Partnership Philosophies in Health and Social Care

HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
LO 1: Understand partnership philosophies and relationships in “health and social care”
services.......................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Explain the philosophy of working in partnership in “health and social care”....................3
1.2 Evaluate partnership relationships within “health and social care” services.......................6
LO 2: Understand how to promote positive partnership working with users of services,
professionals and organizations in “health and social care” services........................................7
2.1 Analyze models of partnership working across the “health and social care” sector............7
2.2 Review current legislation and organizational practices and policies for partnership
working in “health and social care”...........................................................................................9
2.3 Explain how differences in working practices and policies affect collaborative working 10
LO 3: Be able to evaluate the outcomes of partnership working for users of services,
professionals and organizations in “health and social care” services......................................11
3.1 Evaluate possible outcomes of partnership working for users of services, professionals
and organizations.....................................................................................................................11
3.2 Analyze the potential barriers to partnership working in “health and social care” services.
..................................................................................................................................................12
3.3 Devise strategies to improve outcomes for partnership working in “health and social care”
services.....................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion................................................................................................................................14
Reference List..........................................................................................................................15

Introduction
In “health and social care practice”, it is vital for the “health and social care” workers to
develop a healthy work environment, which can significantly promote the health outcomes of
the service care users. In this context, one of the key purposes of the “health and social care”
worker” is to offer satisfactory services to the clients and promote their overall wellbeing.
However, it is not possible for a care professional to promote the overall wellbeing of the
service users. Thus, it is important to promote the concept of working with others, like a team
in the “health and social care” setting’. In healthcare settings, the multidisciplinary care team
is common, where professionals from different disciplinary services work together to address
holistic needs of the patient as well as to improve the holistic wellbeing of the care service
users (Munn-Giddings and Winter, 2013). In the current assignment, the focus would be to
investigate the significance of “working in partnership’ in the ‘“health and social care”
settings. In this context, the assignment would help to know “partnership philosophies and
relationships” in “health and social care” services”; in the next section, the assignment would
focus on the ways of promoting “positive partnership working” with the clients, professionals
as well as “health and social care” service facilities or organizations. Finally, the assignment
would also help to evaluate the outcomes of partnership working for the service users,
professionals as well as organizations in “health and social care” services. In order to
demonstrate the above mentioned facts, the case scenario of the Mid Staffordshire NHS
Foundation Trust would be focused.
LO 1: Understand partnership philosophies and relationships in “health and social
care” services
1.1 Explain the philosophy of working in partnership in “health and social care”
In the case study of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust, the failure to develop and
provide a quality standard services have been highlighted, in several cases, which indicated
that patient’s voice have been neglected by the care authorities continuously, leading to a
poor care outcome. On the other hand, it has also been noticed that the management did not
attempted to look into these matters or did not listen to issues raised by staffs regarding the
improvement of facilities and services in the “health and social care” settings”. As a result,
the NHS associated trust is losing public trust due to low level of practice. A lack of

partnership working has been highlighted in the practice indicating huge improvements
needed in the care setting as soon as possible.
According to Aveyard (2014), “working in partnership” is the key part of practice in “health
and social care” context. The notions of “power sharing, consultation and cooperative ways
of working” are vital for efficient service provision in “health and social care” setting. In the
partnership-working environment, “health and social care” professionals must involve the
care service user in the partnership working, which would empower the patient by enhancing
their self esteem, which in turn promote his overall wellbeing. Promoting autonomy of
service users is a key responsibility and “philosophy of working” in the “health and social
care” settings, while being attentive of their own roles and responsibilities. In the current
settings, the National Health Service promoted the urgency of working in partnership in
healthcare sector. It is important for developing supportive relationships for providing good
health service. In this context, considering patients as a crucial part of the partnership
working is needed, as patient preference is not a “reflection of good practice”, rather it is a
“government policy”.
In this context, several philosophy of working should be followed by the Mid Staffordshire
NHS Foundation Trust, for several reasons. For instance, it helps to provide equity in service,
helps to improve efficiency as well as quality of services provided. In addition, it is also
needed to improve the power balance within the care settings, as well as to build a good inter-
professional relationship culture in the care settings. The key philosophies used in “health and
social care” settings for promoting partnership in working is demonstrated in the following
part.
Ethics: Ethics is a key issue in the “health and social care” settings. The professionals must
understand and make decision by considering what is right and wrong to the patient.
However, several dilemmas arises for making decisions in several contexts, especially in case
of aged care, end life care as well as supporting patient’s choice. In this context, Deontology
and utilitarianism theories are followed, where the first one highlights the moral duties of the
care professionals to be maintained during the care provision and the second one focuses
upon utility, i.e. creating maximal balance of positive value over disvalue to the patients’
wellbeing (Lowes and Hulatt, 2013). In addition, ethics is important for promoting the human
rights of the patients, workers as well as the employers. In this context, paternalism is also a
key issue of professional ethics in “health and social care” settings. The other ethical