This is a notice to inform the market of the intention to commission a contract for a Crisis House in the Redbridge area via the Most Suitable Provider Process under the Provider Selection Regime.
The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023, Paragraph 10 - The
Most Suitable Provider Process is being used to commission this service. This notice will be
live for fourteen (14) days from the date of publication.
This is a notice to inform the market of the intention to commission a contract for a Crisis
House in the London Borough of Redbridge.
Crisis Houses offer an alternative to hospital for users of service to remain in a communitybased setting with 24/7 mental health support, where they are at the centre of their own
high-quality, rights-based care as citizens within their local community. Currently there are
no such mental health crisis alternatives in Outer North East London.
NELFT proposes to commission a Crisis House within the London Borough of Redbridge.
Redbridge has a population of 306,000 and residents from an Asian background (52%) are
the largest ethnic group, followed by White British (23%). Residents with Bangladeshi and
Pakistani background also experience some of the worst health outcomes across the
borough. 12% of the Redbridge population is income deprived, which is lower than the
national average (12.9%). In Redbridge the levels of deprivation are concentrated in specific
areas. The South and Northeast of the borough have the highest rates of deprivation and the
highest levels are around Ilford. It also has a much higher rate of homelessness than the
other NELFT boroughs, which is of particular importance to the new service as those
affected can be up to 15 times more likely to suffer from Severe Mental Illness (SMI)
(Redbridge JSNA 2021).
The recent stakeholder engagement undertaken by PPL on behalf of NELFT in December
2023 identified key features of a service to support people in mental health crisis. One of the
comments from that engagement specifically stated:
"There is a need for a respite spot - somewhere where someone can be away from their
family environment and does not necessarily need an inpatient admission but needs a place
to go and decompress and prevent things escalating to a place they do need an admission."
This brief crisis intervention will seek to reduce the need for acute, inpatient admission;
support the private sector bed exit plan and contribute to the Trust's ambition of zero out of
area placements. The Crisis House will be a collaboration between NELFT Redbridge
community and crisis services and the Provider.
The key elements of the Crisis House are that it be voluntary sector delivered using a traumainformed, autism-informed and equity-focused approach; includes peer support in the
interventions and links with the person's support network, local community assets and other
key partner agencies. People accessing the Crisis House will be experiencing a period of
mental health crisis and will access the service to be and feel safe. People will be able to take
part in a choice of therapeutic support while in the Crisis House that will help towards crisis
resolution. Redbridge mental health services from NELFT will provide clinical input to the
service.
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The Provider will supply suitable accommodation in the London borough of Redbridge, which
will accommodate between seven and nine users of service.
Each user of service will have a furnished bedroom and will also have access to private toilet
and bathing facilities and kitchen and dining provision.
Users of service admitted will be allocated to their designated room with the Provider
logging and tracking this information for reporting during their stay. Upon the completion of
their stay, the Provider will be expected to clean and prepare the room within shortest period
possible to ensure there is a sufficient turnaround with rooms for future users of service. The
coproduced House Charter will inform users of service the consequences where intentional
damage has been caused. It will not be the responsibility of NELFT to pay for any repair work.
The property shall be secure for all members of staff and users of service within the building
with effective security & emergency measures in place; this shall include but is not limited to
the following:
• fire alarms & fitted detection systems within the property
• emergency lighting
• fire extinguishers
• fire doors
• gas and electricity compliance
• appropriate insurance.