Decision details

RESOLVED

KEY DECISION

That the Executive:

a)     Delegated authority to the Executive Member for Adults Health and Wellbeing in consultation with the Director of Public Health and the Executive Director of Finance and Performance to extend a Section 75 agreement (or equivalent public sector agreement) for up to two years with partners, NHS England, to jointly commission the Integrated Sexual health and HIV service from April 2023 – March 2025.

b)     Agreed to extend the current Northamptonshire Integrated Sexual Health and HIV contract with Northamptonshire NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT)

Reason for Recommendations:

·         The recommended course of action is the most cost-effective and likely to match future services with the changing profile of North Northamptonshire’s population

·         Accords with legislation or the policy of the Council

·         Enables development of the previous decisions of Northamptonshire County Council in September 2018,

·         An extension of the NISHH contract with NHFT will provide time to undertake a needs assessment and benchmarking of the service and introduce new KPI’s and targets required to meet the new and emerging needs of the population, identified through this process

Alternative Options Considered – The options available to North and West Northamptonshire are as follows:

a)    Extend the current contract with NHFT. This will provide time to undertake a needs assessment and a benchmarking exercise to better understand the emerging needs of the local population. The KPI’s and targets would be updated through a contract variation to ensure the service is fit for purpose and delivering value for money while meeting local need. This will also give time to understand how services have changed and how the learning can be further used to inform future re-commissioning of the new sexual health service in 2025 in line with the wider transformation and strategic aims. Give time for the current Provider to reset and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

b)     Do not extend the contract, and reprocure the service – the risk is that this would not be completed in time, and risk service disruption. The transformation and strategic ambitions are still being refined and the risk is that the intentions may not be fully embedded in the new service design for 2023.