Invitation to tender for an independent evaluation

South Dublin County Partnership is seeking tenders from suitably qualified individuals or organisations to carry out an independent external evaluation of the Tallaght Social Prescribing Service over a 12-month period from mid 2023 to mid-2024.

Tender Outline

Social Prescribing is a 1-1 support service for adults over the age of 18 who may require additional support to mind their health and wellbeing. The aim of Social Prescribing is to improve health and wellbeing by supporting people to engage with community groups, supports and services in their locality. There is a growing body of evidence that Social Prescribing can lead to a range of positive health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce social isolation and loneliness.

The Social Prescribing model recognises that health is determined primarily by a range of social factors and adopts a holistic approach focusing on individual needs and preferences, allowing people to play an active role in improving their health and wellbeing. For more information on the programme see www.hse.ie/healthwellbeing. HSE-funded Social Prescribing services are now available in over 40 locations nationwide and are delivered in partnership with community and voluntary organisations.

We invite experienced evaluators to bid for the opportunity to evaluate our Social Prescribing Service in Tallaght. We aim to capture key learnings that arise from the service over the specified 12 months of service delivery and share these learnings to promote the advancement of Social Prescribing and facilitate the development of best practice.

Evaluation of the Social Prescribing Service in Tallaght 

Objectives of the Evaluation are:

• Analysis of client journey against national framework guidelines; emerging themes in client demographics and social prescriptions.
• Explore service outcomes and client journey in a meaningful way.
• Identify elements of best practice and key quality indicators in service delivery for the client E.g. Why do certain strategies work for particular clients and not others?

Timeframe

The evaluation is to be completed by end of April 2025 with objectives to be complete in full.

Experience

The successful Social Prescribing evaluator must demonstrate in the tender submission experience in the following areas:

• Research methodologies including both quantitative and qualitative research,
• Extensive experience in programme evaluations, preferably in the area of health and wellbeing, with clear demonstratable outputs as described in the objectives above.

Tender Proposal

The Tender Proposal should include:

1. Applicant details, including evidence of relevant professional qualifications and experience of proposed staff to carry out the work.
2. A detailed Evaluation Tender Proposal outlining the: proposed approach; research questions and methodologies; timeline and deliverables.
3. Overall costings inclusive of number of days work and VAT.

Evaluation Tender Proposals will be assessed against the above three criteria.

The successful applicant will be asked to provide a current Tax Clearance Certificate and Professional Indemnity Insurance at contract stage.

The issue of the request for tender does not imply that the lowest costed tender or that any tender will be successful. It is envisaged that this evaluation will take no more than 10 days.

Closing Date and application process:

Tender submission must be received by 12pm on 21st November 2024.

Tenders received after the closing date will not be considered

Application process:

Submission of Tenders Completed Tenders should be submitted in a sealed envelope Marked Social Prescribing Evaluation Tender Ref. 159/2024 to the Administration Department – South Dublin County Partnership, Nangor Road Business Park, Nangor Road, Dublin 12 or sent electronically to Catherine.Robinson@sdcpartnership.ie

Any queries should be sent to Tara.deacy@sdcpartnership.ie with subject reference Social Prescribing Evaluation Tender.