Agenda item

To follow

Report ACH21-025

The Committee considered a report outlining a business case for the proposed contract extension for the Sexual Health Early Intervention Service.

The local Sexual Health and Contraception Services were delivered through a number of contracts. COVID-19 had impacted on service delivery and procurement timelines and processes and the ongoing uncertainties and recovery would further impede procurement and market engagement. The providers of Sexual Health and Contraception Services were health partners and their capacity to participate and engage in a procurement process was likely to be restricted by their involvement in, and responses to, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In order to provide consistency in service delivery and to allow the market to recover, it was necessary to delay the planned sexual health procurement and therefore extend current contracts.

In June 2020 (Report No. ACH20-026), the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Health authorised an extension beyond term of the contract from 1^st October 2021 until 31^st March 2022. The report requested authorisation to vary the contract with Bromley Healthcare CIC for the provision of Sexual Health Early Intervention Services to extend it beyond term for a further 12 months from 1^st April 2022 to 31^st March 2023. This would align the expiry date of the local contraception and sexual health contracts with the King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (King’s) contract which provided the Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) element of the local service at the Beckenham Beacon. Under the South East London Collaborative Arrangement, King’s contract was also being extended for a one-year period (this was due to the impact of COVID-19 on the market and the procurement process). As it would be more prudent to deliver an integrated sexual health service in Bromley, in line with the national specification, it was necessary to align both the Bromley Healthcare and King’s contracts so that an integrated ‘one stop shop’ service could be provided to Bromley residents from 1^st April 2023. The contract variation would also allow commissioners to evaluate the models of service delivery that had been more successful during the COVID-19 pandemic and develop an appropriate, local integrated sexual health service model. It was also envisaged that the planned procurement would be managed over a longer time period than was normally assigned due to the ongoing impact of COVID-19.

A Member asked for further information relating to the separate LGBTQ element listed on the table of key performance data. The Assistant Director for Public Health advised that this was a specific service provided to the LGBTQ community. It was a confidential service promoting peer support in a safe environment for service users to discuss any issues and was delivered through a sub-contracting arrangement with Metro. Metro had a wide network of groups and service users were able to access more varied levels of support.

RESOLVED that the Executive be recommended to approve the variation of the Bromley Healthcare CIC Sexual Health Early Intervention Service to further extend the contract for a period of 12 months from 1^st April 2022 – 31^st March 2023 at an estimated annual value of £934k (revised whole life value of £5,116k).