Controversial £175m Oxfordshire outcomes based contract delayed

The contract is expected to be worth £35m a year for five years – £175m in total. It was proposed in spring 2013, and was originally intended to be signed last summer.

HSJ was told last month that commissioners expected it to be finalised in a matter of days. However, a spokeswoman for Oxfordshire CCG said yesterday that the contract is now scheduled to be signed “by the end of August”.

“The delay in securing contract signature has resulted from minor final clarification being required between the commissioners and the provider with regards to service scope and the associated budget allocations,” she said.

“Constructive dialogue continues to resolve these residual issues.”

The CCG named a partnership led by Oxford Health Foundation Trust as the “most capable provider” for the contract in September. The other partners are all charities active in the county. These are:

• Mind;
• Response;
• Restore;
• Elmore Community Services; and
• Connection FS.

Oxford Health confirmed the CCG’s explanation for the delay.

The contract will cover locally commissioned adult mental health services, except those for older people, those with dementia, and people with “mild or moderate” mental illness. Learning disability and child and adolescent services are not included. Neither are specialised services, which are commissioned by NHS England.

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The contract was cited by Monitor this week as one of two examples in its new guidance on outcomes based contracting for mental health.

It is the first of three controversial outcomes based contracts proposed by Oxfordshire CCG to come close to fruition.

Of the other two, a proposed outcome based contract for maternity services has been abandoned. The third, for older people, is still in progress and has refocused on adults with long term conditions. It is currently expected to be awarded to Oxford University Hospitals Trust along with Oxford Health, which provides community services. However, it will not go live until 2016-17 as the CCG and Oxford Health have been concentrating on designing the mental health pathway.

Oxfordshire’s outcomes based contracts were the source of major controversy in late 2013 after the two main local trusts objected to the CCG’s initial proposals – in particular its plan to competitively tender the contracts.