Deadline fast approaching!
In November 2019, the service contract for the 14 bed mental health rehabilitation housing service in Higgins Walk, Stevenage, will come to an end. This is an opportunity to review and design how this and similar services will be provided to ensure the provision is suitable for the coming years.
The draft service specification outlines the strategic role that rehabilitation housing plays within the mental health services landscape. It is a key enabler for ensuring people can be discharged from inpatient settings, for supporting people to learn or re-learn daily living skills enabling them to move on to other models of supported and general housing, and for preventing further loss of independence for people at risk of going into crisis.
In addition to the provision of intensive enablement support to promote independence in daily life, the provider(s) will provide a full housing management service for the site(s), including buildings and grounds maintenance, repairs, rent collection, health and safety compliance and other functions normally discharged by a housing provider. This will be funded from housing benefits received for the residents.
Rehabilitation housing services can improve service users’ quality of life, support them to participate in their community, ease the pressure on community mental health and primary care services and free up inpatient services so that they can respond better when people need them.
Hertfordshire Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust and Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) are working together to explore options for continuing and growing this provision in Hertfordshire, so that it better meets both the volume and geographic spread of demand.
Demand analysis suggests that in addition to the 14 bed service in Stevenage, a further 14-20 beds in Hertfordshire are required in order to meet demand over the coming 5-10 year period. HCC want to engage with the market to understand whether providers may be able to source additional sites for these beds, and to discuss the service model that may be commissioned.
Initial mapping suggests these additional beds may be provided in one large service to the west of the county (to complement the Higgins Walk scheme in the North), or in two smaller services, one in the west and one in the east.
A number of beds will be used as short-stay crisis beds and as step-up/step-down provision for people coming out of hospital, and those at risk of going in to hospital.
A focus for the service is likely to be on supporting people who have been in residential care for a long time to re-learn independent living skills and enable them to live independently again in the community.
HCC also wish to explore with providers opportunities for using intensive enablement housing as part of discharge to assess models, in which people being discharged from hospital can stay for a short time and their needs be assessed fully before decisions are made as to where they would best be supported in the longer term.
Return Deadline: 12.00 noon, Monday 17th December 2018.
For full resources and information, explore any of the links below:
» Supplier Questionnaire Document
» Full Services Brief
» Service Specification Extract