Purpose

This report outlines proposals for the
commissioning of Evelina London Community Children’s
Services, Guys and St Thomas’s Trust (Evelina) to deliver
infant feeding, parenting and parent infant relationship support as
part of a wider partnership encompassing Better Start
Children’s Centres, Maternity Services, Health Visiting,
South London and Maudsley NHS Trust and voluntary and community
sector partners. The additional capacity created through this
contract will be a key component of Lambeth’s Better Start
(Start for Life) offer and utilises a proportion of the Family Hub
Start for Life grant.

There are two proposed elements to the contract with Evelina: one
is for the funding of a dedicated Health Visiting post to deliver
the Baby Steps perinatal parenting programme as part of a multi
agency team effective from April 2024; and the second is for the
funding of three additional, area based Community Staff Nurse roles
to work alongside existing Better Start children’s centre
teams and the Breastfeeding Network to deliver support around
infant feeding, parenting and parent infant relationships.

To ensure that the new roles created through the Family hub Start
for Life programme funding serve to strengthen the link between
Evelina as the existing Health Visiting service provider and Better
Start children’s centres, this report proposes a direct award
from the Council to Evelina to sit alongside the existing Health
Visiting contract which is held by the NHS South East London
Integrated Care Board (ICB) under a Section 75 agreement.

Decision

1.       This report seeks to
approve a waiver under section 17.1 of the councils Contract
Standing Orders and directly award Evelina London Community
Children’s Services, Guys and St Thomas’s Trust to
deliver additional infant feeding, parenting and parent infant
relationship support as part of Lambeth’s enhanced Start for
Life offer. The contract will run from 1 January 2024 to 31 March
2025 at a value of £50,260 in 2023-24 and £278,811 in
2024-25, and a total maximum value of £329,071 over the
term.