Provision of a Stepdown Service with 24hrs Live in Support for Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust

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. 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.

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.

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. 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. 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.

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. The lifetime value of the contract (5 years with two optional one year extensions options) is £10,652,230. The anticipated contract start date is 01/12/2026.