1920-0200 - Mental Health Awareness Training

Islington Council invites suitable expressions of interest from suppliers for Mental Health Awareness Training in Camden and Islington.

This is a joint commission by Camden and Islington councils for training services in both boroughs. The procurement is led by Islington Council.
Promoting positive mental health and well-being is a strategic priority for both Camden and Islington. For the past four years the councils have jointly commissioned the provision of mental health awareness and suicide prevention awareness training services. This training supports the capacity and capability of communities and key public facing services: to help themselves and others when experiencing mental health distress, to access support at an early stage, and to tackle the stigma and discrimination around mental health and ill-health. It also supports one of our strategic suicide prevention priorities across Camden and Islington.

The mental health awareness training service will sit within a broad cross-borough approach to mental health promotion and suicide prevention.

The aims of this training service will be to:
• raise awareness and improve understanding of mental health, including suicide risk among the Camden and Islington populations
• reduce stigma and discrimination around mental health at community level
• raise awareness and understanding of mental health and mental health support services amongst key local workforces in order to recognise and support mental health problems
• reduce stigma and discrimination around mental health within the workplace, and
• promote recovery and positive outcomes for young people and adults with mental health problems.

The high quality service will meet the mental health learning and support needs of people working, living and volunteering within the two boroughs.


The requirement

The service will deliver a comprehensive range of high quality, evidence-based mental health awareness training courses. This will include the licensed and internationally recognised Mental Health First Aid (MHFA) and Youth Mental Health First Aid (YMHFA) courses, suicide prevention training and other evidence based mental health awareness training.

Training will be delivered to local public-facing workforces, principally those that interface with the public (and particularly the more vulnerable members of the public who often have risk factors for mental ill-health and suicide) and to local resident communities.
The training courses will improve skills, knowledge and confidence in discussing mental health issues including suicide, reduce the stigma and resulting discrimination associated with mental health and ill-health, and increase the ability of statutory, community and voluntary sector services and the local community to recognise and support mental health problems, including increasing knowledge of local services. With specific reference to suicide, the training will provide frontline staff with better awareness of suicide risk, the skills and confidence to have appropriate conversations and a better understanding of available crisis and non-crisis mental health services.

Applicants must have a proven track record of delivering adult learning and training courses and demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the mental health needs of Camden and Islington’s populations. Applicants must be able to engage effectively with workplace stakeholders and be able to deliver a range of creative approaches for accessing and promoting the training to local communities. Both boroughs are committed to the co-production of services and a requirement of the contract will be to co-produce elements of the training programme with people with lived mental health experience.

Lots
This contract is not being split into lots because a single provider is required to deliver this service.

TUPE [Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations]

Potential providers must be aware that TUPE may or may not apply to this service. Further details will be available in the invitation to tender.


Contract Period

The contract period will be for 24 months from an estimated start date 1 April 2020 with an option to extend by two further periods of 12 months each (total contract duration up to 48 months).


Contract Value

There is a total lifetime contract value available of £620,000 over a maximum 48 months.
This is split across the two boroughs of Camden and Islington. The budget available for delivery in Camden will be £80,000 per annum and £75,000 per annum in Islington.

Bids will be expected to maximise training volume within the fixed budget and to meet minimum training volume requirements (as set out in the service specification). Unit prices that do not deliver this volume will be disqualified (see pricing schedule for details).


Award criteria

The contract will be awarded to the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT). MEAT for this contract is quality 80% and cost 20%. Further details will be provided in the invitation to tender.

Cost 20%
Quality 80% made up of:
• Proposed approach to the delivery of sustained, high quality mental health and suicide prevention training (30%)
• Proposed approach to social value (20%)
• Proposed approach to effective delivery and marketing (15%)
• Proposed approach to co-production and engagement with stakeholders (10%)
• Proposed approach to mobilisation (5%)


Total 100%

Tenderers should be aware that we reserve the right to hold site visits and/or presentations and/or interviews during the tender process. Site visits and/or presentations and/or interviews will be for verification/clarification purposes of the written submission.
We reserve the right to interview leading bidders.

Procurement Process

This contract will be procured using the Open Procedure. The Open Procedure means that all bidders who successfully express an interest will automatically be invited to tender and have access to the tender documents. Those who submit a tender and meet the minimum requirements will have their full tender, method statements and pricing evaluated.