HCC Oct 2022 - The Provision of a Challenging Behaviour Service for Children with Learning Disabilities and/or Autistic Spectrum Disorder - Positive Behaviour, Autism, Learning Disability and Mental Health Service (PALMS)

CPV: Adult and other education services · Miscellaneous health services · Other community, social and personal services · Social services · Training services

Procedure method

Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition

Legal basis

CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded without competition

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Stand-alone contract (no framework)

Competition type

Direct award (no call for competition)

GPA / WTO covered

Yes (GPA)

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

25 Oct 2022, 16:04 BST

Last source update

25 Oct 2022, 16:04 BST

FTS notice number

2022/S 000-030083

Classification (CPV)

Adult and other education servicesMiscellaneous health servicesOther community, social and personal servicesSocial servicesTraining services

Delivery area

East of England (UKH23)

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-037c0a Find a Tender

Why no open competition

The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

Published justification

The Positive Behaviour, Autism, Learning Disability and Mental Health Service (PALMS), delivered by Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust (HCT) is a countywide service that offers a specialist multi-disciplinary approach to children and young people (CYP) aged 0-18 who have a global Learning Disability (LD) and/or Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD).

PALMS offer includes range of psychological interventions for challenging behaviour, mental health, sleeping, toileting, feeding and eating difficulties, and/or problematic sexualised behaviours for CYP with ASD and/or LD; crisis support to meet the needs of CYP through multi-agency response to crisis, including joint assessments, follow up & brief interventions. They host the Special School Mental Health Support Team (MHST) and provide consultation and training for other providers (health, social care and education) who support CYP and their families/carers, as well as providing clinical gatekeeping to out of County specialist mental health and challenging behaviour services.

The PALMS model of support has been in existence in Hertfordshire since end of 2014 and since then has adapted to meet the local needs of CYP and the local Children and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) system and is now well embedded and established, with a proven track record of improving outcomes for those children and young people who are unbale to access mainstream service due to their additional needs.

Commissioners from the Integrated Health and Care Commissioning Team (IHCCT), working on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (HWE ICB), have undertaken a market research exercise in 2021/22 to understand if there is a comparable provision to the PALMS service. Due to the specialist and comprehensive nature of the services offered by PALMS the market is very limited, and whilst a handful of providers, who could deliver elements of the service were identified, none were able to deliver the entire service offer that is currently delivered by PALMS.

As a Hertfordshire CAMHS system, it is important that we work together with partners (who also have obligations to provide health services) to provide mental health services for CYP with ASD and/or LD that are adaptive to meet their needs, as well as being responsive to the increasing demand, changing acuity and significant challenges with retention and recruitment of workforce. Such a partnership has been developed between HCC and HCT with the common objectives of this collaboration focusing on improving the health, wellbeing and Mental Health of Hertfordshire's Children and Young People, joint working to ensure local accountability for services and public expenditure and decision-making that is underpinned by transparency and the open sharing of information between partners and with the public.

In accordance with Regulation 12(7) of the Public Contracts Regulations - public contracts between entities within the public sector - the specific conditions are met by this collaboration working arrangement. Being guided by the key principles of the existing collaboration between the partners (HCC and HCT) we can ensure that both parties working towards common goals and objectives and act in the best public interest.

Publisher note: Hertfordshire County Council is awarding a Contract for The Provision of a Challenging Behaviour Service for Children with Learning Disabilities and/or Autistic Spectrum Disorder - Positive Behaviour, Autism, Learning Disability and Mental Health Service (PALMS), without prior publication of a call for competition in the Find a Tender Service. Please see Annex D1, Section 2 for further information.

• Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust (HCT)Awarded supplierGB-NHS: RY4 Unit 1a Howard Court, Welwyn Garden City, East of England, AL7 1BW

No document links were published on the notice.