Enhanced Care Unit

Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, acting as Lead Provider of the West Midlands CAMHS Provider Collaborative, is seeking expressions of interest from suitably qualified and experienced providers to deliver an Enhanced Care Unit (ECU) within the West Midlands.

The service will provide specialist inpatient mental health care for children and young people aged 13 to 17, with those under 13 considered on a case-by-case basis. The service will support young people presenting with acute mental illness requiring Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) level care, including those with co-morbid Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC), eating disorders, and those requiring nasogastric (NG) interventions.

The service must be located within the West Midlands and both the provider and service must be registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide mental health services.

The service aims include:

• Providing an enhanced therapeutic environment with a trauma-responsive and autism-sensitive clinical model.
• Delivering intensive specialist care through multidisciplinary care planning and risk assessment.
• Supporting young people with disordered eating where this presents a risk factor.
• Stepping young people down from highly restrictive levels of care as soon as clinically appropriate.
• Providing a specialist inpatient option for young people who might otherwise require referral to a low secure pathway due to a lack of suitable alternatives.
• Preventing unnecessary escalation by providing intensive, needs-led support in a less restrictive environment.

The Commissioner may award either one contract to one provider or two contracts to two providers. The annual contract value is £4,841,515 where one contract is awarded or £9,683,030 where two contracts are awarded, at the Commissioner’s sole discretion.

The contract is expected to commence on 1 April 2027 for an initial period of three years, with the option to extend for up to a further two years.

Contract Information

Buyer: Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust

Deadline: 27 July 2026, 5:00pm

Contract Value: £48,415,150 (excluding VAT)

Delivery Length: 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2030, with the option to extend for up to a further 2 years

Tender Link: Click here (Quote/Tender Reference: C391749 – Enhanced Care Unit)

Evaluation Criteria

The procurement will be evaluated using:

• Quality and Innovation – 35%
• Integration, Collaboration and Service Sustainability – 20%
• Improving Access, Reducing Health Inequalities and Facilitating Choice – 25%
• Social Value – 10%
• Unseen Presentation – 10%

Basic Selection Criteria and Value will be assessed on a Pass/Fail basis.

CQC Requirements

The provider and service must be registered with the Care Quality Commission to provide mental health services.

Regulatory Information

This procurement is being undertaken under the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 (as amended).

The successful provider will be awarded a subcontract under the Lead Provider contract for the West Midlands CAMHS Provider Collaborative. Should the lead provider arrangement change from 1 April 2027, existing subcontracts will transfer to the new lead provider under the relevant contractual terms.

The opportunity reflects continued investment in specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services across the West Midlands, with a focus on providing intensive inpatient care for children and young people with complex mental health needs in a therapeutic and less restrictive environment.

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