1. Introduction
This Service Specification details the Services which the Provider will provide to the Client. This Service Specification describes the Services commissioned, how they will be delivered, who may benefit from them, how they will be monitored, standard they must achieve and the cost of such Services.
2. The Provider
The Provider provides online services to improve the mental wellbeing of people experiencing psychological distress.
3. The Provider’s wellbeing services
The Provider offers an online pathway for steps 0 – 3 of the NICE stepped model of care. Its therapeutic support network is facilitated 24/7 by specified Staff (“Wall Guides”) trained and supervised by the Provider’s Clinical Lead. It offers a range of therapeutic interventions that can be accessed by users at any time:
Support Network: This is the baseline service of togetherall.com that all users can access. It provides peer and community support and a range of choices for users to self manage and gain support including:
Peer talk therapy: users initiate or join forums on topics ranging from depression and anxiety to relationship issues, work stress, abuse, self-harm and eating disorders;
Peer groups: users form ‘invitation-only’ forums to talk to a selected group;
Peer support networks: users make ‘friends’ to create a support network as a reference group, source of motivation and means to improve self-awareness;
Creative therapies: employing art and writing therapies, users express themselves on ‘bricks’ that are posted to Togetherall where they can choose to share and discuss the underlying ‘story’; and
Self-directed learning: users have access to a wide range of information on wellbeing as well as self-assessment tools and self-help exercises.
Guided self help and support: The Wall Guides are available 24/7 and are trained and supervised by the Provider’s Clinical Lead. They offer:
Brief counselling: immediate support from the Wall Guides who are trained counsellors; and
Guided groups: groups that are based on therapeutic approaches such as interpersonal therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy.
4. Target Group and Referral Mechanisms
The Provider’s wellbeing services are only available to people aged 16 years and over.
Referral to the Provider’s Support Network is via self referral or referral from a practitioner within one of the Client’s services.
The Client will be given access to Togetherall Professional (Togetherall Pro) through which local practitioners can be set up with their own login and password, prescriptions for Togetherall made and progress of the places purchased and outcome reports accessed.
5. Service Delivery
Service Standards for Support Network Places:
- Users will access the Support Network either by self referral or referral by relevant practitioner.
- Each user will have 24/7 access to the Provider’s therapeutic support network for the stated number of months from the date of their registration. They can access the service as frequently and for as long as they choose within that period.
- Wall Guides moderate the service 24/7 and have access to clinical back up through the Provider’s Clinical Governance Team at all times.
- The Provider’s governance and risk management handbook covers the clinical and information governance of the service.
Marketing of the service
The Client is responsible for ensuring that the purchased Togetherall Support Network subscriptions are taken up within their locality.
The Client will:
- Provide a lead who is responsible for the development and implementation of marketing and take up strategy for the Support Network subscriptions covered in this Agreement;
- Ensure that the lead is the key liaison person with the Provider;
- Provide full contact details and hours of work for the lead to the Provider;
- Provide a designated administrative person for Togetherall Professional who will work with the lead and be responsible for setting up agencies and referral professionals and, thereafter, ensuring accurate data through automated monthly checks;
- Ensure the lead has access to all data on markets for the Provider within their locality, has run successful marketing strategies to reach the target markets and has access to all routes to these markets.
Responsibilities of Client Implementation Lead:
- Delivers any information required to enable self-referral access to the Provider such as postcode data, eligible emails etc., to the Provider within two weeks of the Commencement Date in the form required by the Provider;
- Develops an implementation strategy utilising the Provider’s template that will form an addendum to this Agreement with clear monthly activities and targets to ensure take up of the Support Network subscriptions. The strategy will be discussed and agreed with the Provider within one month of the Commencement Date;
- Provides a monthly update on implementation (utilising the Provider’s template) and attends a one hour quarterly review meeting with the Provider at the Provider’s premises or online, in addition to termly reports.
Implementation strategy will include:
- Key agencies/individuals to engage for both referral and self-referral routes e.g. Student Counselling Service, Student Health Service, GPs, Mental Health Workers, Tutors, Residences, and more
How each agency/individual will be engaged and what is expected from them;
Monthly deliverables;
Target numbers for service takeup and the Provider’s take up
The Provider will provide the following customer service and materials:
- A professional subscription to Togetherall, videos and materials for Implementation lead to develop a full understanding of Togetherall;
- A template for the implementation strategy including examples of best practice;
- An implementation meeting in the Provider’s offices or online on the draft implementation strategy;
- Set up on Togetherall Professional for Client’s monitoring and reporting, including access to prescribing tool.
- A range of digital marketing materials and content to raise awareness of the service, including a demo to key student-facing staff
The above is provided within the cost of this contract. Additional support required to refine or support the implementation strategy (e.g. on-site staff training, additional print materials etc.) will be discussed and agreed at quarterly reviews and will come at an additional cost.
Service outcomes, evaluation and reporting
Data is provided on the following:
- Take up and profile of users, including:
- The socio-demographic profile of members (including age, gender, ethnicity);
- How many of the registered users have/have not sought help/received treatment for a mental health problem elsewhere (including a GP, therapist/counsellor or taken medication);
- Information on how users heard about the site (the categories include publicity, GP, counsellor, social media and more ); and
- The take up through different referral means of the therapeutic support network.
- Activity patterns, including:
- The number of times registered members have accessed the site and their patterns of use, including the average length of time each user spends on the wellbeing website, the most popular aspects of the wellbeing website by page views etc.
- Outcomes, including:
- The utility of the therapeutic support network in improving wellbeing through user reported outcomes;
- The extent to which users attribute improvements in wellbeing to the Services.
7. Governance, risk management and quality assurance
- The Provider works within the clinical governance framework developed in conjunction with TPFT and has produced a set of policies and procedures on clinical governance and risk management.
- User safety is regulated by 24/7 facilitation and moderation of all content by trained Staff; a system of watchwords that signals those who have urgent or high level needs; community norms including house rules and the promotion of means to keep self safe on Togetherall; the ability to remove any content; and other procedures laid out in the Governance and Risk Management Handbook.
- Wall Guides are trained and supervised by the Provider’s Clinical Lead.
- The Community is regularly consulted about the development and the utility of the service and there are a range of methods through which the Provider ensures that the Community leads the nature of development on Togetherall.
