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- In accordance with the Provider Selection Regime (Regulations 2023). Following a competitive process, the recommendation is to award the contract for Place Based Infant Feeding Peer Support Service (all 3 Lots) to the National Childbirth Trust (NCT). As they are the provider that passed the checks conducted under the Basic Selection Criteria and provided the lowest Value per Other Key Criteria point score.
Proposed Contract Start Date; 2/1//2026 – 01/01/2029
There is the potential for a contract extension of 2 x 1 year(s) (24 months), depending on both the success in achieving the required outcomes and the availability of further funding.
The total contract value for the full contract should all extensions be enacted is £2,762,108.44
Description of Service;
The Place-Based Infant Feeding Peer Support Service will support prospective and expectant parents and carers, and parent and carers who reside in Kent with infant feeding through local accessible sessions. The Service will work with local communities to change attitudes towards breastfeeding. The Service will be non-judgemental and understanding towards a family’s feeding choices.
The Service is for prospective parents and carers, expectant parents and carers, and parent and carers of infants up to approximately one year of age. This is a universal Service with open access.
The Service will work with local communities, especially in areas with lower breastfeeding rates and/or where a specific need is identified for example; younger mothers, geographically isolated communities, faith groups, non-English language groups or mothers of twins and multiples and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
The Service will align with four Health and Care Partnership areas in three distinct lots:
• Dartford, Gravesham and Swanley AND Swale
• East Kent (Thanet, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, Canterbury and Ashford)
• West Kent (Maidstone, Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Malling and Sevenoaks (excluding Swanley)
Name of Award Decision Makers;
Rebecca Eley – Senior Commissioner (Evaluator)
Sarah Smith – Public Health Specialist
Wendy Jeffreys – Public Health Consultant (Evaluator)
Amy Noake - Infant Feeding Strategy and Commissioning Facilitator (Evaluator)
Alison Newman – Senior Commercial and Procurement Officer (Moderator)
Brief reasons for selecting the proposed Provider, with reference to Key Criteria;
The Providers were asked quality questions against the 5 key criteria, with a scoring criteria between A-F. The Key Criteria were then assessed as per the questions below:
Question 1 Quality and Innovation and Value. Please detail how your organisation will recruit, mobilise, train and manage the Place based Infant Feeding Peer Support Service and how this team will deliver the functions described in the Specification.
Question 2 Value, Quality, Integration, Collaboration, Service Sustainability. How will your organisations manage the delivery of the infant feeding peer support groups?
Question 3 Improving access, reducing health inequalities, facilitating choice and Value. Please describe how your service will recognise local need and barriers to accessing services and how your organisation will overcome these barriers through specific interventions which will be most likely to engage families who are known to be less likely to use services, for example fathers, younger mother(s), geographically isolated communities, faith groups, non-English language groups or mother(s) of twins and multiples and Gypsy, Roma and Traveller communities.
Question 4 Quality and Innovation, Collaboration,, Integration, Improving access. Integration within the Family Hub Model. Please outline how your organisation will approach integration within the Family Hub Model.
Question 5 Quality and Innovation, Collaboration, Service Sustainability. Please detail how you will manage and deliver workforce training as outlined within the specification.
Question 6 Integration, Collaboration, Service Sustainability Please describe how you will demonstrate social value through contributing towards improvements in social, economic, and environmental conditions.
NCT were the provider that scored the lowest value per other key criteria score with a score of 77% and were therefore chosen as the preferred provider for all 3 Lots.
No declared Conflicts of Interest.
The CPV code for Lot 2 should detail 85100000-0