Milton Keynes 0-19 Healthy Child Programme Service

Location

Milton Keynes

Description

Milton Keynes Council invited suitably qualified organisations to provide a 0-19 healthy child programme service. The Council was looking to award a 5-year contract with a 2 plus 2-year extension option, the anticipated budget for the 9 years is 40 577 544,00 GBP. The healthy child programme consists of 2 services: the health visiting (0-5) service is to provide specialist community public health nurses and teams who provide expert information, assessments and interventions for babies, children and families. The school nursing (5-19)service is to promote public health to children, young people and their families, support schools, colleges, and pupil referral units to identify and respond to the health needs of their populations, and work with partners and stakeholders to achieve the best outcomes possible for all children and young people in Milton Keynes; improving their health and well-being, preventing ill health, and reducing health inequalities.

Ammendments to Previous Notice

Award Detail

CPV Codes

• 85000000 - Health and social work services

Indicators

• Contract modified due to unforeseen circumstances.

Legal Justification

Nationally agreed NHS pay settlements covered through the Public Health Grant have meant that the value of the contract has been increased to factor in the pay settlements. The increases relating to pay awards are not substantial within the meaning of Regulations 72 (1) (e) and 72 (8) of the PCR 2015 The variations pursuant to Regulations 72 (1) (b) and 72 (1) ( C ) are necessitated by the following factors. Throughout the duration of the contract, significant cost pressures have emerged due to an increase in the 0-19 workforce required above that originally anticipated and built into the contract. This is due to a higher-than-anticipated population growth identified through local modelling data and an increase in demand for the 0-19 Healthy Child Programme year on year since the start of the contract, impacted by the widespread social, emotional, and developmental impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since 2020/21, safeguarding activity, including attendance at safeguarding meetings and the specialist input required from the 0-19 service, has grown significantly in both volume and complexity. In addition, the service now has a greater role in the earlier identification of children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). Referrals to all Children's Community and Mental Health services have also risen sharply (from 2,390 to 4,106), increasing pressure on the service as health visiting and school nursing teams are required to provide additional support to the most vulnerable children and families. While the cost per head has remained relatively stable since the start of the contract, demand and case complexity have increased significantly, requiring greater capacity for children and young people needing specialist support. As a result, the investment per head and staffing resource now required to manage rising complexity and maintain a universal service exceeded the budget available under the original contract. For the additional services, change of contractor would cause significant inconvenience for the Council given the nature of the services and the service users.

Other Information

Further information can be found in the tender documents. (MT Ref:218476)