County Durham Integrated Sexual Health Service

Concepts

• durham
• family planning
• open access sexual health services
• sexual health
• county durham integrated sexual health service
• durham county council
• the integrated sexual health service
• health
• sexual
• integrated

Location

DURHAM

Description

The Integrated Sexual Health Service (ISHS) provides open access sexual health services, including genitourinary medicine (GUM), contraception and sexual health (CaSH) and HIV Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Durham County Council are intending to award a contract to an existing provider following Direct Award C (under PSR) for the period 1st October 2024 - 30th September 2029.

Total Quantity or Scope

Durham County Council are intending to award a contract to an existing provider following Direct Award C (under PSR) for the period 1st October 2024 - 30th September 2029 with a value of £26,198,715

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 85312330 - Family-planning services

Indicators

• Award on basis of price.

Legal Justification

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The standstill period begins on the day after the publication of this notice. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by 8th January 2025 to donna.iley@durham.gov.uk. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.

Other Information

This is a Provider Selection Regime (PSR) intention to award notice. The awarding of this contract is subject to the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023. For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 do not apply to this award. The standstill period begins on the day after the publication of this notice. Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by 8th January 2025 to donna.iley@durham.gov.uk. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.' The council has fully considered each of the key criteria when making a decision on the award of this contract. A particular emphasis was placed upon: • Quality and innovation: the provider's most recent Care Quality Commission inspection judgement was 'Good', whilst the sub-contractor that delivers the online provision is rated as 'Outstanding'; no formal complaints were received in 2022 and 2023 and service user feedback both from adult patients and young people is overwhelmingly positive; the Service rapidly changed its delivery model to respond to COVID-19, with many of the changes retained and now seen as business-as-usual, and the provider also responded quickly to the national Mpox outbreak; whilst any performance challenges or delivery issues have been raised with the provider and action taken as a result. • Integration, Collaboration and Service Sustainability: the provider works in partnership with a range of organisations and services to ensure that integrated pathways are in place to improve outcomes, including gynaecology and midwifery services, primary care, the Drug and Alcohol Recovery Service, Children and Young People's Services, education settings, the Mobile Sexual Health Service, the Health Squad, and the secure estate; the Service provides good representation and engagement on local and regional strategic groups and has strong links with cross-boundary services; and the Service benefits from the infrastructure, support and resilience County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust is able to provide as part of a wider health system. • Improving Access, Reducing Health Inequalities and Facilitating Choice: the Service provides a wide range of options for access, including weekday and evening clinic provision, full clinical triage by telephone, 24-hour access to online sexually transmitted infection testing and condom ordering services, and contraceptive services available from GP surgeries and community pharmacies; service users are treated as individuals and provided with a range of personalised care options to facilitate choice, with treatment tailored to individual needs, and can attend sexual health clinics across the county rather than being tied to their 'home' or registered clinic; plus the provider is utilising the findings of a recent Health Equity Audit to improve access to the Service in terms of location, accessibility, and delivery, with weekend clinics and walk-in appointments to be reintroduced, for example. Based upon the assessment of the provider's past performance across the key criteria and its ability to continue to deliver against these, the council has taken the decision to award the contract to the incumbent provider. Officers of Public Health Senior Management Team were the decision makers. There were no Conflicts of interest identified among the Public Health Senior Management Team.