Intensive and Assertive Outreach Service: Recovery and Outreach Sub-Contracted Element

Pre-Market Engagement event for Recovery and Outreach Element of the Intensive and Assertive Outreach Service.

NSFT is inviting organisations with an interest in delivering the Recovery and Outreach Element of the Intensive and Assertive Outreach Service to a pre-market engagement event that we will be hosting on Wednesday 8th July 2026 at 9.30 - 11.30am. This will be an in-person event that will provide organisations a chance to hear more about the Service and provide feedback on the draft Service specification enabling a collaborative approach to finalising the detail prior to a formal Provider Selection Regime (PSR) competitive tender process. Please contact jo.zenzer@nsft.nhs.uk, copying in contractsteam@nsft.nhs.uk to request a formal invitation, venue and meeting details for the event (invitation only). We encourage those in the Voluntary, Community, Faith and Social Enterprise (VCFSE) sector to participate.

The new Intensive & Assertive Service being developed by NSFT is a trust wide model designed to support people with serious mental illness (SMI), particularly those with psychosis, who struggle to engage with traditional services and therefore face heightened risks and poorer outcomes. It offers proactive, flexible, and highly responsive care with small caseloads, frequent (potentially daily) contact, and extended hours. The service operates as a hub and spoke model across Norfolk and Suffolk, with central oversight of the full cohort (approximately 200 Service Users at any one time) and the ability to step people up or down depending on need. Its core functions include intensive care coordination, risk assessment and management, relapse prevention, and consultation, all with a strong emphasis on continuity of care and multi agency collaboration.

A defining feature of the model is its collaboration with Sub-Contractors, which will deliver a significant proportion of the frontline engagement and recovery support. While NSFT provides clinical leadership, including medical oversight, use of legal frameworks, and complex risk management; Sub-contractors will supply recovery workers focussed on Recovery and Outreach, enabling more flexible, community based engagement with individuals.

The recovery workers will deliver services 7 days per week, working flexibly between 9am and 7pm:

• delivering assertive outreach
• offering practical support such as help with housing, finances and daily living,
• supporting community participation and social inclusion,
• supporting access to healthcare,
• providing non-clinical medication support,
• offering substance misuse and harm reduction support
• whilst also providing carer and family support
• contributing to risk management

Each recovery worker will hold a small caseload. Working as one integrated team, the Recovery and Outreach sub-contracted element of the model enhances outreach, particularly out of hours and at weekends, and plays a critical role in building relationships, improving engagement, and reconnecting individuals with clinical care where appropriate.

This pre-market engagement focuses on the Recovery and Outreach Element of the Intensive and Assertive Outreach Service model with a planned competitive tender to commission this Service expected in coming months with an anticipated budget in the region of £750k per annum.