Agenda item

Cabinet Member: Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care, Councillor Janet Campbell

Officer: Director of Public Health, Rachel Flowers

Key decision: no

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.    Approve the procurement strategy identified in this report for a single stage procurement that will result in a single contract to deliver an integrated, Adults and Young People’s Community Drug and Alcohol Treatment Service, for an estimated contract value of £2,984,360 per annum (£20,890,520 for a maximum seven year term)

2.    Note the proposal to bring additional elements into the scope of the tendered service, currently contracted separately. This includes pharmacy needle exchange provision; pharmacy supervised administration provision and GP Shared Care, with a phased approach to transition to the new contractual arrangements

The Cabinet Member for Resources & Financial Governance (Councillor Callton Young) noted that Cabinet was being asked to approve the procurement strategy for the Integrated Drug & Alcohol Treatment Service which would result in a single contract with an estimated value of £2.98 million per annum. Members were advised that the cost of the contract would be met by the Public Health grant.

Leanne Bobb (Strategic Category Manager) provided the meeting with a presentation in relation to the procurement of the drug and alcohol service. A copy of the presentation can be viewed online.

The Cabinet Member for Resources & Financial Governance requested information of the savings that had arisen from investment, as outlined within paragraph 3.6 of the report.

In response, the Strategic Category Manager noted that the procurement for this service was complex and there a number of elements of care which were individually costed. At the present time, there was a core service for drug and alcohol treatment and additionally there was service provision for young people. The aim was to maintain the budgets for the provision and the additional primary care elements through subcontracting or another avenue that the lead provider would choose. This would result in a maximum contract value for the provision and it would be up to the provider to ensure delivery of care closer to home for residents across the borough. In previous experience of using direct contracting, only certain providers had come forward, however, it was hoped the new model would encourage new providers of care.

The Strategy would put an onus on improving the care which was delivered and would avoid silo delivery. The Strategy Category Manager suggested that the model would lead to a tertiary triangle of services which worked towards a collaborative delivery within the community. It was stressed by the Cabinet Member that the council was making savings in the longer term by investing in the service.

The Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care (Councillor Janet Campbell) confirmed that she was content with the Strategy and for moving locality delivery as it married up with the work of the council. It was noted that the service had continued to be delivered throughout the pandemic with group work and one to ones taking place in safe environments; and those involved were thanked for their work.

The Shadow Cabinet Member for Families, Health & Social Care (Councillor Yvette Hopley) thanked officers and the Director of Public Health, Rachel Flowers, who had worked on the contract. The additional elements of the needle exchange, share care, early help, the family unit and digital platform were welcomed. The Shadow Cabinet Member noted that she had raised concerns that during the pandemic there had been too much of a shift to digital platforms, however she had received assurances from the Director of Public Health that in addition to virtual services a number of other sessions were also made available.

The additional services were welcomed and it was felt by the Shadow Cabinet Member that it was sensible to move from 20 contracts to one overarching contract, however it was queried whether there was any risk involved regarding bringing the contracts together under one contract. In particular, it was queried what the governance arrangements would be and how it would be ensure that service delivery remained at a good level.

In response, the Strategic Category Manager advised Members that the council was working closely with the Local Medical Council and Local Pharmaceutical Committee to manage the transition of services. Expressions of interests would be sought from both organisations which already had contracts and those which may be interested in being awarded a contract. By working with GPs the service would be available locally for people and would ensure partnerships worked effectively across the drug and alcohol treatment service.

The Director of Public Health (Rachel Flowers) noted that when she first started as the Director of Public Health, the Shadow Cabinet Member had serious concerns in relation to the service and it was made prominent by her comments that evening that progress had been made to improve the service, even during the pandemic. It was highlighted that it was important that needs assessments took place with service users to ensure the support they required was provided as there were often complex needs involved.

It was reiterated by the Director of Public Health that by spending money on the treatment service, public money was being invested and saved. Progress on the delivery of service had been made to provide an integrated service and it was felt that the new commissioning strategy would support further improvements.

The Leader of the Council delegated authority to the Cabinet to make the following decisions:

RESOLVED: To

1.     Approve the procurement strategy identified in this report for a single stage procurement that will result in a single contract to deliver an integrated, Adults and Young People’s Community Drug and Alcohol Treatment Service, for an estimated contract value of £2,984,360 per annum (£20,890,520 for a maximum seven year term)

2.     Note the proposal to bring additional elements into the scope of the tendered service, currently contracted separately. This includes pharmacy needle exchange provision; pharmacy supervised administration provision and GP Shared Care, with a phased approach to transition to the new contractual arrangements.