Salford City Council Chemsex support pilot 2026-27

Chemsex pilot.
Chemsex has recently been described as a public health crisis.
The substances involved in chemsex can be more powerful and addictive than others used recreationally, and there are significant associated risks posed to health, wellbeing, and safety. Individuals engaging in chemsex often require multidisciplinary approaches to support.
Based on the limited information on this issue further data is needed to build evidence for chemsex need in Salford, to improve monitoring and reporting, inform a long-term approach to addressing harms and prevention efforts, and minimise the risk of further harm or mortality linked to chemsex.

The chemsex support pilot is a public health service that falls within the scope of the Health Care Services (Provider Selection Regime) Regulations 2023 (PSR).
The Council intends to make the award under Regulation 14 (Urgent Award). This permits an urgent direct award where the Council considers that:
i. The award must be made urgently;
ii. The urgency was not reasonably foreseeable and is not attributable to delay by the Council; and
iii. Delaying the award would be likely to pose a risk to patient or public safety.
Based on the information provided by Public Health, and the evidence set out in the Record of Decision Making document, these conditions are met, as the escalation in chemsex-related harms only recently became visible to the Council and further delay would increase risk to individuals