Partnership
working and collaboration: resource guide
Richard Bridgen
Knowledge and
Informatics Librarian
Lincolnshire Health Information and Library Service
Email:
The NHS Institute
for Innovation and Improvement defines collaborative working as
‘Being committed to working and engaging constructively with
internal and external stakeholders.’ Associated terms include
‘partnership working’, ‘joint working’, ‘joined-up working’ and
‘cross-cutting working’ (see this issue’s NLH Management Briefing).
The Institute states
that ‘Effective partnership promotes the
sharing of information and appropriate prioritisation of limited
resources. It also supports 'joined-up' provision of integrated care’
and that ‘partners or 'stakeholders' include
patients, carers, health service staff and people working in other
statutory or voluntary agencies.’ (1)
Overview
The National Library for Health’s Management
Briefing on ‘Partnership Working’
http://www.library.nhs.uk/healthmanagement/ViewResource.aspx?ResID=34992
gives an overview of the subject and outlines ways of working in
partnership, its benefits and identifies some areas of good practice.
The Improvement Network
http://www.improvementnetwork.gov.uk/imp/core/page.do?pageId=1006274
gives a brief overview of partnerships.
Ourpartnership.org.uk
http://www.ourpartnership.org.uk/anncmnt/anitem.cfm?AnnID=7
details the Partnership Lifecycle,
the process of setting up, running and ending a partnership
The Scottish Centre for Regeneration has a
useful ‘How to’ guide on partnership working.
http://www.communitiesscotland.gov.uk/stellent/groups/public/documents/webpages/cs_011419.hcsp
NCVO’s model on joint working for
public service delivery
http://www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/collaborativeworkingunit/information/?id=2054
looks at the different ways voluntary or community organisations can
work together to deliver public services.
‘Partnership working: a consumer guide to resources’
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502595 published by the Health
Development Agency is a resource guide to help those planning or
engaging in partnerships.
Five Vital Lessons
http://fivevital.educe.co.uk/index_1.htm gives five lessons on
partnerships between businesses and the public sector. There is also
a toolkit.
‘Towards healthier alliances’
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502525 is a 1995 Health
Development Agency resource for all agencies working in partnership to
promote health.
Policy And Toolkits
‘Making partnership work for patients, carers and service users: a
strategic agreement between the Department of Health, the NHS and the
voluntary and community sector’
http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/08/95/16/04089516.pdf (2003).
‘Keys
to partnership: working together to make a difference in people's
lives’
http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/08/52/22/04085222.pdf
provides practical ideas and
suggestions on developing partnerships in adult services for people
with learning disabilities (2002)
‘Partnership working National Service Framework: a practical aid to
implementation in primary care’
http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/05/08/66/04050866.pdf (2002).
Health Act 1999
sections 26-32
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1999/99008a-a.htm#26
‘Partnership in
Action (New Opportunities for Joint Working between Health and Social
Services)’
http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/01/44/88/04014488.pdf (1998).
‘Making the most of partnership working’
http://www.lgpartnerships.com/ is a toolkit produced by Local
Government Employers.
NHS And Higher
Education
The Council of Heads of Medical Schools
paper ‘The Ten Key Principles for joint working between the
Universities and the NHS’
http://www.chms.ac.uk/downloads/10%20Key%20Princ.doc (2004).
The University of
Leicester holds a literature review on ‘Managing the NHS/HE/Social
care interface’ (Jolie C, 2005)
http://www.le.ac.uk/sm/le/projects/fdtl/Resources/module2/
NHS and Local
Government
NICE has the following
papers on partnership working between the NHS and local government:
‘Choose Health’
briefing ‘NHS as partner with local authorities and
others’
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502787 presents findings on the
barriers and opportunities facing the NHS as it seeks to develop
partnership working with local authorities and other local agencies.
‘Reducing health inequalities: Local government and the NHS working
together’
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502575 pulls together case
studies of innovative partnership working to aid front-line
practitioners.
I&DeA
The Improvement and Development Agency has a section on partnership
working
http://www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=81907
within local government.
Reports
NICE has produced two
reports specifically about partnership working:
Pooling resources across sectors: a report for local strategic
partnerships
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502715
Planning across the LSP: case studies of integrating community
strategies and health improvement
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502147 highlights the
challenges facing local government, the NHS, police and other LSP
partners in working across boundaries.
The
Audit Commission’s report ‘Governing partnerships: bridging the
accountability gap’
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/reports/NATIONAL-REPORT.asp?CategoryID=&ProdID=1CDA0FEF-E610-463c-B3F3-220F607B1A2C
urges local public bodies to take a much
harder look at whether the partnerships they are involved in are
delivering.
Assessment And
Evaluation
NICE has published
advice on assessing partnerships:
‘The working
partnership: book 1 – introduction’
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502563
explains the process and the six key elements of assessment.
‘The working
partnership: book 2 - short assessment’
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502565 allows organisations to
assess their partnerships in brief.
‘The working
partnership: book 3 – in-depth assessment’
http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=502567
allows organisations to assess different aspects of their partnerships
in depth.
‘The Development of an Evaluation Framework
for Partnership Working’
http://www.ejbrm.com/vol3/v3-i1/v3-i1-art1-abstract.htm
by Maurice Atkinson
of the Southern
Health and Social Services Board, Northern Ireland (published in the
Electronic Journal of Business Research Methods. 2006: 3(1); p. 1-10)
details the outcomes of a project looking into the design of a
methodology to facilitate the evaluation of the complexities of
working in partnership and to assess the extent to which collaboration
actually adds value in terms of both process and outcomes.
The Improvement and Development Agency’s
http://www.idea-knowledge.gov.uk/idk/aio/5145569 paper ‘Making it real: a report
of the pilot partnership improvement programme with voluntary and
community organisations and local authorities’ published in 2006,
explores the drivers, barriers, obstacles and experiences of the
organisations participating in the pilot.
Comment
For comment on the
state of partnership working see:
Buddies or Barricades?
Glasby, Jon et al. Health Service Journal.
July 2006; 116(6014): p.18-20
http://www.hsj.co.uk/nav?page=hsj.jobs.careeradvice.story&resource=5146852
Partnerships under pressure: a commentary on progress in partnership
working between the NHS and local government (Banks, P. 2002)
available from the King’s Fund publications library
http://www.kingsfund.org.uk/resources/publications/partnerships.html
Reference
(1) The
leadership qualities framework: collaborative working. NHS Institute
for Innovation and Improvement.
http://www.executive.modern.nhs.uk/framework/deliveringtheservice/collaborative.aspx
(accessed 29th August 2006).
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