Statutory guidance

Chapter 3: Quality Assurance and Contract Requirements

Updated 21 November 2024

Quality Assurance

3.01 DWP expects Services delivered under the AtW Mental Health Support Service (AtW MHSS) to be of the highest quality.

3.02 Providers are responsible for ensuring that Customers have access to suitable and high-quality support in a way that provides a good service and an excellent Customer experience. For AtW MHSS to offer the most effective support possible to Customers, several key features are integral to delivery. We expect you to:

• focus strongly on speed and accuracy; and
• demonstrate a sound understanding of the breadth of mental health conditions which may be experienced by AtW MHSS Customers; and
• provide appropriate support options to address Customers’ mental health conditions in the workplace

3.03 The AtW MHSS Support Plan, 6 Month Report and Exit Report (if required) enable AtW Service Delivery team to determine whether Customers are receiving or have received the support required to help them sustain employment.

3.04 It is important that Support Plan and the Reports are of good quality and the AtW Service Delivery team will define whether the Support Plan and Reports are to the specified standard. For more information, please see Annex F.

3.05 Support Plans, 6 Month Reports or Exit Reports may be deemed as not meeting the specified standard and therefore rejected and returned for Rework if one or more of the following reasons applies:

• incorrect information is reported;
• there is no confirmation of whether the Customer is or is not in employment;
• there are spelling and grammatical errors;
• there is no full justification or insufficient detail for the support recommended/provided;
• there is insufficient detail on the progress of the Customer throughout the Support Period or Sustainment Period (as applicable);
• there is no explanation of how the support recommended/provided will help the Customer overcome their mental health difficulties in the workplace;
• it contains personal/confidential information reported to your staff that the Customer requested be confidential and did not want to be disclosed on the report

Please Note: this is not an exhaustive list.

3.06 The AtW MHSS Coach should ensure that they advise the Customer that they will report anything that the Customer tells them unless otherwise stated.

3.07 If the AtW MHSS Coach wants to make the AtW Service Delivery team aware of any issues, a separate document can be added to the AtW MHSS Report for the AtW Service Delivery team.

3.08 If an MHSS Report has been rejected, you will be notified by e-mail within five (5) Working Days of the receipt of the report.

3.09 If the AtW Service Delivery team decides that an MHSS Report is not to the specified standard, you will be notified of the reason, and you will be required to review and resubmit the report using secure email (Trusted Partners) within one Working Day of its return.

Please Note: Trusted Partners are organisations that we know have appropriate security in place for us to regard them as trusted for the purposes of exchanging information. They can be identified by their email suffix. Certain OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE material may be sent to Trusted Partner organisations without encryption.

3.10 If you are concerned about AtW MHSS Reports that have been returned for Rework, you should send an e-mail to atwprovider.contractcorrespondence@dwp.gov.uk

3.11 The AtW Service Delivery team will monitor the quality of MHSS Reports and the number returned to each Provider as unacceptable on a monthly basis.

3.12 This information will be discussed formally as part of your performance reviews led by your performance manager. When appropriate, remedial measures, including but not limited to a Performance Improvement Plan, will be agreed to address areas requiring improvement.

3.13 Any Supplier Generated Candidate forms (Annex A) that contain incorrect or insufficient information will be returned to the Provider.

31.4 If you are concerned about any Supplier Generated Candidate forms that have been returned, you should send an e-mail to: atwprovider.contractcorrespondence@dwp.gov.uk

Contract Requirements

3.15 You should deliver the Services as per your AtW MHSS Contract. Your particular attention is drawn to some of those requirements below. You should:

• provide a telephone Help Desk that will be the contact point for DWP and Customers

The Help Desk must:

• provide an adequately staffed telephone service within the hours detailed in your MHSS Contract
• answer all telephone calls within ten (10) rings
• call the Customer or DWP back within three (3) hours if enquiries cannot be concluded immediately
• monitor your own response rates and be able to demonstrate that the specified levels of service are being met, making this evidence available on DWP’s request; and
• provide an electronic means of contact (i.e. email address/es) for accessibility purposes and acknowledge receipt of enquiries

You should also:

• process requests made by DWP or Customers and be able to demonstrate that they are prioritised and processed in an efficient, quick and customer-focused and cost-effective manner
• attend additional ad hoc meetings when required by DWP. For more information, please refer to your AtW MHSS Contract
• have a risk management process in place which is available for review and approval by DWP monthly upon request
• you must ensure your staff do not use any prohibited or controlled substances on duty. Staff that are, or appear to be, under the influence of alcohol, prohibited substances or abusing controlled substances shall not be permitted to provide the Services. DWP reserves the right to instruct you not to use a MHSS Coach again. In the event of any disagreement, DWP decision will be final

3.16 DWP requirements for Provider’s Staff are detailed in your AtW MHSS Contract.

Additional Needs

3.17 Providers should comply with (and provide at your own cost) any reasonable requests to accommodate Customers who have additional needs. Additional needs include, but are not limited to:

• staff of the same gender as the Customer; and/or
• an interpreter or a signer capable of British Sign Language

3.18 When an additional need is identified at the initial contact meeting and it is not practical to accommodate this immediately, you should ensure that an alternative appointment is arranged and held within two working days, ensuring the Customer’s additional need is accommodated at future scheduled appointments and interventions.