Talking Therapies Service

NHS Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care Board (referred to as the Commissioner) are inviting suitably qualified to attend a Market Engagement Event in relation to the Provision of NHS Talking Therapies Service.

The service shall provide community orientated, evidence-based psychological therapies to people in Norfolk and Waveney from the age of 16 with 'common' mental health problems - aligned to the NHS Talking Therapies Manual (2023) (formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT)) and locally branded as the "The Wellbeing Service" - and
support the Norfolk and Waveney Mental Health ambitions.

The service shall be flexible and responsive to the population needs and operate a biopsychosocial model of care; taking an individual's needs into consideration to plan holistic and integrated interventions to improve and population wellbeing, relevant to the stage of life of the service user. This shall include an approach to support and intervention based on individual need and with fluidity over the course of individuals contact with the NHS Talking Therapies service – providing a service that can adapt and move people through appropriate types of support in the service as needs indicate. The service will work closely with local communities, providers, and the Integrated Care System (ICS) to ensure this is implemented effectively and the service will ensure people receive warm handovers to other services which can support their mental health and the wider determinants of mental health.

The purpose of this advert is to invite the market to engage, provide feedback on the draft specification (to be shared via this portal) and register for an online market engagement event, which is scheduled for Friday 22nd September 2023 at 1pm for the provision of the NHS Norfolk and Waveney Talking Therapies Service. By testing key themes from the new service model with the provider market, the Commissioner is seeking valuable information to ensure that the Service Specification is fit for purpose.

The deadline for Soft Market Testing responses is by 17:00 hours on 22nd September 2023.

Please note this is a market testing exercise and does not commit the ICB to carry out any further procurement process. Current services will remain in place during this period in line with existing contracts and service level agreements.

Any future opportunity will be advertised in accordance with the regulations.
It is anticipated that the contract period will be for an initial period of 5 years with the option to extend for up to a further 2 years, commencing 1st September 2024.

A draft specification and indicative contract value will be shared, via this portal, ahead of the market engagement event – both will be subject to review following the early engagement.

The indicative timescales for the tender release date is scheduled for October 2023 but may be subject to change depending on the engagement feedback.