NHSWYICB - All-Age Neurodiversity Single Point of Access (Front Door) Service

Description

NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (Leeds place) is undertaking a market engagement exercise to assess interest from suitably qualified providers to deliver an All-Age Neurodiversity Hub, providing a single point of access (SPoA), operating as Primary Care and Third Sector integrated front door function offering needs-led support and pathway coordination to individuals and parent carers exploring neurodevelopmental support, including ADHD and autism. Lot 1: NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board (Leeds place) is undertaking a market engagement exercise to assess interest from suitably qualified providers to deliver an All-Age Neurodiversity Hub, providing a single point of access (SPoA), operating as Primary Care and Third Sector integrated front door function offering needs-led support and pathway coordination to individuals and parent carers exploring neurodevelopmental support, including ADHD and autism.<br/><br/>The service moves beyond a diagnosis-led model toward a needs-led, neuro-affirming approach, providing early support, navigation and triage to the most appropriate pathway. The service can (where clinically appropriate) also provide early clinical fact finding for children, young people and adults who are exploring or requesting an autism, ADHD or dual assessment. The aim is to support informed decision making, improve the quality and appropriateness of onward referrals, and help individuals access the right support at the right time.<br/><br/>The service is commissioned to support the continued pathway development intended to provide early and timely support and advice, prevent needs escalating, safely manage demand, reduce inappropriate referrals, and inform future commissioning decisions for neurodevelopmental pathways.<br/><br/>Population:<br/>The service will support:<br/>• Children, young people, and adults who identify as neurodivergent or are seeking assessment or support<br/>• Families, carers, and professionals supporting them<br/>• Individuals registered with a Leeds GP or resident within the Leeds locality<br/>The model must ensure continuity across children’s, transition, and adult pathways, enabling a life-course approach to support<br/><br/>Geographic Coverage:<br/>Initially the service will operate across Leeds adult ND pathways as the first phase of procurement of the future West Yorkshire neurodiversity hub model, ensuring consistent access for all eligible adult residents registered with a Leeds GP or resident within the Leeds locality. Further future procurements will add to the model to cover all age groups and all places.<br/><br/>Current Delivery Model:<br/>There is an existing Primary Care and Third Sector integrated organisation currently delivering an adult ADHD Single Point of access hub.<br/><br/>Anticipated Contract Start Date:<br/>1st April 2027<br/><br/>The high-level objectives of the All-Age Neurodiversity Single Point of Access (SPoA) (Front Door) Service<br/> are:<br/><br/>Provide an All-age Single Point of Access hub <br/>• Deliver a standardised front door for all neurodevelopmental referrals<br/>• Enable self-referral and referral from professionals<br/>• Offer structured, holistic needs led conversations to understand presentation, priorities, and expectations.<br/>• Provide place based offers including appropriate premises to effectively deliver accessible pathways for local needs.<br/>• For Children, Young People and families to enable early help and work within a graduated approach to providing information, advice and routing through to appropriate support, aligned to SEND Reform<br/>• Provide screening and triage (including risk and safeguarding) of referrals and routing to the most appropriate pathway first time<br/>• Support informed choice regarding autism and ADHD and Autism assessment pathways, including NHS Right to Choose options. <br/><br/>Improve Referral Quality and System Flow<br/>• Improve the appropriateness, quality, and safety of referrals into neurodevelopmental assessment pathways.<br/>• Reduce avoidable or inappropriate referrals and support safer demand management.<br/> <br/>Support People to “Wait Well”<br/>• Provide neuro-inclusive advice, guidance, and care navigation while individuals await onward assessment.<br/>• Psychoeducation and self-management support<br/>• Navigation to wider support offers in the Leeds and West Yorkshire system<br/>• Reduce distress, risk, and repeated contact with primary care. <br/><br/>Enable Holistic, Person Centred Support<br/>• Work with a neuro-affirming, trauma-informed approach<br/>• Provide individuals a supportive consultation to understand needs and facilitate a positive experience in navigating services.<br/>• Identify overlapping or alternative needs (e.g. mental health, employment, education, psychosocial support).<br/>• Signpost or redirect individuals to more appropriate support where formal assessment is not the most suitable next step. <br/>Post-Referral and Post-Diagnostic Support<br/>• Support following diagnostic outcomes<br/>• Navigation to ongoing care and community support<br/>• ADHD medication shared care and review where appropriate<br/><br/>System Navigation and Integration<br/>• Working across health, education, SEND, VCSE and social care<br/>• Integration with and complementing existing services and support in Leeds and West Yorkshire<br/>• Signposting to appropriate resources (including online), community and specialist services<br/>• Supporting referrers to make informed decisions<br/><br/>System partnership working to Inform Future Commissioning<br/>• Generate learning and insight to support the future design of sustainable neurodevelopmental pathways.<br/>• Work closely with the ICB to evaluate service impact, capacity, and waiting times. <br/><br/>Support Primary Care and Manage System Capacity<br/>• Ability to work closely with system partners including local primary care and secondary care services to deliver coherent pathways and good patient outcomes<br/>• Reduce pressure on Primary Care by providing a single, consistent front door for adults exploring neurodevelopmental support, including Autism and ADHD.<br/>• Minimise the need for repeated GP consultations and complex pre referral decision making.<br/>• Improve referral quality and appropriateness, reducing avoidable demand on assessment services.<br/>• Redirect individuals to more appropriate support where formal assessment is not necessary including escalation to secondary care services<br/>• Support safer system flow and more efficient use of capacity across ADHD and Autism pathways<br/><br/><br/>Delivery Model<br/>The service may be delivered:<br/>• By a single lead provider, or<br/>• Through a partnership, alliance or provider collaborative model<br/>The model must:<br/>• Enable consistent access across Leeds<br/>• Be integrated into Primary Care and VCSE offers<br/>• Support flexibility in delivery for children, young people and adults<br/>• Operate under shared governance and reporting arrangements<br/><br/>There are specific service elements the All-Age Neurodiversity Single Point of Access (SPoA) (Front Door) Service is required to deliver, including but not limited to:<br/>• To provide early clinical fact finding and needs led conversations for people exploring an autism and/or ADHD assessment.<br/>• To support informed decision making and care navigation across autism and ADHD assessment pathways, including NHS Right to Choose.<br/>• To improve the quality and appropriateness of referrals into autism and ADHD assessment services.<br/>• To reduce avoidable demand and capacity pressures on primary care and assessment providers through early intervention and redirection. <br/>• To support effective information sharing and joint working between system partners to improve pathway coordination, flow, and outcomes across the neurodevelopmental pathways.<br/>• To contribute learning and insight to inform future commissioning decisions.<br/>• To deliver an accessible and neuro-inclusive service offer including suitable reasonable adjustments including a local in-person option where requested and appropriate. Additional information: If you would like to submit your interest for this service, please express your interest by registering on https://atamis-1928.my.site.com/login and complete the questions included in project C458602<br/><br/>• Suppliers: https://atamis-1928.my.site.com/login<br/>• Supplier opportunities: https://atamis-1928.my.salesforce-sites.com/?searchtype=Projects<br/><br/>Once registered, potential providers will be able to complete their response.<br/><br/>If you find you need advice or support in registering please contact the Atamis helpdesk using the following details:<br/><br/>Phone: 0800 9956035<br/>E-mail: support-health@atamis.co.uk<br/><br/>Please note that an expression of interest in delivering the All-Age Neurodiversity Single Point of Access (Front Door) Service is not a tender response. An expression of interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in the tender process nor does it infer any special status on those providers who do submit an interest.<br/><br/>The market response to this notice will be used to inform the Commissioner’s view as to any future process to select the most suitable approach to meet its commissioning intentions. This does not commit the NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board to undertake a procurement. NHS West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board has the right to withdraw this notice.<br/><br/>The response window will be open until it closes on 4 August 2026 at 12 pm.