Published date: 12 November 2018

Last edited date: 12 November 2018

Closed opportunity - This means that the contract is currently closed. The buying department may be considering suppliers that have already applied, or no suitable offers were made.


Closing: 7 December 2018

Contract summary

Industry

  • Design and execution of research and development - 73300000

  • Health and social work services - 85000000

Location of contract

North East, North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West

Value of contract

£50,000 to £350,000

Procurement reference

GEO/LGBT/HealthGrants-18-20

Published date

12 November 2018

Closing date

7 December 2018

Contract start date

14 January 2019

Contract end date

31 March 2020

Contract type

Not applicable

Procedure type

Open procedure (below threshold)

Any interested supplier may submit a tender in response to an opportunity notice.

This procedure can be used for procurements below the relevant contract value threshold.

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes


Description

Please note this is a grant and the scope is for England only.

We are seeking to fund up to £1,000,000 of projects aimed at tackling LGBT health inequality.

The Fund is in response to evidence that lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans individuals not only have poorer health when compared to the wider population, but also report poorer interaction with health services.

GEO commissioned the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) to synthesise evidence on inequalities experienced by lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender groups in the UK. One section of the report focuses explicitly on health inequalities. It also draws on research published by Public Health England (PHE) on the health inequalities faced by men who have sex with men.

The research by NIESR found that:
• There is evidence of inequalities in health outcomes, with LGB people's general health worse than that of heterosexual people.
• Higher rates of mental health problems amongst LGB people, compared with heterosexual people. Mental health problems included attempted suicide, self-harm, anxiety and depression, but extended to probably psychosis, obsessive compulsive disorders (OCD) and phobias. Mental health services were most often perceived to be discriminatory by LGB people.
• Other than in respect of HIV and men's sexual health, LGB&T people's experience of health provision is less good compared with heterosexual people's and cisgender people's experiences and also, where needs differ between LGBT and other people, there are gaps in NHS staff's knowledge and provision.
• Evidence suggests that the sexual health of lesbians and bisexual women is neglected, both in terms of prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and of sexual fulfilment.
• Dissatisfaction with health services is higher amongst LGB people than heterosexual people.

The National LGBT Survey (of 108,000 respondents) found that large numbers of LGBT respondents had difficulty accessing healthcare services and especially gender identity clinics. It also showed many respondents had experienced inappropriate questioning and curiosity relating to their sexual orientation or gender identity from healthcare staff, and that some respondents felt their specific needs were ignored or not taken into account when accessing healthcare.

In light of the strong evidence base on the health inequalities experienced by LGBT people, the Government will fund projects to reduce these health inequalities.

We are not specifying what area of LGBT health inequality should be tackled by the fund. Projects could consider issues that affect the whole LGBT population, such as reducing suicide or self-harm; or be aimed at specific sub-sets of the LGBT population, such as improving the health of lesbian and bisexual women. Projects could also focus on improving the skills or knowledge of the health or social care workforce, such as working with older LGBT people specifically (proposals are not limited to these areas).


More information

Attachments

Additional text

Applications should state:
• what health inequality you would like to address and why
• why your intervention is needed, what it will look like and why it will address the relevant health inequalities
• which groups your intervention will be targeted at and why
• what impact or outcome your intervention is seeking to achieve and why
• how baseline data and an appropriate control group might be collected to assess any changes resulting from your intervention


Applications will be assessed and prioritised according to the extent to which they meet the assessment criteria described in the Invitation to Bid.

Please see the "Invitation to Bid" for further information.

This work was announced in the LGBT Action Plan published in July 2018, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/lgbt-action-plan-2018-improving-the-lives-of-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-people.

In July 2018, GEO also launched the results of our National LGBT Survey, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-lgbt-survey-summary-report.

Applications are being accepted via email only to LGBTgrants.applications@geo.gov.uk, using the application form in the "Invitation to Bid" document.

If you have difficulties with this form, or have other questions about this tender, please contact us at LGBTgrants.Questions@geo.gov.uk.


About the buyer

Address

Government Equalities Office, 6th Floor, Sanctuary Buildings,
Great Smith Street
London
SW1P3BT
England

Email

LGBTgrants.Questions@geo.gov.uk