Mental health contract could land CCGs with extra costs

Clinical commissioning groups in Birmingham have jointly tendered a service to integrate mental health services for children with those for adults aged 25 and under. The contract is worth £23.7m per year, and has been awarded to a consortium called Forward Thinking Birmingham.

According to Birmingham CrossCity CCG’s board papers, an external impact assessment, conducted after the contract was awarded, “reveals a potential cost pressure to CCGs and the need for further analysis… particularly in financial terms”.

Birmingham Children’s Hospital is leading the consortium that won the £23.7m a year contract

The CCG is affected by the contract, although the tender was led by Birmingham South Central CCG.

HSJ understands much of this new cost pressure will arise from “stranded costs”. Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Foundation Trust – the current provider of services for people aged 16 and over – says it will lose £14.2m a year in revenue as a result of the transfer but it may not be able to cut expenditure by the same amount…

Full article at HSJ.