Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust has awarded a contract for digital/remote psychological therapies to existing provider Xyla Health, reportedly based on the supplier’s performance under their original contract. Set to run to the end of March 2025, the contract is based on an activity-based charge with a maximum contract value of £220,000.
Xyla Health is a London-based company focusing on accessible healthcare, with services including post-discharge support, community-based programmes for health and wellbeing, and mental health support. The company recently announced in a LinkedIn post that it would be connecting its services with “five sister organisations” as part of the Acacium Group.
Awarded following PSR Direct Award Process C (DAP C), the decision was based on “key criteria” including quality, innovation, integration, service sustainability, and social value. The notice also highlights the performance of Xyla in meeting or exceeding expectations in areas such as improving access, reducing health inequalities, and facilitating choice.
To read the awarded contract notice in full, please click here.
Spotlight on health tech and data in Essex
At the beginning of the year, we caught up with Matthew Hopkins, chief executive at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, to talk about the digital landscape at the trust in 2023 as well as his hopes and aims for 2024. Matthew highlighted progress in areas including a trust digital strategy, the development of the trust’s quality learning system, and the implementation of a system-wide EPR in collaboration with Essex Partnership University Foundation Trust.
In April, we covered the award of a two-year contract for EPR implementation support to Dakota Integrated Solutions Ltd, which involved the supply of mobile devices, printers and barcode scanners as well as training, maintenance and support for data capture hardware and services. With the initial deployment worth reportedly just over £1 million, the contract forms part of a £190 million programme of investment over a 13-year period at East Suffolk and North Essex, which includes investment from the National Frontline Digitisation Fund.
More recently, June saw the launch of Essex County Council’s £500,000 tender for digital support for unpaid carers, offering a range of digital content and tools designed to “build resilience” and promote support using tech and online methods of communication. It also marked the publication of the latest annual report for Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative, highlighting key digital projects such as automated visit scheduling and remote access to records, as well as key outcomes including savings from a frailty virtual ward.
The role of tech in supporting mental health
At HTN, we regularly host live events intended to share learnings and best practice across the NHS. For one such recent webinar, we were joined by members of the NHS England Blueprinting Programme to explore good practice around implementing digital healthcare solutions, with a case study from the Support Hope and Recovery Online Network (SHaRON) programme, a digital initiative “borne from the idea that there should be a mechanism to access peer-to-peer support outside of the usual office hours”.
In mental health tech and innovation, July brought news from Norfolk and Waveney ICB in the form of a notice seeking expressions of interest from suppliers for the provision of a digital offer for children and young people’s mental health, with a total value over a potential three years of £1.17 million. This month, a new chatbot function has also been launched on the NHS Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull Talking Therapies website, designed to take website visitors through an online conversation and exercises to process referrals to the service.
