Distress Brief Intervention - Durham and Derwentside

Location

Darlington

Description

The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme (a well-established service embedded across Scotland) provides a compassionate, time limited response for adults (16+) experiencing emotional distress. It offers rapid, person centred, practical support aimed at preventing escalation into crisis services, reducing avoidable demand on urgent and emergency pathways, and improving individuals' ability to cope and self-manage. Findings demonstrate that the DBI service is an effective, valued, and efficient component of the local mental health system, providing measurable clinical, operational, and system benefits through early intervention and strong partnership working. TEWV are intending to award a contract to an existing provider following direct award process C for 12 months at a contract value of £233,000.

Total Quantity or Scope

This service is a recognised intervention to support individuals, and will initially be delivered in the Derwentside area in Tees Valley and County Durham. In becoming an associate site of the established Scottish National DBI programme, becoming part of the growing DBI learning community, working and learning with DBI partners in support of the continuous improvement of the DBI approach. The Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) programme is an established service in Scotland. DBI is a time-limited, supportive and problem-solving contact with an individual in distress. It is delivered to all presentations of distress (including self-harm) that have an emotional component and that do not require (further) emergency service involvement. This includes people who may not directly seek help themselves, but who are referred for assistance by others because of their perceived distress. The overarching aim of the DBI programme is to provide a framework for improved inter-agency co-ordination, collaboration and co-operation across a wide range of care settings, interventions and community supports, towards the shared goal of providing a compassionate and effective response to people in distress, enabling them to be more able to manage current and future distress.

Award Detail

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 85000000 - Health and social work 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 publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to the relevant authority by 25th March 2026. 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 publication of this notice marks the start of the standstill period. Representations by providers must be made to decision makers by 25th March 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.' Any representations should be sent to Jemma.amer1@nhs.net The award decision-makers are Shaun Mayo (General Manager AMH Planned Care and Specialist Services Durham and Tees Valley) 06/03/26 - , Jamie Todd (Director of Operations & Transformation DTVF CAMHS, Adult Mental Health and Ridgeway Secure Inpatient Services)06/03/26 - and Claire Bestford ( Principle Finance Business Partner Durham and Tees Valley) 06/03/26. John Chapman - Associate Director of Finance - Accounting and Governance (06/03/26) - note any declared conflicts or potential conflicts of interest of individuals making the decision and how these were managed; and - include a statement explaining the relative importance of the key criteria that the relevant authority used to make a decision, the rationale for the relative importance of the key criteria, and the rationale for choosing the provider with reference to the key criteria. Sample wording: 'Conflicts of interest identified among [group/committee/officer]: [number]. The non-conflicted members have assessed the nature and risk of this conflict, and have decided which steps to take to avoid or manage it. [Potential steps may include: excluding the conflicted member from related discussions, excluding the conflicted member from decision-making, delegating the matter to a sub-committee of non-conflicted decision-makers, or seeking independent advice to help make the decision. This list is illustrative rather than exhaustive.]'