HAC5384 Tower Hamlets Adult Drug & Alcohol Services

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is inviting bids from established, suitably experienced and qualified organisations or groups of organisations to provide three distinct services as part of our integrated drug and alcohol treatment system; collectively branded Reset. The three lots are as follows:

Lot 1: Reset (Adult Drug and Alcohol) Outreach and Referral Service
Lot 2: Reset (Adult Drug and Alcohol) Treatment Service
Lot 3: Reset (Adult Drug and Alcohol) Recovery Support Service

The primary aim of these services is to improve the quality of life, health and wellbeing of Tower Hamlets residents who present with drug and/or alcohol misuse needs and reduce the harms associated with substance use for both individual users and the community in which they reside. This aim will be achieved by ensuring successful engagement and retention in treatment along with the provision of appropriate support interventions and aftercare. The services will establish an effective, comprehensive, recovery-orientated drug and alcohol outreach and referral – treatment – recovery support system in Tower Hamlets, ensuring value for money and delivering continuous improvements in harm reduction and recovery outcomes.

All services will be expected to operate flexibly and collaboratively, and provide high quality provision that is delivered by qualified, competent and experienced staff.

Bidders will be required to demonstrate:

• A focus on delivering positive outcomes for individuals and communities: improved service user health and wellbeing and reductions in drug and alcohol related anti-social behaviour and crime
• Equality of access to the Reset Treatment System for all residents but particularly for under-represented groups; Women, people from BAME and LGBTQ communities.
• A commitment to placing service users at the heart of the treatment system by building services according to the needs expressed and developing service user and peer advocacy support services
• Responsiveness to the needs of different groups including the children and families of problem drug and alcohol users
• A willingness to work collaboratively across the three Reset Lots in order to provide a seamless service-user journey and experience.



Lot 1: Adult Drugs and Alcohol Outreach and Referral Service (Maximum Value per annum £164,000)
To provide an innovative, proactive and targeted outreach service that identifies, refers and engages residents with problematic drug and/or alcohol use into structured treatment.

Target groups include ‘hard to reach’ cohorts, users with complex and non-complex needs; non-opiate users, those aged 18 – 24, Chemsex users, homeless populations and other priority groups as identified in the Substance Misuse Needs Assessment.

The service will operate from but not be limited to a fixed base to provide targeted services for those most requiring them, and will be able to apply new and innovative methods and initiatives to maximise opportunities for identification and engagement of residents with substance misuse support needs.

The workforce should hold relevant professional qualifications, skills and competencies to deliver the role successfully.


Lot 2: Adult Drugs and Alcohol Treatment Service (Maximum Value per annum £3,700,000)
As the principal structured treatment service provider, and front door to the integrated drug and alcohol treatment system, the service will be required to deliver a wide range of effective, evidence based treatment interventions for Tower Hamlets residents who misuse or are dependent on drugs and / or alcohol.

Structured drug and alcohol treatment programmes will operate within NICE guidelines to support, empower and enable service users to complete treatment and sustain long term recovery from harmful drug and/or alcohol use. The service will also aim to minimise the harms associated with drug and alcohol misuse to the individual, families and the wider community.

The workforce should hold relevant professional qualifications and accreditations, skills and competencies, and will undertake relevant training where necessary and should include qualified nursing staff, addictions psychiatrists and specialists (e.g. psychologists/qualified and accredited therapists).

A ring-fenced budget for Prescribing Costs will be made available for Lot 2. The maximum value of the prescribing budget is £450,000 per annum which is additional to the maximum overall value of this contract (£3,250,000 per annum).


Lot 3: Adult Drugs and Alcohol Recovery Support Service (Maximum Value per annum £817,000)
To provide an innovative range of recovery and longer term evidence based support interventions in line with NICE guidance, for both substance misusing individuals and their families or significant/ affected others.

Interventions delivered will include structured group-work/day programmes, structured family interventions and counselling for those engaged in structured treatment and to promote sustained recovery from long term drug and alcohol use through a range of non-structured support interventions including pathways to education, training and employment and housing.
The workforce must hold suitable relevant qualifications (e.g. BACP qualified and accredited therapists) or be working towards appropriate relevant qualifications/accreditation in a relevant/related subject (e.g. Addictions Counselling, evidence based family programme accreditation).

Full details on each service can be found in the relevant Specification (Schedule 1) of the Invitation to Tender Documents.


Additional Information:

Service Delivery Premises
If you require identification of premises for service delivery and you wish to explore availability of NHS primary care premises please contact Dean Musk, Tower Hamlets CCG Estates & Technology Programme Manager on 07950 891642 or email: dean.musk@nhs.net

It is anticipated that the Contract will be for a period of 5 years with the option to extend by [one] period of 2 years.

Bidders can submit a bid for one or more Lots in any combination. Bidders can bid for one or more Lots, individually, in partnership or as a consortium. A separate submission must be made for each Lot. Consortia bids are welcomed where 2 or more organisations agree to collaborate to deliver the required outcomes. However a lead organisation must be identified with whom the contract will be agreed.

Each Bidder, including any consortium members and/or sub-contractors, must only be party to one Bid in respect of each Lot in this Procurement Exercise

A bidders’ event will be held on Wednesday 6th February 2019, 1:30 – 4:30pm at the Whitechapel Idea Store, 321 Whitechapel Rd, London E1 1BU.
Further details will be provided through the Portal nearer the date.

Successful bidders will be invited to deliver a presentation during week commencing 22nd April 2019.
As outlined in the ITT, following evaluation of the ‘quality submission’, only the three (3) top scoring bidders for each lot will be invited to deliver a presentation.

The Authority is issuing this ITT to the Bidders to commence the tender stage of this Procurement Exercise. The purpose of this ITT is to request Bidders submit a Tender with a view to identifying the Most Economically Advantageous Tender which best meets the Council’s requirements for the Contract. While Bidders are required to return all documents at the same time in their Tender, the Authority will be evaluating the Selection Questionnaire documents separately to the other documents in the Bidder’s Tender.
Bidders should note that the Contract relates to services that fall under the “light touch” regime of Regulations 74 to 77 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. This Procurement Exercise will therefore be run in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as they apply to “light touch” services. While the Authority is following a process similar to the open procedure under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 neither that fact nor any other statements, acts or omissions of the Authority in connection with this Procurement Exercise should be taken as indicating that the Authority intends to be bound by the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 or the general principles of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union to any greater extent than applies by law.

Organisations wishing to express their interest are requested to register on the London Tenders Portal (www.londontenders.org) where the opportunity documentation will be available for download. You will be required to complete an online questionnaire.
Organisations must ensure that access to the system is available to their representatives dealing with the contract and that this contact is updated as and when required.
The Authority will not be liable for the lack of delegated access within the organisation and will not send any documentation regarding the opportunity, which shall be exclusively available through the portal.

Suppliers are responsible for allowing sufficient time to submit their Application. The Authority accepts no liability whatsoever for tenders that are not submitted due to internet connectivity issues, transmission delays or errors.

Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer and a supporter of Ethical Governance, our protocol can be found HERE Or via http://www.towerhamlets.gov.uk/
If you require any further information prior to submit and expression of interest please contact the Authority via email procurement@towerhamlets.gov.uk quoting the contract internal reference number.