Northern Queensland Primary Health Network (NQPHN) is now inviting tender submissions to provide trauma informed mental health services for children in the Mackay, Whitsundays, and Isaac regions.

The aim of the tender is to establish a collaborative service model and provision of services for children under 14 years of age who have and/or are experiencing physical and/or sexual abuse or assault and who are at risk of self-harm.

The model should:

• seek to explore scalability throughout the NQPHN region
• meet the needs of the community and service sector
• encompass sector development and workforce optimisation
• have a prevention and early intervention approach.

The model should also be informed by findings from the Domestic Violence Resource Services, Service System Mapping Project Report 2018, and the NQPHN commissioned Child and Adolescent Mental Health Integrated Service Delivery Scoping Project Report November 2019.

NQPHN Chief Executive Officer John Gregg said the need for the design and establishment of a trauma informed mental health service for children under 14 years of age has been identified as an opportunity in NQPHN’s Health Needs Assessment (HNA).

“The successful provider will develop a sustainable integrated service model which is reliant on a solid understanding of the underlying values held by practitioners, which stimulate, inspire, and directly impact on the quality of their work with children,” said Mr Gregg.

“The underlying principles for the development of an integrated trauma informed mental health service delivery model include ensuring no child is left without a service, that every carer has a navigator to support them to maintain engagement with services, and that the child is supported in the context of the whole family, and the whole family is supported.

“The service should also be child-centred with limited eligibility criteria, work in partnership with parents and other related services in the best interests of the child, and involve practitioners who are well-qualified in the specific services they provide.

“We look forward to collaborating with the successful applicant to assist in providing the right care, in the right place, at the right time to improve the wellbeing of children in the Mackay, Whitsundays, and Isaac regions, helping them to live happier, healthier, longer lives.”

Applicants interested in applying for the tender should visit NQPHN’s online procurement portal at www.nqphn.com.au/commissioning

The tender closing date has been extended to Friday 8 May 2020.