A press release issued by AMHA has revealed they have been given a six month stay of execution until a tender is agreed for the new service after being informed their contract would end on March 31.

The Dispatch and Herald can reveal AMHA has been approached by the mental health commissioners from NHS Tayside and Angus Council with a request to continue to provide level one mental health service beyond the March 31 deadline.

The Association had previously been instructed to prepare an exit strategy for the existing service level agreement for its clients and wind down its operations by that date.

Notice of redundancy had already been intimated to the staff. The lease of the Lindsay Street premises in Arbroath could also not be renewed or continued as a result of the decision by Angus Council to put the service out to competitive tender.

Mr Ron Scrimgeour, Chair of the award winning mental health charity, was reluctant to comment in depth at this stage but was happy to clarify a few of the rumours circulating in the community.

He said: "This is not a reprieve or a change of heart on behalf of Angus Council.

"AMHA will still not be considered to provide the service and one of the four organisations from outside the county will still be invited to provide local level one mental health services in future.

"It appears that the new contract cannot be issued in time for the new organisation to begin its operations in April. If AMHA does not agree to continue beyond the end of March it means that there will be a suspension of the service and clients will be unsupported for several months.

"I have discussed the request to continue for the additional six months at separate meetings with the staff, Board members and volunteers.

"The unanimous decision of all three groups was that the needs of our clients and service users came first as always. Each group agreed in principal to continue for the additional time. There are a number of logistical problems we have to address but we are confident that our standards will be maintained and the quality of service will not be compromised."

Roller coaster

AMHA manager Mr Wayne Mathieson said that the staff, volunteers and clients had been on an emotional roller coaster since the initial decision to remove the Association from the list of potential service providers.

He said: "The staff and volunteers were gutted at the prospect of winding down operations by March 31but had come to terms with that reality during the Christmas break.

"However, the staff are consummate professionals and will not let personal feelings about the tender process get in the way of providing a service to our clients until the end of the summer.

"Our finance officer is costing the additional period and we will be submitting an initial draft agreement to the commissioners on Friday, January 29."

Mr Scrimgeour and Mr Mathieson declined to comment further on this latest dramatic turn in a fourteen month long procurement exercise.

This tender process has seen protest demonstrations, a three thousand signature petition and television coverage of the anger felt by service users that an outside organisation will be drafted into Angus to provide the very personal and intimate service that assists those in the community with mental health problems progress along the road to recovery.

Responding to news of the latest twist in provision for mental health services in Angus at last week's meeting of Forfar Community Council, chairman Mrs Isobel Ross said: "AMHA has been asked to continue their service because the time scale for getting new people in is not long enough.

"My feeling is this is an absolute nonsense.

"Somebody, somewhere must have known the timescale. I don't know how this has happened but it has put a lot of people through a lot of hoops. Then it comes to this.

"I feel they (the council) have been left with egg on their face.

"I think we all know what would happen in the private sector - heads would roll."

Appalled

Forfar Councillor Glennis Middleton, who fought hard for AMHA at a full meeting of Angus Council last December, stated she had been "appalled" by the way in which the AMHA representatives had been treated at the meeting.

She stated the Provost had refused to accept a petition calling for the retention of AMHA, containing "several thousand" names.

Mrs Middleton said: "Not all of the people from AMHA were allowed into the chamber; there were over 100 people sitting in the Royal Hotel waiting on the result."

She explained she had put forward two amendments in an attempt to save the service, both of which were rejected out of hand.

Mrs Middleton welcomed the news that AMHA had been given until the end of September but added: "I think that is adding insult to injury.

"They were so poor to make the tender process, but now they have been asked to keep it going, yet again.

"I think they have been treated quite shoddily."

A spokesperson for Angus Council said: "We are currently having positive discussions with Angus Mental Health Association (AMHA) regarding the temporary continuation of their services beyond the end of their contract on March 31, until a tender is agreed for the new service. This is to ensure continuity for service users.

"The current service provider was one of the seven prospective tenderers who failed to achieve the minimum required score for at least one of the criteria and will therefore not be able to tender for the new service.

"However, the council agreed that when current funding ceases, we would negotiate hand over arrangements with AMHA and that process is currently ongoing."