Kent and Medway Individualised Placement and Support Market Engagement

***This advert is for market engagement only*** The commissioner has published this Prior Information Notice to advertise market engagement for a future Kent and Medway Individualised Placement and Support Service.

The Commissioner intends to hold a virtual market engagement event. This event will be the formal opportunity for providers interested in delivering Individualised Placement and Support Service in Kent and Medway to hear about the future contracting model.

There will also be an overview of the competitive process that will take place and the indicative timescales. The contract term will be three years, with a two year extension option.

The financial envelope will be discussed during the market engagement event. IPS (Individualised Placement and Support) is a service commissioned by NHS Kent and Medway for the adult (18+) population of Kent and Medway with a severe mental illness.

IPS offers intensive, individually tailored support to help people to choose and find the right job, with ongoing support for the employer and employee to help ensure the person keeps their job. IPS uses a personalised and strength-based approach to support people to find a job of their choosing and aims to help people find paid jobs within just weeks of being referred to the service and will continue to work with both employer and employee to sustain the job placement for as long as possible, or to help the client into a different job.

IPS directly tackles the lack of integration of healthcare and employment services and the disconnection of different specialists by integrating employment specialists into health teams. It is based on eight evidenced based principles.

These include a focus on competitive employment, rather than volunteering or sheltered work; zero exclusion, open to all who want to work; and close integration between employment specialists and health teams. The virtual market engagement event will take place between 09:30am and 10:30am on Thursday 26th June 2025.

Upon registration and completion of the online questionnaire, a link to the virtual meeting will be provided. Additional information: To register to attend the event and access further details please go to the following https://health-family.force.com/s/Welcome, register on the system as appropriate.

Access project Ref No. C368531 'Kent and Medway Individualised Placement and Support Service Market Engagement' and complete the short questionnaire to register your attendance. Please register by 5pm on 24th June 2025.