The Importance of Partnership Working in Health and Social Care

The provided report highlights the need for partnership working in healthcare due to the rise in mental patients. It emphasizes the importance of integrating efforts from health and social care organizations to achieve better outcomes. The examination of partnership working in healthcare has depicted it as a crucial approach to dealing with the rise in youngsters with mental illness. Multi-agency partnerships are recommended, pooling knowledge and resources to serve patients suitably.

Working in Partnership in
health and social care

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1.1 Explanation of philosophy of working in partnership in Health and Social Care............1
1.2 Evaluation of partnership relations in health and social care...........................................2
2.1 Analysis models of partnership working in health and social care..................................3
2.2 Reviewing current legislation and organisational practices and policies in health and social
care.........................................................................................................................................4
2.3 Differences in working practices and policies which affect collaborative working........5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Partnership working is defined as a situation where two or more institutions integrate
their efforts to provide specialised care (Ball and et. al., 2010). It refers to the mutual relationship
which has been formed among team members while catering needs of service patients. It is
essential to incorporate ideal working partnership between institutions so that increase cases of
mental illness can be countered. This assignment aims to counter the rising health problems in
children in the United Kingdom. The institutions which are considered in this assignment are
CAHMS and mental health community. Evaluation and analysis of the partnership working is
taken into account. The various models of partnership working are briefly discussed along with
the identification of the practices and policies in Health and Social Care (HSC) sector.
1.1 Explanation of philosophy of working in partnership in Health and Social Care
The philosophy in the sector of HSC relates to the people, ethics and practices which are
employed to serve the patients suffering from mental illness. The principle which helps in
guiding behaviour of social care worker can also be referred to as philosophy in context of
partnership working. Here listing some of the philosophies of working in partnership i.e.
Empowerment: Empower in context of social and healthcare refers to making patients
more confident so that they are able to take control over their own life. People suffering from
mental illness generally are not able to formulate decisions and comparatively, more submissive
in nature. Therefore, it is the philosophy of the workers in partnership to work to positively so
that their interest are prioritized.
Independence: It refers to providing the mental health patients with an opportunity to
decide their own future course of action (Barlow and et. al., 2010). There should be lesser or no
control of the people who surrounds a patient. Their individual needs and capabilities are to be
highlighted and should be provided with supported environment where they can form their own
future. While selection for the treatment or mode of treatment, consent of patient or his nearest
relative must be availed. The workers in the partnership working must also be provided with an
independence to carry out the operation in their own distinct manner so that needs of patients are
met.
Humanity: Humanity is a crucial component in the guiding principle for people working
in HSC. The definition of humanity states the attribute of being humane. It defines the
commitment of healthcare professionals to serve the patients who are underserved. The severe
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mental health patients are also perceived to be human and are to be served with humane
approach.
Equity: Equity in context of HSC relates to provision of equitable treatment to all. There
should not be an ounce of discrimination in the minds of healthcare professionals. The children
belonging to the nationalities and socio-economic classes are provide with equal and fair
treatment. The institutions which amalgamate their operations must be perceived as equal. There
should be no feeling of superiority as it can lead to dis-satisfactory services to children. The
reason for the same is that risk of mental illness have been identified more in the black and
LGBT community.
Trust and respect: Trust and respect are the most crucial determinant when it comes to
partnership. The workers in the healthcare will only be able to achieve the goals if they possess
ideal trust and respect to each other. The service which is provided to mental patients with the
institution can be improved with the presence of trust and respect among workers (Brisset,
Leanza and Laforest, 2013).
1.2 Evaluation of partnership relations in health and social care
Partnership working is referred to as coming together of two or more organisations of
social and healthcare to counter the illnesses persistent in the society. The United Kingdom has
been struggling to stop the rise of mental illnesses among children in the country. The reason
behind the same is that one institution is not able to effectively deal with the circumstances
relating to mental illness. It has been identified in a research that suicide is amongst the supreme
cause which has led to maximum number of death in the country. This particular situation
identifies the need to evaluate the partnership working so that its major benefits and drawbacks
can be ascertained.
The integration between mental health workers and NHS's child and adolescent mental
health team results in provision of better services to young mental health patients in the country.
The efforts during this amalgamation aim to resolve the problems collaboratively so that difficult
to solve individually. It is not easy to evaluate partnership ideally as it involves lot of features
which are difficult to examine. The quality of relationship and approaches to handling a
particular situation is distinct among both the institutions (Partnership Working in Health and
Social Care: The Bridge Perspective, 2017). But the result oriented approach can help in
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examining the performance which has emerged to be one of the most successful partnership
working in the country.
It is a known fact that forming a partnership is not an easy task. This requires multiplied
efforts from both the sides and there can be confusion in roles and responsibilities among
member of a team. Therefore, it is essential for workers to cooperate in the best possible manner
and keep aside their intellectual and cultural differences so that young patients can be served
with the best care and medical treatment. The relationship between local social care institution
and NHS has ensured that the best treatment is offered to patient with their pooled expertise and
resources. Another area which is to be emphasised is the communication pattern among team
members. The reason behind the same is that it identifies manner in which patients are served
along with it, training and problem solving approaches can only be facilitated with the help of
this feature exclusively. However, there are challenges which hinder the ideal formation of
partnership among organisations. The variety of policies and practices are amongst the top
factors which poses a threat to ideal formation of partnership. Therefore, it can be ascertained
from this examination of partnership working is that it is essential in serving patients with mental
illness. To achieve the desired state, it is essential to ignore personal differences among workers
so that needs and expectation of consumers are met (Glasby and Dickinson, 2014).
2.1 Analysis models of partnership working in health and social care
There are various models through which partnership can be attained in health and social
care organisations. Below listing are the supreme four models which presents us with partnership
working with various institutions.
Networking Model: this is considered to be one of the simplest form when it comes to
forming partnership within healthcare institutions. The institutions meet frequently to carry out
their practices and there is no place for forming commitments. For instance the mental social
workers are assisted or joined by CAHMS as they both are dealing with young children with
mental illness.
Referral systems: this is referred to be an contemporary approach to partnership working
in health and social care segments. However this model carries a agreement of partnership
amongst the institutions. The emphasis is on the sharing of information and referring clients to
the partner organisation. The main examples of this approach refers to the agreement between an
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medical organisation and diagnostic centre. The major benefits which can be availed by a
patients in this approach is that it is an time consuming process and makes this process smooth.
Consortium Model: The union which has been formed amongst organisation is for
mutually beneficial purposes. The resources of these organisation are pooled so that patients are
served in an improved manner (Campbell-Hall and et. al., 2010). In this partnership, a contract
have been formed between two organisation along formation of financial contract between two
institutions. It totally depends upon the organisation the manner in which they wish to pool their
resources and expertise. The main purpose behind taking help from this model is that to work
alongside each other so that better results are ascertained in terms of Health and social care. For
instance the local community works with healthcare organisation to deliver quality assistance to
their patients.
Multi-Agency Working Model: this is referred to the most important type of partnership
model. This model undertakes integration of two or more organisations to jointly deliver best of
their services to their patients. The CAHMS and specialist health care have formed planning in
the best manner. They have generated trust and relationship among each other so that young
mental patients are served in the best manner. This approaches aims to inculcate features such as
clarity of roles, mutual-benefit and communication. The major benefit which has been identified
is that it provides a one stop solution to the mental patients (Currie and Lockett, 2011). The
support which of offered to carers are remarkable and are able to deliver distinct range of
services.
2.2 Reviewing current legislation and organisational practices and policies in health and social
care
Health and social care have set up some laws and legislation which state of United Kingdom
have determined for safeguarding and protecting the worker and patients who belongs to the
industry of health & social are. In this report, major laws and legislation which is required to be
complied by them in the policies and practices of organisation for working in partnership in the
sector of health and care which are mentioned as below:
Mental Capacity Act: In the year of 2005, the act was applied by government for
everyone in order to support and treat people living England for making entire or few decisions
and judgements of them. The major purpose of this act is empowering individual or people to
design and make their own decision that can assist them in increasing their standard of living as
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well. This same law applies in mental health hospital patients. One including family, state, local
authorities, hospital authorities, need to make the decision-making abilities of individual so their
living would not be influenced by the decision.
Children act (1989): Major aim of this law is to support the security and safety along
with fulfilling the children demands in order to flourish their future and better living. The local
and other authorities are working and analysing such activities in order to properly meet the
strategy and desired of every single children (Ellis, 2011). This legislation complies major four
elements which is:
 stay safe.
 Be healthy
 Meet the economic Well-bing
 Make the positive contribution Achieve and enjoy.
Data Protection act (1985): This act states that this is fundamental for an organisation to
manage and safeguard the personal information of an individual. There is the requirements of
this act in order to provide the safety to worker along with insure patients that their share
information and data is secure.
Equality Act (2010): This is initial function of this act to codify complex and various
array of regulation and acts that are formed on the anti discrimination law basis. This is required
for an organisation of health and social care sector to manage equality among people and make
adjustment in firm or workplace for overcoming the issues faced by enterprise due to
discrimination of any kind.
This is essential for an organisation of health and social care sector in order to imply
entire laws reviewed by authorities within a specific time period (Fotaki, 2011). The government
of United Kingdom is promote and support the legislation with amendments in order to resolve
issues.
2.3 Differences in working practices and policies which affect collaborative working
Policies are defined to be the supreme course of action which are ascertained by an
organisation. It consists of guidelines which are adopted by an institution to carry out its duties
and obligations. The policies and practices can influence a partnership in positive or negative
aspects. The positive influence which can be ascertained is that institution can pick the best of
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the practices and policies and alter their ways of functioning. This feature will result in ideal
relationship among workers and ultimately affects the working in right manner. On the other
hand, differences in the policies and practices can lead to situation of conflicts within
organisation which further creates hindrances in providing ideal services to patients (Gardiner,
Gott and Ingleton, 2012). Here listing a brief description of major practices and policies of
distinct institutions.
NHS: National healthcare services is a government owned entity looking after the
welfare of the people residing in the country. The major practices which are different from other
institutions are anger management and meditation.
Government: the government in the healthcare domain makes sure that organisation is
supplied with ideal financial and other resources so that their operations are carried out in the
best possible manner.
Education: the education emphasis making people aware about the right and ensure its
promotion in the market.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the above report that partnership working is a major need of the
current environment. The rise in the mental patients calls for a need for these health and social
care organisation to integrate their efforts so that better outcomes are achieved. The philosophy
of partnership working helps in identifying features such as equity, trust and respect and
empowerment. The examination of partnership working in healthcare has depicted that it is a
crucial approach through which rise in the youngster with mental illness can be dealt. The multi-
agency partnership is the best model for partnership as it helps in pooling of knowledge and
resources which helps in serving patients in the suitable manner. The legislation formed by the
government have been successful to an extent in protecting the rights and interest of patients
suffering mental issues such as anxiety and depression.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Ball, R. and et. al., 2010. The evaluation of partnership working in the delivery of health and
social care. Public Policy and Administration. 25(4). pp.387-407.
Barlow, J. and et. al., 2010. Health‐led interventions in the early years to enhance infant and
maternal mental health: A review of reviews. Child and Adolescent Mental Health.
15(4). pp.178-185.
Brisset, C., Leanza, Y. and Laforest, K., 2013. Working with interpreters in health care: A
systematic review and meta-ethnography of qualitative studies. Patient Education and
Counseling. 91(2). pp.131-140.
Campbell-Hall, V. and et. al., 2010. Collaboration between traditional practitioners and primary
health care staff in South Africa: developing a workable partnership for community
mental health services. Transcultural psychiatry. 47(4). pp.610-628.
Currie, G. and Lockett, A., 2011. Distributing leadership in health and social care: concertive,
conjoint or collective?.International Journal of Management Reviews. 13(3). pp.286-
300.
Ellis, K., 2011. ‘Street‐level Bureaucracy’Revisited: The Changing Face of Frontline Discretion
in Adult Social Care in England. Social Policy & Administration. 45(3). pp.221-244.
Fotaki, M., 2011. Towards developing new partnerships in public services: users as consumers,
citizens and/or co‐producers in health and social care in England and Sweden.Public
Administration. 89(3). pp.933-955.
Gardiner, C., Gott, M. and Ingleton, C., 2012. Factors supporting good partnership working
between generalist and specialist palliative care services: a systematic review. Br J Gen
Pract. 62(598). pp.e353-e362.
Glasby, J. and Dickinson, H., 2014. Partnership working in health and social care: what is
integrated care and how can we deliver it?. Policy Press.
Online
Partnership Working in Health and Social Care: The Bridge Perspective. 2017. [Online].
Available through: <https://www.bridgesupport.org/bridge-blog/partnership-working-
health-social-care>.
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