Purpose

On 24th May 2023, a key decision paper to
approve the commencement of a tender process to find a suitable
provider or providers to deliver Public Health Nursing for 0 to 5
years olds and Smoking in Pregnancy services in Doncaster was
presented to cabinet. Cabinet approved the procurement of these
services and subsequently a procurement exercise was undertaken
over the summer of 2023.
All families with a child aged 0-5 years and all pregnant women
currently resident in the local authority area must be offered the
Healthy Child Programme (HCP) delivered via 5 mandated visits. The
0-5 element of the HCP is led primarily by health visiting
services, providing place-based services and working in partnership
with other early year providers including midwifery, Family Hubs,
and early years inclusion teams. Doncaster incorporates smoking
cessation services for pregnant and post-natal women into the 0-5
HCP pathway. This integrated model sees specialist stop smoking
advisors sitting alongside and working with health visiting
teams.
Both services perform well against their performance indicators and
compare well against standardised indicators to other regional and
national services. For this reason we did not recommend any major
changes to the current delivery model. The re-procurement of
service did however offer an opportunity to review provision and
identify opportunities where improvements might be made.
Opportunities through the Start for Life programme have been
identified to up-
skill and expand health visiting remit, as well as support better
partnership working with other early years providers.
As a result of an open tender process, a panel of four evaluators
went through a rigorous evaluation and moderation process to assess
the bids received. It was agreed that Rotherham Doncaster and South
Humber NHS Foundation Trust had exceeded the quality score and
demonstrated they had the capability to provide the service as
described in the service specification. The bid also came within
the financial package as outlined in the tender
documentation.

Content

To award the contract for Public Health
Nursing for 0 to 5 years olds and Smoking in Pregnancy services to
Rotherham Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust
commencing April 1st 2024.

Alternative options considered

N/A