Agenda item

Report of the Chief Partnership Officer

The Cabinet considered a report of the Chief Partnership Officer which indicated that the Health and Social Care Act 2012 places a duty on local authorities to provide open access services for contraception and for prevention, testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) for their residents. This is mandatory and entails the key principles of providing services that are free, confidential, open access and not restricted by age. The term ‘open access’ refers to services being available to anyone requiring testing for sexually transmitted infections and subsequent treatment (not including HIV treatment), irrespective of their personal characteristics, place of residence, GP registration or immigration status, and without referral.

The Integrated Sexual Health (ISH) Service in Coventry is currently delivered by Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust (CWPT) and is based on a hub and spoke model, with the hub in the City of Coventry Health Centre. The service provides clinic-based interventions and sub-contracts GPs and pharmacies to provide contraceptive (emergency contraception, long-acting reversible contraception and condom distribution) and sexual health services (chlamydia screening) within community settings. The cost of all testing and drug treatments is included within the contract. Currently, online and pharmacy HIV testing services are commissioned outside of the main contract for ISH.

The current contract commenced in 2015 and integrated a number of separate contraception and STI services. The service was jointly procured between Coventry City Council and NHS England (NHSE), who are responsible for commissioning HIV treatment, to enable a more effective patient pathway from HIV testing into treatment. The current contract was due to expire on 31 March 2023 but has been extended to 31 March 2024 in order to allow for the procurement proposed in the report to take place.

Similar services are currently commissioned jointly by Warwickshire County Council (WCC) and NHSE, with the contract delivered by George Eliot NHS Trust and some direct locally enhanced services in primary care.

It is proposed that the service is re-procured by the City Council jointly with Warwickshire County Council and NHSE to deliver both ISH and HIV treatment services within an integrated model, providing efficiency and a smooth patient journey from HIV testing to treatment. The recommended approach is that, following appointment of a provider via a joint procurement process, the Councils will hold a single contract for sexual health service provision and NHSE will hold a second, separate, contract for HIV treatment to ensure contract management remains within specialist teams. Warwickshire County Council will operate as contract holder for sexual health service provision and Coventry City Council will have third party rights. A supporting contract will be drawn up between Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council to clarify roles, risk sharing and liabilities and a joint overseeing board will be established involving Directors of Public Health from each local authority.

The report included details of the proposed procurement process to respond to needs assessment and a description of key service priorities, including a focus on community outreach and engagement to support the reduction of sexual health inequalities.

Procurement Board has agreed that each party’s financial contribution to the contract be proportionate to the level of patient engagement within current services and that, therefore, the maximum financial contributions for the annual value of the contract will be:

In order to support a stable health system, it is intended that the contract for sexual health services is for an initial 5 year term, with the option to extend for a further 5 years.

RESOLVED that the Cabinet:-

1)    Approves the commencement of a competitive procurement tender exercise for the provision of Sexual Health Services jointly with Warwickshire County Council and NHS England.

2)  Notes that the current contract with Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Partnership Trust has been varied for a further 12-month term until 31 March 2024 in order to facilitate the tendering exercise of the new service.

3)  Approves proposals to recommission the service for a period of five years with the option to extend for up to a further five years, making the total potential contract length 10 years.

4)  Delegates authority to the Director of Public Health and Wellbeing, following consultation with the Chief Legal Officer and the Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport :

a)  To award a contract for the provision of Sexual Health Services to the successful provider; and

b)  To finalise the terms of, and enter into, the relevant legal agreements as well as any associated documents deemed necessary to enter into the contract.