Working in Partnership in Health and Social Care

This report analyzes the concept of partnership working in the health and social care sector, using the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust as a case study. It explores the philosophies, models, and challenges of partnership working, evaluating its impact on service users, professionals, and organizations. The report also identifies strategies to improve outcomes for partnership working in health and social care services.

Working in Partnership in
Health and Social Care

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LO 1.................................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Philosophies of working in partnership in context of health and social care.................3
1.2 Partnership relation within health and social care services..............................................4
M1. Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solution..............................................5
M2 Selection and application of appropriate methods...........................................................5
LO 2.................................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Models of partnership in context of health and social care sector..................................6
2.2 Identifying present laws , business practices and policies for partnership working in
contexyt of health and social.................................................................................................6
2.3 Analysing the way different working practices and policies have effect on collaborative
working...................................................................................................................................8
LO 3.................................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Evaluating possible results of working in partnership for service user, professionals and
organisations...........................................................................................................................8
3.2 Identifying obstacles to partnership working in context of health and social care........9
3.3 Strategies to improve outcomes for partnership working in health and social care services.
..............................................................................................................................................10
M3 Findings..........................................................................................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Partnership working in context of health and social care brings together separate
organisation so that so they can get various advantages from pulled expertness, resource and
sharing of power. The main objective of partnership is to stand in competition with providing the
best product and services. It is very much important for Health and social care professionals to
realise the value of encouraging independence in context of service users. Medical professionals
are required to be aware of their duties as well as responsibilities and the way they relate to
others within the sector. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust is a foundation trust of NHS.
which managed two hospitals in Staffordshire, England. This file will consider partnership
philosophies and relationships in health and social care. It will emphasize on advantages of
partnership working with users of services, professionals and organisations in context of health
and Social care services. Further information about benefits of partnership working for users of
services, professionals and organisations in health and social care services.
LO 1
1.1 Philosophies of working in partnership in context of health and social care
When it is about philosophical thought of partnership working, philosophy in first place
Some philosophy concepts such as power sharing, empowerment, independence, respect,
autonomy and making choices etc. It is difficult for single organisation to succeed. It is essential
for people or organizations which are working in partnership to make sure that there is effective
communication, coordination of activities, and mutual understanding between the obsessed
partners. Effective communication is crucial in order to facilitate realisation and
accomplishment of desired results and objectives. (Glasby, 2016).
Power sharing is referred to as the separation of labour among the concerned
professionals engage in the partnership working in context of the health and social care services.
Through power sharing the service users will get the best support from right professional. Both
the employer and the union have different goals, but need a joint-goal that can only be achieved
by working together with equal power on both sides. Companies engaged in partnership

working should haver ability to authorise each other through adequate cooperation as well as
coordination of activities
Organisations working partnership in provision of health and social care services might
get depended on each other for financial, economic or social assistance. For example there is two
hospitals under Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation, one is Stafford hospital and other is
Cannock Chase hospital and they both have dependency on each other in every term. This trust
provided primary care to rural people.
Informed choice is when a person has the information about something and they have
capability of understand the information than they can support the opportunities to save
information.
1.2 Partnership relation within health and social care services
Partnership between health care industries is not too powerful. There are different levels
of partnership relations and firstly it comes to service users. This level refers to the relationship
between service users and Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation. Organisation is working with
respecting the dignity of service users. It has been estimated that between four hundred to
twelve hundred patients died due to poor care over the 50 months between January 2005 and
March 2009 at Stafford hospital, a small district general hospital in Staffordshire. Many people
who are disabled, can not approach to the services provide by health and social care(Manners,
2017).
The 2nd level of partnership is professed level which show the cooperation ass wselol as
collaboration between the different professed group those who work for life improvement of
patients. They both organisations in better link with each other in NHS trust. For instance, health
workers and doctors have been collaborating with biochemists and chemical engineers in
development of more effective drugs. Collaboration of educationalists, health workers is not too
good or bad (Dickinson and O'Flynn, 2016).. They maintain their services with all of these.
Members in NHS did not listen to its service user and employees in well manner.
Other health care institutions, training and professional representative Companies has
failed to bring out the professionalism and take action to protect service user.

M1. Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solution
NHS should embeds communal values that is to be shared by all. An organisation needs
to put patient safety first in their priority list . Health care professionals require, a commitment
by all employees in order to serve and protect patients./ Workers in company need to committ
themselves that they will support each other. Management in Nhs should implement some rules
as well as policies, as this tactic will assist them in ensuring the high level of commitment from
staff.(Surr and et.al., 2017). In addition to this, manager can permit workers to participate in
decision making process, as this strategy will assist them in identifying the new ways for
improving service quality.
Nurse patient relationship- It is import to build the relationship between nurse and patients
because the barrier comes from it. Better way of communication helps the patient to survive with
the illness, it is all about what the patient feels at the healthcare centre.
Therapeutical relation- It refers to the kinship among healthcare professional and customers. It
is the way through which a therapist and patient or service user get engaged with each other,
which is very important in order to deliver proper as well as quality care in context of health and
social care.
M2 Selection and application of appropriate methods
Total quality management- It is the quality improvement philosophy in healthcare.
Total quality management approach consists of 3 rules or values these are constant quality
betterment, customer focus and teamwork. Constant quality betterment is a philosophy which is
focuses on improvement of the process in healthcare. Through improvement Mid Staffordshire
NHS Foundation can solve the problems which faced by them.
Customer service is the major point of healthcare organisation and it will come in result
of better outcome. Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation can provide their best services to the
customers sop that they can improve the customer loyalty and trust.
Teamwork is also a good approach to gain better outcome in healthcare. People involved
in healthcare profession having the same goal and they also have to work in team so that they can

easily approach to the customers' satisfaction and provide them better service, it is required by
the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation to concentrate on improving its capabilities.
LO 2
2.1 Models of partnership in context of health and social care sector.
The various types of partnership model in health and social care such as :
-Co-ordinate hypothesis of partnership- According to this model different organisations
operate autonomously but take care of effective service delivery. The management of health
Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation responsible for better service delivery. The activities such as
training, staffing aligned for effective delivery of service. Governing Authorities, national
councils in United Kingdom operate in such model. The other assumption made in this model is
that each department have their own speciality in particular field. In this structure the
organisation have a common management and finance. In this model everything comes under a
system(Boulware and et.al., 2016).
Coalition model- In this model healthcare professionals work together to meet a common vision
or mission. They work with their self arrangement and with their own interest. In this model
different partners work in agreement with a common goal.
Unified hypothesis- This theory is supported by the assumption of amalgamation. This
hypothesis is based on the assumption that th various components such as management, staff,
training and budgeting structure of partners are amalgamated for delivering fully integrated
services to patients.
In the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust case scenario, the unified model was in
place. In this case, the health and social care services were amalgamated together under one
management. Fortunately, this management failed to ensure this unified model of partnership
work correctly for better delivery of services.
2.2 Identifying present laws , business practices and policies for partnership working in contexyt
of health and social
Care act- Care act 2014 is an act of parliament of UK. It regulated on 14 may 2014, after
being introduced on 9 may 2013. It consists of 5 sections considering care and support such as

health issues, health and social care, quality of care and other consideration. This act covers all
the major things about care of patient in health and social care organisation. In this act
integration fund and flow of information regulation also included. The different professions who
are working with Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation have to take care of these things and follow
the structure of positive outcome. They are responsible for care of patients and provide them best
services.
Crime and disorder act 1998- It has been implemented by government in order to
control the crime related to unethical behaviour. This act mandates national authorities to
formulate the policies and strategies for reduce crime rate. National authority need to work with
localized police. Crime rate in healthcare increased day by day and it is not good for the image of
healthcare providers so crime rate has to be decrease with the help of local authority just like
police(Walshe and et.al., 2018).
Care and community act 1990- As per this legislation any person belonging to the age
of 18 year or more is entitled to avail services from the national authority. I
n addition to this, they have the right to a full assessment of their necessities and wants. In
context of heath and social care, service user have some needs and the consequences or outcome
helps in determining whether care or social services is provided by medical staff or not. This law
also refers to change the internal structure of the organisation so that the patients know about the
products and services and purchase. NHS has form strategic partnership with other heath care
institution in order provide quality care as well as services to user. It has assisted an organisation
in gaining the competitive advantage in the market.
Mental health act 2007- It considers domestic violence, crime and victims act 2004.
Mental act legislation consists of three portion and nine chapters. It intends to bring changes in
preceding provisions related to mental health. It is all about the mentally freedom of the patients
because it is essential for the service users that they have to stay away from the stress.
According to this act patients have rights to complaints against the healthcare provider if they are
not feeling well.

2.3 Analysing the way different working practices and policies have effect on collaborative
working
Partnership works better if the partners have similarities in their working practice. It is
not possible that the partners are from same field and experience always. Difference in
background of the partners come in form of conflict. This thing hindered the service which is
provided to the patients by healthcare organisation. Lack of proper employment policies also
hindered the roles and responsibilities of the staff and it is not good for the healthcare
organisation.
It is not possible that monitoring and evaluation techniques of the all partners is same,
because every people think in different way and it also creates the situation of conflict.
Differences in monitoring techniques may lead to lower achievement. These type of differences
affect the collaborating working.
LO 3
3.1 Evaluating possible results of working in partnership for service user, professionals and
organisations.
Partnership business assist in generating better outcome to the patients. Two business
which working together with having different skilled employees and with different knowledge,
always make a better sense. The entire process of service delivery and decision making improve
significantly. Health care organisation such as Mid Staffordshire NHS foundation. This
organisation worked in partnership with police force, localized authorities and other social
health care organisations which has assisted an enterprise in getting the skilled workforce which
has helped them in accomplishing desired business objectives.
The benefit of partnership between patient and professional, is that it helps health and
social care institution in improving service delivery. Through good communication and
behaviour of the nurses with the patients, patients also feel valued and respected and it is helpful
for the health care professions. In context of Staffordshire hospital, an organisation has failed to
achieve the desired results or objectives, but the nurses worked in partnership with their patients

for accomplishing the goals of improving care services. It creates goodwill of the healthcare
organisation.
In partnership working, partners always brings valuable resources to provide better service
delivery. When two or more companies work together than they are able to provide the resources
which are needed to solve the problems of patients, which will come as a result of better
outcome. In this health and social care there is lack of security of the patients and many trust
issues are detected. This health care is also failed to win the trust of people because of lack of
security. An organisation could have implemented the security system for ensuring the safety of
patients.
Another outcome of partnership business in health and social care is empowerment. The
organisations which are working together, able to being power of each other. With the help of
each other they can provide the better outcome and resources to the patients and they have to do
this thing to sustainable development. But this thing did not happen in this chosen healthcare.
The communities such as police, local residents were not working together because of the case
which through many people were died. They denying the opportunities to be empowered by
another.
3.2 Identifying obstacles to partnership working in context of health and social care
Partnership working leads to increase ability of organisations to provide better services to
their customers. In the health and social care there are many barriers which was detected in Mid
Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. These obstacles have negative impact on effectual of
working in partnership-
In the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust there is no understanding among the
partners. Misunderstanding has created the major barriers in the development of the organisation.
Situation of conflict also rises here. Conflict between staff and patients just because they were
not providing best services to the patients. Patients could not get the services which they want.
With the misbehaving or miscarrying of the staff many patients were died so it reduces the
goodwill of healthcare. Conflicts occurred when there is high level of confusion or
misunderstanding related roles and liabilities among employees.
The organisation also faces the problems related to culture. Patient faced the problems in
effective treatment, fear about the safety and security and basic care. There is lack of

fundamental standards so that the patient care is not on majority. There is one other problem
which detected in the healthcare is quality standard.
There is lack of communication which is not good for the health and social care because
communication plays major role in treatment of patients. Communication gaps between partners
also takes problem with itself. If they are not communicated with each other in proper way than
it is not easy to make positive culture in the organisation. People faced the problems to
complaining against the service provider.
Other problem is partnership working is information sharing. Information is the lifeblood
of partnership business. Without sharing information in right way the organisation can not
develop itself and in the chosen healthcare organisation this problem was arrived(Naslund and
et.al., 2016).
3.3 Strategies to improve outcomes for partnership working in health and social care services.
The different tactics or techniques which could be applied for improving the outcomes of
partnership business in context of health and social care-
There is lack of an effective interaction between staff members in chosen organisation
and it is the main thing which creates barrier in outcome. It is the best strategies to overcome
with the barrier. Through communication the patients can easily approach to the nurses and it
helps the patient to free from mentally stress.
Information is also the major part of partnership business. All professionals have to share
the information to every person who are related to the business. It helps the organisation to
development. An organisation need to bring improvement in information system used for
collection of data about service users , and this data helps the nurses to provide better treatment
to the patients.
There is need of effective leadership in NHS for effective support to the organisation.
Effective leaders can provide training to the employees which through they can perform better in
the healthcare organisation and it will result as better outcome. The different rules and regulation
can be implemented either by government or NHS trust in order to regulate the practices of
nursing staff as well as medical professionals. Teamwork is also needed in healthcare to provide
support to the patients.

M3 Findings
In the chosen health and social care organisation there was lack of abilities and they were
not able to provide better outcome to the patients. Patients were not treated well in the
organisation and they did not feel safe at the organisation. Trust Board or local organisations
werew not concern about the problems faced by the patients during their stay in hospital. Due to
system failure NHS has to face various issues at every level such as firm has to face problem in
detecting and taking the action which are expected by patients and the public.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the study that a hospitality organisation is not capable of
providing better outcome to its patients. It faced many difficulties in partnership business such as
lack of communication, information sharing, leadership etc. Above some changes were explained
to development of the organisation. This organisation doers not emphasizes on patient safety and
well being at the forefront of its work.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Dickinson, H. and O'Flynn, J., 2016. Evaluating Outcomes in Health and Social Care 2e. Policy
Press.
Glasby, J., 2017. Understanding health and social care. Policy Press.
Manners, R.A., 2017. Professional dominance: The social structure of medical care. Routledge.
Surr and et.al., 2017. Effective dementia education and training for the health and social care
workforce: a systematic review of the literature. Review of educational research.87(5).
pp.966-1002.
Boulware and et.al., 2016. Race and trust in the health care system. Public health reports.
Walshe and et.al., 2016. Health and social care devolution: the Greater Manchester
experiment. Bmj.352. p.i1495.
Naslund and et.al., 2016. The future of mental health care: peer-to-peer support and social
media. Epidemiology and psychiatric sciences.25(2). pp.113-122.
Drummond and et.al., 2015. Methods for the economic evaluation of health care programmes.
Oxford university press.
Rämgård, M., Blomqvist, K. and Petersson, P., 2015. Developing health and social care planning
in collaboration. Journal of Interprofessional Care.29(4).pp.354-358.
Dunér, A. and Wolmesjö, M., 2015. Interprofessional collaboration in Swedish health and social
care from a care manager's perspective. European Journal of Social Work.18(3).
pp.354-369.
Carman, E.M., Fray, M. and Waterson, P., 2018, August. Weak Signals in Healthcare: The Case
Study of the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust. In Congress of the International
Ergonomics Association.(pp. 691-700). Springer, Cham.
Crawford, S.M., 2017. First Mid Staffordshire, now the whole country. BMJ.356. p.j90.
Hughes, H. and Churchill, N., 2017. Speaking up in the NHS in England: the work of the
National Guardian and NHS England.
Carter, B. and Kline, R., 2017. The crisis of public sector trade unionism: Evidence from the Mid
Staffordshire hospital crisis. Capital & Class.41(2). pp.217-237.