Specialist Mental Health Victim and Witness Support for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire and Peterborough is looking for a local organisation to provide expertise and support for victims and witnesses facing challenges with their mental health after experiencing a crime. Research has shown victims and witnesses of crime are more likely to report mental ill health, or have an existing condition exasperated as a result of their experience of crime – which can be traumatic. The successful bidder will be required to: • assess the needs of victims/witnesses referred to them and agree bespoke support plans which meet their needs and enable them to manage their mental health challenges which are preventing them from coping and recovering from the crime they have experienced; • provide low-level mental health advice and support to include self-help techniques on relaxation, stress and anxiety management which enable a victim or witness to understand that what they are experiencing is a normal reaction to an abnormal incident; • where required, support victims to access (including self-refer) to the most appropriate services, including primary care services (such as GPs) or secondary community care services (to include specialist teams) and advocate on their behalf; • deliver emotional and practical support in a trauma-informed way. Providers will be asked to deliver the service using a hybrid model with staff splitting their working time between the Victim and Witness Hub (currently at Copse Court, Peterborough) and either home or an organisation’s office base. Referrals for support will come via the Victim and Witness Hub, Independent Domestic Violence Adviser (IDVA) or Independent Sexual Violence Advocate Service (ISVA) and self-referrals. The provider must have a comprehensive working knowledge of the local mental health and emotional support services available and know how to access them. All service requirements will be detailed in a comprehensive Service Specification, which will be released with the Invitation to tender later this year. Additional information: A Request for information (RFI) will be uploaded with this PIN. The Authority would appreciate your input into the RFI. Please can suppliers respond to the RFI in the set timeframe to allow for a successful Supplier Engagement event