Issue - meetings

Report of Director of Public Health

Councillor Woodings, Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health, introduced the report.

Lisa Lopez, Public Health Commissioning Lead, presented the report and stated the following:

(i)  the report sought approval to commission a Mental Health Reablement service to provide support to some of Nottingham’s most vulnerable citizens with mental health needs;

(ii)  the service would provide support to citizens around physical and mental health, financial wellbeing, housing/tenancy issues and access to services to help them to develop coping strategies and remain living as independently as possible in the community;

(iii)  it would support citizens with complex support needs, including but not limited to those associated with drug use, alcohol use, offending and diagnosed or suspected alcohol-related brain injury, and prevent costs in other services such as health, including emergency health services, facilitate timely discharge from psychiatric wards and reduce the number of Delayed Transfers of Care (DTOC);

(iv)  the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities has set out three key overlapping priority areas of public mental health across the life course:

-  mental health promotion;

-  prevention of mental health problems and suicide prevention;

-  improving lives, supporting recovery and inclusion of people living with mental health problems.

The Mental Health Reablement Service has the potential to support the delivery of all three of these priorities, with a particular emphasis on improving lives, supporting recovery and inclusion within the community of people with mental health problems;

(v)  The Care Act 2014 requires local authorities to ensure that their citizens have access to services that prevent escalation of, and/or delay, the impact of their needs, and have access to a range of high quality, appropriate services. The service will support Nottingham City Council’s statutory responsibilities in respect of this;

(vi)  Nottingham City is an outlier in not having commissioned a Mental Health Reablement Service. Such services are widely recognised for their preventative value and are common in other core and neighbouring cities. Nottingham City Council was to commission a Mental Health Reablement service in 2020, but due to budget pressures the contract was not awarded.

Resolved to

(1)  approve:

(a)  procurement of a Mental Health Reablement Service (as detailed in appendix 1) via a tender process, and award contracts for the services as appropriate, commencing 1 October 2023 for an initial term of 2 years, with an option to extend for a further 2 years (2+2);

(b)  total expenditure of £1,600,000 over the entirety of the contract for provision of Mental Health Reablement Services, noting that this will comprise of £800,000 from Public Health reserves for the first two years, followed by £100,000 per year from the Public Health Grant and £300,000 per year from Adult Social Care should the contract be extended for the following 2 years;

(2)  note that the:

(a)  Director of Public Health has authority to approve the outcome of the procurement process and award the contract(s) to the provider(s) deemed most suitable;

(b)  Director of Legal and Governance, or their delegate, has authority to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71