Supported Accommodation for People Recovering from Mental Health

<p><strong>Prior Information Notice</strong></p>
<p>Harrow Council has undertaken a review of Mental Health Services and is now implementing the recommendations, one of which is to increase access for people to move to their own home-by a redesign of the supported accommodation portfolio and pathway to facilitate people achieving more independence.</p>
<p>Mental health accommodation services house and support adults with severe and enduring mental ill health who are unable to live in their own home due to lack of skills or inability to live independently. Those entering the services tend to originate from inpatient mental health wards, mental health rehabilitation wards, community rehabilitation units, are in mental health placements outside of the borough, or are experiencing tenancy breakdown in the community.</p>
<p>We currently have a range of housing services for people with mental health including in-house services, block contracts and spot purchases to meet high, medium, and low needs.</p>
<p><strong>Our New Pathway</strong></p>
<p>Our aim is to create an accommodation pathway, characterised by a person centred and strengths based philosophy with quality services that proactively support recovery by working to ensure citizens are equipped with the skills and capacity to live happier, healthier and more independent lives.</p>
<p>We are seeking services that are: able to meet the needs of our citizens, capable of meeting the current and future demand, committed to continuous improvement and best practice, have the flexibility to respond to changes elsewhere in the system and the enduring impact of Covid.</p>
<p>The accommodation services are arranged as a pathway with levels of support that include:</p>
<ul>
<li>High: nursing, residential care, supported accommodation with dual diagnosis, autism</li>
<li>Medium: supported accommodation and step down</li>
<li>Low: Floating support</li>
</ul>
<p>Residents move into the level of provision that best meets their needs and move through the pathway as they become more independent, before moving into their own home outside of the pathway. They do not need to access all levels before moving to an independent tenancy. A small number of residents require longer-term support and may not make the transition to independent living, nevertheless efforts are made to maximise independence and support people in the least restrictive environment. However, continuous progression through and out of the pathway is required to create the ongoing capacity needed to accommodate new referrals from hospital, other settings, or out of borough.</p>
<p>Our strategy is to consolidate the number of providers, develop greater partnership in our offer to Harrow&rsquo;s residents and ensure we demonstrate value for money. Using resources effectively to secure quality provision is a key component of our approach. There are two elements to our procurement strategy:</p>
<p><strong>Block Contract </strong></p>
<p>This service is for adults aged 18 to 65 years of age, who are ordinarily resident within the London Borough of Harrow and have been assessed as requiring regular support to manage housing related and independent living needs due to their mental ill-health. These citizens have medium support needs and there are 22 units across flats and a multi-occupancy house.</p>
<p>The block contract will require care and housing management services. The units are council owned and the Provider will act as the managing agent and will be expected to enter into a Tenancy-at-will agreement. The Provider is expected to provide high quality housing management practices, which must compliment the core service delivery and support provided to assist individual service users to maintain their accommodation and develop the skills they require to move on successfully to their independent tenancy.</p>
<p>We are exploring a possible block contract for high support needs with the use of a council property or the proposal of a provider that can provide care and accommodation for this block with an approximately 5-7 units.</p>
<p><strong>Framework</strong></p>
<p>The aspiration for the Harrow Mental Health Supported Accommodation Framework will be to include providers for High, Medium and Low support needs offering a mix of shared properties and cluster of single occupancy units. The framework will complement the block contracts and provide choice to residents.</p>
<p>Referrals will be made to providers on the framework and a mini competition will be undertaken. Whilst business is not guaranteed to the framework providers, there will be flexibility for innovation and change and spot purchases will cease other than in exceptional circumstances.</p>
<p>The volume of placements via the framework is estimated below:</p>
<p>High Level of Need: Mental Health with Dual Diagnosis and Asperger&rsquo;s and Autism: 55 estimated placements</p>
<p>Medium Level of Need: Mental Health with Autism, Dual Diagnosis and Mental Health as Primary Support: 40 estimated placements</p>
<p>Low floating support: Dual Diagnosis, Mental Health Primary Support Need: 20 estimated placements</p>
<p><strong>Contract Period</strong></p>
<p>The contract period of the block contract and framework is proposed to be an initial period of 2 years plus extension option of two years in one-year periods. (2 years +1 +1). During this period, we will review the market and demand. We are also considering the longer-term impacts of Covid-19 on the prevalence and recovery from mental ill health as well as the market response.</p>
<p>We would like to obtain initial interest from providers who have prior experience of delivering a similar service.</p>
<p>To express your interest please send an email to Cameron.erskine@harrow.gov.uk, you will then be issued a short questionnaire for you to complete and return to the above-mentioned email address. We will be holding a market engagement event early in April. If you have expressed an interest you will be invited to attend.&nbsp;</p>