguarding, risk management and escalation processes. • Reduce barriers to access and actively seek to improve access, experience and outcomes for underserved populations, including through the provision of reasonable adjustments, compliance with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS) and accessible service design. • Work collaboratively with education settings, primary care, Mental Health Support Teams (MHSTs), CAMHS, VCFSE organisations and other relevant partners. • Engage proactively with neighbourhood, community and voluntary sector partners to promote awareness of the Service, improve accessibility and support equitable access amongst underserved populations. • Collect, analyse and utilise service user feedback to support service improvement and development. The incumbent provider has stated that TUPE is not likely to apply. The contract term will be for 5 years with an optional extension of any period up to 2 years. The Commissioner has a maximum financial envelope available of £750,000 excluding VAT for the 5-year Contract. At the end of the initial contract term the Commissioner will have an extension option for any period up to a further 2 years available (£150,000 per annum) which will be awarded at their discretion, giving a maximum possible contract value of £1,050,000, exclusive of VAT, over 7 years if the full contract term is fulfilled. A full breakdown of the financial envelope is provided in the Financial Model Template and ITT Bidder Guidance document. The new service will commence on the 1st April 2027. NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW) Integrated Care Board and NHS Dorset Integrated Care Board are currently working together in a formal "clustering" arrangement to prepare for their merger into a single, new organisation (name to be confirmed), effective from 1st April 2027. This procurement is being carried out by NHS South, Central & West (SCW) on behalf of the commissioners. SCW is currently subject to restructuring, and the management of this procurement may therefore move to a successor at some point during the procurement process.  Bidders will be informed of any such change, and any administrative changes because of it.