8-Bed Female-Only Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit

This procurement seeks a provider to operate an 8-bed female-only Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) for the Thames Valley region. The service will provide 24-hour specialist inpatient care for adult women (18 years and older) with acute and severe mental illness that cannot be safely managed in standard acute wards. Key service components include: rapid assessment, intensive multidisciplinary treatment, enhanced observation, physical healthcare, psychological and trauma-informed interventions, and active discharge planning. The provider must deliver gender-responsive, recovery-focused care in a therapeutic environment, reduce out-of-area placements, and demonstrate strong clinical governance, appropriate staffing levels, effective care pathway integration, and measurable improvements in patient safety, outcomes, experience, and timely step-down to lower-intensity services.