Advocacy Services in Nottinghamshire and Nottingham

Nottinghamshire County Council, on behalf of Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire and Nottingham Clinical Commissioning Groups, is seeking to appoint a suitably experienced organisation to deliver a countywide Advocacy Service for adults. The core service will include all elements of statutory advocacy provision, currently: • Independent Mental Capacity Advocates (IMCA) • Independent Mental Health Advocates (IMHA) • Paid Representatives • NHS Complaints Advocacy (ICA) • Care Act Advocacy In addition the Provider will deliver: • hospital based non statutory IMHA advocacy for informal patients in mental health or learning disability establishments; and • advocacy as part of the Transforming Care fast track programme They will also develop creative and innovative ways of dealing with requests for non-statutory advocacy.

All requirements will be addressed through a single contract which will provide a single gateway to advocacy. The service will be provided in accordance with principles of personalisation and will offer support to motivate and enable people to develop skills to make informed decisions, gain access to appropriate services and seek assistance from informal networks where appropriate.

The Provider will develop innovative and flexible ways of working which will deliver best value whilst improving the efficiency and the effectiveness of the service. The advocacy services may change during the term of the contract and the types of advocacy mentioned above may cease, be amended and/or new advocacy services may be included within the contract. Additional information: Award of contract - originally posted April 2016