Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) is intending to award a contract to commission 30 low to medium Step Down Beds within multiple properties to serve the boroughs of Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster. This includes sufficient 24-hour staffing coverage in each property. The service is commissioned to support acute discharge and reduce delayed discharges with step down placements being time-limited and actively managed to enable services users to move on.<br/>The service is intended to commence on 1 December 2026 for an initial term of five years, with an option to extend the Contract for up to two further periods of 12 months each, giving a maximum potential contract term of seven years.

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 midnight on Thursday, 15th October 2026. This contract has not yet formally been awarded; this notice serves as an intention to award under the PSR.<br/><br/>Written representations should be sent to [email protected]<br/><br/>Decision-makers:<br/><br/>Col Te Aho - Stepdown Service Manager<br/>Lucy Nelson - Senior Strategy and Transformation Lead<br/>Mark Sellars - Deputy Director of Urgent Care<br/>Phillip Perkins - CNWL Board Member<br/>Selena Cox - Director of Urgent Care<br/><br/>There were no identified conflicts of interest of individuals making the decision.<br/><br/>The five key criteria used by the authority in making its decision were:<br/><br/>Key criteria 1: Quality and innovation – 27% weighting<br/>i) A Provider can deliver high-quality, person-centred support for service users accessing the step-down service. <br/>ii) A Provider will deliver ongoing improvement to service delivery and to the highest standard<br/> <br/>Key criteria 2: Value: - 30% weighting<br/>That the provider demonstrates on going value. That the quality of the service, overall patient experience and downstream requirements are met balancing the overall costs, system and patient benefits and the financial implication of a proposed contracting arrangement.<br/><br/>Key criteria 3: Integration, collaboration and service sustainability – 25% weighting<br/>That the provider can deliver an integrated, collaborative and sustainable service in the following ways:<br/>(i) an integrated service (including with other health care services, health-related services or social care services),<br/>(ii) a collaborative service (including with providers and with persons providing health-related services or social care services), and<br/>(iii) a sustainable service (which includes the stability of good quality health care services or service continuity of health care services),so as to improve health outcomes.<br/><br/>Key criteria 4. Improving access, reducing health inequalities and facilitating choice – 8% weighting<br/>That the provider is improving access, reducing health inequalities and facilitating choice throughout the step-down bed pathway. That the provider is ensuring accessibility to services and treatments for all eligible patients, improving health inequalities and ensuring that patients have choice in respect of their health care.<br/><br/>Key criteria 5: Social value – 10% weighting<br/>That the provider can demonstrate social value, to improve economic, social and environmental well-being in the geographical area relevant to a proposed contracting arrangement.<br/><br/>LifeCome Care Limited demonstrates a strong ability to meet all five key PSR criteria in delivering the Step Down Beds with 24hr Live in Support across the boroughs of Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster.

CNWL is a combined trust that provides services throughout a person’s life, covering community, sexual health, mental health, offender care and addictions services in London, Milton Keynes and beyond. This includes providing mental health care to the North West London population of Brent, Harrow, Hillingdon, Kensington & Chelsea and Westminster. <br/><br/>The Trust has made significant progress in improving and advancing urgent and acute care pathways. The ambition is to ensure there are a range of alternative provisions available, and for people who require an admission, the admission should be purposeful and meaningful. Early discharge is facilitated with a focus on an individual’s recovery journey and to enable them to live independently in the community and at home. <br/><br/>The Trust is intending on awarding a contract to provide a supported accommodation service for individuals to ‘step down’ from acute mental health inpatient units. There will be locations across all five North West London boroughs to ensure good accessibility, with adequate 24/7 on-site support. <br/><br/>The aim of the Step-Down service is to facilitate safe and early discharge from acute settings, bring service users back into their community as early as possible, promote independence and autonomy, and provide effective and supportive mental healthcare in the least restrictive setting possible.<br/><br/>The aims of the service include to:<br/><br/>- Support early discharge of patients from acute mental health wards safely into the community, supporting a reduction in length of stay and releasing capacity.<br/>- Support early discharge of CNWL service users in out of area beds, including, where necessary, co-ordinating service user repatriations. <br/>- Provide recovery-focused environments that support service users to build independence, engage with activities of daily living and remain complaint with treatment. <br/>- Provide social care support, particularly in relation to benefits and housing process. <br/>- Refer/ signpost patients to activities within the local community that will support recovery.<br/>- Provide support to service users with discharge goals and ensure timely discharge is being facilitated so the Step-Down service can continue to support flow.<br/>- Work jointly with CNWL Teams and other relevant organisations to support referrals, patient care and discharge planning, and participate in/ lead MDT Professionals meetings.<br/><br/>Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) are intending to award a contract to LifeCome Care Limited following a Competitive Process under The Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023.<br/><br/>The lifetime value of the contract (5 years with two optional one year extensions options) is £10,652,230.<br/><br/>The anticipated contract start date is 01/12/2026.

Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)

Open procedure

Lot 1: Bids: 8