Bereaved by suicide support service

This is the establishment of a new service that will provide support to those bereaved by suicide who are resident across Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, with the overarching aim to support those who are experiencing high levels of distress and grief by supporting them to manage the impact of their bereavement and reduce the risk factors associated with this event.

The geographical footprint of the service will mirror that of the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care System (ICS) and the local Authority areas of Hampshire County Council, Southampton City Council, The Isle of Wight Council and Portsmouth City Council. Some flexibility will be essential here, but it is expected this will be minimal (no more than 5% of total cohort) and will be subject to ongoing monitoring by commissioners.

The contractor will provide 3 key elements of service:

• Single Point of Access: provision on bereavement support to those affected by suicide or suspected suicide from the point of bereavement.
• Information Provision, Awareness Raising and Partnership Working; and,
• Training: Provision of training to upskill existing services including statutory and voluntary organisations.

The following outputs will be achieved through the establishment of a bereavement by suicide support service and relevant pathway embedded into the statutory and voluntary sector system across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight;

1. People who are bereaved by suicide are supported through an accessible service (which includes options to leave a request for support 24/7).
2. Increased numbers of people accessing quality, timely and appropriate support for suicide bereavement
3. Increased access to early intervention support services and signposting to other services, including counselling.
4. Increased number of people being supported to achieve emotional wellbeing
5. Working with existing providers, increased peer support for those bereaved by suicide
6. Increased awareness of support services that exist both locally and nationally and information and signposting to existing support services and resources
7. People with lived experience are involved in service delivery and development
8. Bereavement by suicide support is widely and freely accessible across Hampshire Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight
9. Support for those bereaved by suicide is sustainable
10. Increased awareness of the incidence of suicide or attempted suicide in those who have been bereaved by suicide in primary and secondary care
11. The ability of public sector staff including NHS and school staff and police to better understand and support the needs of those who have been bereaved by suicide is enhanced.

The service provider will be required to work flexibly with the Council to make changes to the way services are delivered to improve the service and respond to funding variations. Changes that could be required may include but are not limited to;

• Staffing structures and levels to reflect the demand for services
• Flexibility with regard to service provision to reflect changes in funding availability, for example as a result of third-party grant allocation
• The data reported to the Council to understand and measure the service.

In order to manage the funding available, the council will work with the service provider to implement any changes to services provided and where necessary any exit plans. The Council will use open book costing in accordance with the contractual terms as a mechanism to inform any contract variations. Additional information: In the event that the contract is terminated during both the initial and extended term the Council may, at its sole option, approach the 2nd placed supplier from the tender evaluation process undertaken to establish the initial contract to provide the services for the remaining allowable duration.

Should the 2nd placed supplier not have capacity or is unable to perform the contract services for any other reason the Council may approach the 3rd placed supplier and so forth.