Aberdeenshire Council has revealed its preferred bidder for a controversial £2.3million mental health contract.
The north-east authority needs to cut £500,000 from its service budget over the next four years and has put the provision of mental health out to tender.
Current providers Mental Health Aberdeen (MHA) did not submit a tender.
Now committee papers have confirmed that the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH) has been named as the preferred provider of care.
Members of the authority’s policy committee will gather at Woodhill House on Thursday to debate the proposals.
In his report to councillors, Aberdeenshire’s director of business services Ritchie Johnson said: “Aberdeenshire Council requires a mental health service to promote the achievement of a mentally well and inclusive Aberdeenshire, in which people who experience mental disorder are enabled to recover and achieve their personal outcomes.”
He said the new service will plug a number of gaps in existing services including more focus on recovery, tailoring provision to geographical demand and moving away from “building-based” service to more work in the community.
In the report Adam Coldwells, chief of Aberdeenshire Health and Social Care Partnership, added: “No existing service users will find services suddenly inaccessible to them. All will be introduced to the new provider and support plans agreed.
“Council officers are committed to working with incoming and outgoing providers to ensure a smooth transition in the best interests of all concerned.”
Current providers MHA have raised concerns that the cut backs will harm service users and increase the workload on staff tasked with implementing the new policy.
Last night MHA chief executive Astrid Whyte said: “MHA is sad to lose the Aberdeenshire projects, but fully aware that we could not undertake the provision under the new restrictions, financial or otherwise, imposed by the tender.
“However, we wish to congratulate SAMH warmly on being the preferred bidder and will now focus our efforts to effect as smooth a transition to the new provider as we possibly can – for everyone involved.
“SAMH is a large, Scottish provider and has clearly an ‘ear’ at Scottish Government, so their ability to influence mental health strategy will hopefully be much greater than that of MHA.
“We wish them every success and hope that our current clients and service users will find warm welcome when they transfer.”
