A Report on Partnership in Health and Social Care Management

This report delves into the philosophy and practicalities of partnership working within the health and social care sector, using the case study of Mr. Ian to illustrate key concepts. It examines the importance of partnerships, evaluating relationship dynamics and analyzing various models of collaborative work. The report reviews relevant legislation, organizational practices, and policies, highlighting how differences in these areas can impact effective collaboration. It assesses potential outcomes for service users, professionals, and organizations, while also identifying barriers to successful partnerships. Strategies for improving partnership outcomes are discussed, with a focus on empowerment, respect, independence, and shared responsibilities. The case of Mr. Ian is used to highlight failures in partnership working, leading to negative consequences, and the report recommends strategies for future improvements, including the application of empowerment, shared responsibilities, power-sharing, and shared decision-making.

Health and Social Care Management
A Report on -
Working in Partnership
across the Health and Social Care Sector:
The Case study of Mr Ian.

Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................3
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Section A .........................................................................................................................................4
1.1Working partnerships Philosophy in Health and Social Care................................................4
1.2 Evaluation of partnership relationships within health and social care services....................5
Section B..........................................................................................................................................8
2.1 Analysing models of partnership working for the health and social care sector..................8
2.2 Current legislation and organizational practices and policies for working partnerships in
health and social care..................................................................................................................9
2.3 How differences in working practices and policies affect collaborative working..............10
Section C........................................................................................................................................11
3.1 Evaluation of possible outcomes of partnership working for users of services,
professionals and organizations................................................................................................11
3.2 Analysis of the potential barriers to partnership working in health and social care services
...................................................................................................................................................12
3.3 Strategies to improve outcomes for partnership working in health and social care services
...................................................................................................................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

Executive Summary
This report will highlight the understanding and philosophy of working in partnership in
health and social care. The report will include evaluation of the Partnership relationship within
health and social care services. The report will also include analysis of the models of partnership
working across health and social care. The report will review the legislation and organizational
practices and politics for working partnership. The report will explain the differences of working
practices and policies after collaborative working. It will also evaluate the possible outcomes of
working partnerships for users of services, professionals and organizations. The report will also
identify and analyse the barriers to potential partnership working along with the strategies to
improve the partnership outcomes in health and social care services. A case study of Mr. Ian has
been used in this report that represents the lack of effective partnership working which further
resulted in his physical and psychological abuse and later resulted in his death.
However, there were many learning outcomes from this case study and various strategies
were devised as such- empowerment, shared responsibilities, power-sharing and shared decision-
making etc. were been recommended for the future usage during the occurrence of similar
outcomes that will be discussed in this report.
INTRODUCTION
Partnership refers to the formation of mutual understanding and the shared interest
between the individuals, agencies and organizations. It is important for health care and social
services to work in partnership and look forwards towards specific goals and objectives as well
as help in controlling the diseases like Ebola and preventing its outcomes.
This report will hold the discussion of partnership working philosophy, relationships in
partnership, partnership models working across the health and social care sector, review of
current legislation and organizational practices, mention the working partnerships policies in
health and social care and explain how the differences in working partnerships affects the
collaborative working.

Section A
1.1Working partnerships Philosophy in Health and Social Care.
Philosophy of working in partnerships refers to number of individuals, professional and
agencies being working together for one common purpose of the organization. It is important to
work in partnerships in case of health and social care as it brings out number of individuals and
expertise on one platform and results in providing quality services to the society. There are
different types of philosophies in relation to health and social care partnerships which are to be
discussed as follows-
Empowerment- Empowerment refers to availing health care services to the patient in
such a sway that an individual is himself aware for the preventive actions in case of his health
related problems and needs. Here the patient is aware for his situations and prepared for the
necessary steps to be undertaken during any sort of circumstances. As per the mentioned case
study Mr Ian was not provided with effective empowerment related to medical care and health
measures which further resulted in worsening his behaviour to greater extent. As per (Reamer,
2006), during the partnerships between two healthcare organizations, an individual must be given
empowerment and be allowed to adopt on behalf of the organization which they represent.
Empowerment had reduced the service users' dependency in making various decisions.
Mr Ian had his mental capacity to make several decisions for his health related concerns.
But this was possible only when he was in his normal senses. The health professionals who were
care takes of Mr Ian failed to identify this factor that the person needed confidence and support
during his decisions to be made during normal senses. Mr Ian shall be offered and advocate for
his support and confidence.
Respect- Respect refers to deep admiration for an individual in regard to his capabilities,
performance, skills, qualities and position(Health talk, 2015). It is necessary that there must be
respect made by and for all the individuals and members in health and social care partnerships as
this will ultimately result in mutual understanding, cooperation and reduce down the arising
conflicts in the organization. The people who work with vulnerable service users must be treated
with politeness and provided compassion in order to serve respect towards their dignity.

In the current scenario of the case study, Mr Ian did not respect his staff members, nor he
looked towards speaking politely to them and rather prefer to shout or insult them. This has
resulted in lack of support been provided by the staff members to Mr Ian. Even the staff did not
maintain the accurate records related to the issues, and they informed managers verbally
regarding it, hence this resulted on lack of monitoring and control over the activities and
behaviour of Mr Ian by health professionals. The staff should have been given training on
recording the daily notes for the incidents and accidents occurred as per the time and date. The
issue was being raised due to a female staff being sent to Mr Ian whereas he preferred a male,
and this impacted his behaviour and resulted in further consequences.
Independence- Independence can be defined as an approach by individual where he
decides the characteristics and ways for his own life without being controlled by family or other
persons. As per the views of (Community Care.uk, 2017), independence enables an individual to
live his own lifestyle and make his own choices as well. It is necessary to promote independence
as it makes the service users confident and satisfied which further helps them to pursue their own
activities.
Mr Ian was given independence when he was sober and in his normal senses but not
supported or encouraged for seeking the help to render away his alcoholic addiction. He must be
provided asses to consult an alcoholic misuse rehabilitation centre where he could have been able
to meet different persons of the similar problems. There were hardly any activities that could
distract or drive the attention of Mr Ian from the alcohol addiction. There was a lack of
communication between the patient and the staff that were appointed to care Mr Ian and they
were failed in sharing and listening problems of Mr Ian.
1.2 Evaluation of partnership relationships within health and social care services.
Partnership Relationships refers to solution of any issue within an organization where one
agency is unable to deal with the problems independently. As per the views of (Dickson, 2007),
partnerships are been generally formed in order to address various short term and long term
issues in an organization. My perception on working with partnerships with health and social
care industries had been lacking for immense undefended adults with dementia and psychogenic

health, has been not accessed to the services provided by NHS and Health and social care
providers.
Service user Level- It is a type of partnership held between service users and the
organizations. As per the views of (Gasby and Littlechild, 2004), People with complex
disabilities and problems and especially, elder people have some or other sort of discrimination
for most of the service providers. Similarly, the people with severe mental health and learning
difficulties or often been discriminated by health care providers. These patients experience
mostly for not being fairly treated for their health issues and not allowed to raise their voice in
making decisions for their treatment provided in England.
The work effectiveness increases on the development of self-confidence, empowerment,
positive recommendation, betterment of services, good communication system and better
training needs of the staffs. However, various negative factors like negligence,
misunderstandings, lack of service delivery, low respect, time consumption in delivering a
service can affect the provision of care services in an organization. Similarly, in case of Mr Ian
there has been poor working partnerships and coordination among the professionals who were
in-charged to take care of his needs, there was lack of empowerment and collection of feedback
from the patient as well as poor teamwork, lack of clarity and job responsibility by the
professionals.
Professional levels- These are the aims that are derived while working in partnerships
with other professionals in order to deliver the health care services through information sharing
and meeting up the requirements of the patients. The government of UK has implemented the
regulation that the illegal immigrants who want to avail the medical services, need to pay the full
amount before the treatment, the main purpose is to not put a strain on public hospitals.
There were many negative implications in Mr Ian's case as such- mental confusion, poor
communication between the staff, lack of cooperation etc. The professionals were not committed
or sympathetic towards the patient's condition and many other irresponsible acts were been
performed that resulted in worsening the patient's condition and his health.
Organizational level- It is a relationship between the different organizations in relation
to the working with the service users with mental health problems and how the staffs report the
incidents happening during serving the patient. It includes sharing of ideas, exchange of data,

delivering the quality care for service users, applying policies and procedures for the well being
of patients and finding solutions to the problems.
In case of Mr Ian the organization failed to consider the polices and procedures for
addressing his problems. The professional did not share the accurate information, reviews and
assessment as well as there were poor levels of communication and service being provided to
patient. Partnership relationship must establish good relations with the patients, treat them with
mutual respect which will posses positive outcomes for the organizations. The organization must
follow their ethics and provide quality service and follow or the standards of policies and
procedures for treatment and must be loyal, devoted and supportive to the patients and the work
they perform.
The following components include the policies and procedures and provides structure for
the local authorities in partnership working-
Mental Health Capacity Act 2005- It is a act related to the protection and empowerment of
those people who lacks the mental ability to make the rational decisions regarding their health
care and treatment (NHS, 2017). This regulation is applied the people aged above 16 years and
those who posses dementia, learning disability, brain injury, poor mental health condition and
other injuries related to brain or mental health issues.
As per the review of Mr Ian's case, the patient had the capability to make the decisions
during his senses and when he was sober. But this element was ignored by the professionals and
the care takers and made them restricting the patient to make any rational decision and place his
views. The moral support was not being provided to the patient and thus resulted in worsening
his condition.
Darzi Report, 2008- The report is prepared on the formal classification of the individuals to be
established between the local authorities, primary care trust, police authorities, local hospitals
and other agencies in order to deal with the various kinds of issues in the health care system and
better the service. These systems prevent the different problems in the societies and
communities like drug addiction, alcohol abuse etc.
The partnership working between the public services agencies NHS, local authorities and
primary care trust etc., will be improving the well-being of patients by planning the centred
needs of an individual. This service will provide the care needs to people using primary
community health care services and also support the discharged patients from hospitals by

availing them to live a healthy lifestyle as well as fulfil their health care needs so that they won't
be re-admitted to the hospitals. In order to render these services the organizations requires
confidence in basic human rights, specific skills, equality and quality management services that
meet up the patient's needs. The staffs and the workforce will be requiring proper training and
adaptability in order to stay motivated and encouraged which will make them deliver quality
health care services and also make them achieve rewards and promotions for their work.
In case study of Mr Ian, there had been poor working partnership between the
professionals as well as lacking of roles and responsibilities were been observed as well.
According to Asthana, (2002) for effective operations in an organization there must be a strong
partnership between the partners and allowing them a control over the shared budgets and
resources empowering cooperative management presentation between the partners. All these
activities will pose a major effect in improvement of services to the people and result in their
well-being.
Section B
2.1 Analysing models of partnership working for the health and social care sector
According to (Perkins, 2011), the model of partnership refers to the working customs
where the professionals, service users and the organizations work together combining for
accomplishing one common goal. There are four models of partnerships in health and social care,
which are as follows-
Integrated model- It is a model that consists of one system where all the systems are
coordinated together for accomplishing a common goal. According to the Social Marketing
Gateway, (2016), there will be the least gaps or replication of services as the system will be
coordinated together. The several sectors of this model are measured by central system and the
main disadvantage lies in that when everyone combines, there is limited time available for
modernization and completion of other activities.
In case scenario of Mr Ian, although the professionals were working in the partnerships
but there was no coordination between them so that they can identify their own duties and as a
result the patient was not provided with quality services, nor he was allowed to present his
reviews in relation to services granted to him and other requirements.

Coordinated model- This model enables the patients to receive the right treatment and
care at the right place and at the right time. The model is based on the belief of the best patient
outcomes. This model uses the application of empowerment, joint ideas, purposes and collective
information for better decision-making. In this model the patient are provided with quality health
services and also the professionals update all the action being initiated on daily basis as well
avoid formation of workload in the organization.
Hybrid Model- It is a collection of all three models as of integrated, coordinated and
coalition model. The main benefit for this model is that it identifies the positive outcomes from
the similar models while washing away the damaging factors. In case of health and social care,
the hybrid model enable the prospects and improvement in performance and decrease the
complications and restrictions in organization.
In case of Mr Ian, the use of hybrid model will be beneficial as the organization will
share the information, ideas that will allow easy access to confidential information. This will
further enable Mr Ian to feel empowered, independent and allow him to make his own decisions.
2.2 Current legislation and organizational practices and policies for working partnerships in
health and social care
Legislation refers to a regulation made by government for the purpose of civilians and the
health of the people in a country and includes various effective measures related to ethics. It
serves as guidelines for organizations that includes policies, procedures, rules, standards etc. The
following are some legislations in relation to partnerships in health and social care services-
Health and Social Care 2012- It is one of the important legislation brought up in the
NHS reforms since 1948. There are six clinical commissioning groups in the current NHS.
Clinical commissioning groups are the elements of Health and social care act. The CCGs change
most of the health related services including the elective hospital care, mental health services
emergency care, and maternity services etc.
The public health system- It is a changing system being organized to deliver the
government's commitment for the improvement of the people's health with a faster rate. The
local authorities have been given the responsibilities and funding for improvement in health
services and reducing the deaths.
Health and well-being boards- These are the vision of central government that are
more incorporated method to health and social care. The local authorities work in partnerships

with the health organizations for planning the activities to meet the needs of communities and
people in health related services.
Economy regulation- It is being set out to monitor the role of sector regulator for health
care with responsibility for monitoring all providers of the NHS- funded services in England.
The licence providers work in partnerships with NHS England for setting the prices of NHS-
funded services, prevent competitive behaviour for ensuring the continuous availability of
services during the financial difficulties of providers(kingsfund.org,2016).
Data Protection Act 1998- This act controls the misuse of the personal information
related to particular subject. In case of health and social care service centres, all the individuals
must obey the data protection guidelines so that the information about the organization is kept
confidential from third party.
In case of Mr Ian, SPOA had difficulties in accessing the patient health records. The
information was limited and there were no accurate emails as well. The confidential information
related to Mr Ian was not protected with the delivery of sensitive data to the wrong partners.
However, keeping confidentiality for the data is important part of good practice. Hence, the
organizations must maintain the safety and integrity of the data.
2.3 How differences in working practices and policies affect collaborative working
Collaborative working is the mutual participation of the two organizations for achieving a
common goal. There were number of people working in case of Mr Ian, they include- ,
Community Support Worker, Local Authority Long Term Team, Occupational Therapist, Re-
Enablement Team 2012, Mental Health Review , Risk Enablement Panel, April 2014, the Police,
Care Manager and the Single Point of Access. Each of these individuals had different approaches
to work, roles and responsibilities and differences in sharing the information. All these
stakeholders had different opinion in risk assessment of the patient which further resulted in
negative consequences and problems for the patient.
However there are many positive impacts of collaborative working practices such as
increase in knowledge, enhancement of team work, financial savings and better utilization of
resources as well as guiding the professionals about their work performance. On the other hand
there are negative impacts as well such as increase in confusion, poor information sharing, lack
of coordination between the staffs as the same in case of Mr Ian where the information was not

shared accurately and there were no personal records being maintained. All these negative
elements led to the poor service delivery by the organization and resulted into negative
consequences and poor health condition of the patient as well.
Despite of the deviation in organizational policies and practices during Mr Ian's case,
there were different government rules and legislative acts which shows the professionals the way
of working as per the ethics. Safeguarding of Vulnerable Adult Groups Act 2006 was not
implemented as due to lack of strategy by professionals and the decisions were made on their
own, Mental Capacity Act 2005 was being breached as Mr Ian was not aided an advocate that
could place his views during his rational behaviour.
In order to apply the collaborative working in a health care sector, the professionals must
communicate with each other and define their roles and responsibilities with each other so that
there is no sense of confusion and also they must coordinate with each other to avoid the delays
in task performance and confusion in performing the activities as well. The professionals mustb
work as a team and get integrated in their tasks so that there will be no negative consequences
like Mr Ian's case.
Section C
3.1 Evaluation of possible outcomes of partnership working for users of services, professionals
and organizations
Outcomes refers to the results being arrived from particular efforts or activities.
Outcomes are of immense important as the people are concerned more about responsibility rather
than ideology.
The benefits derived from the outcomes are greater knowledge, new skills, different
behaviour and changes in attitude.
The elements such as code of conduct, policies and procedures and guidance can lead to
the positive outcomes for the activities performed. The outcome of every partnership is different.
Service Users Outcomes- These outcomes posses some positive aspects such as improved
services, customer satisfaction, empowerment etc. These outcomes will be achieved when there
is improved communication, integration among the staffs and the professionals in the
organization. But in the case of Mr Ian most of the negative outcomes were been generated such
as neglecting the patient's requirements which further led to increase in his anger,

miscommunication between the staffs led to the confusion element and later resulted in
worsening the condition of Mr Ian and later in his date due to poor quality of health services.
Professional Outcomes- Professional outcomes possessed out of working in partnerships in
Health and social care organizations include organized communication between the members,
better defining roles and responsibilities of professionals, clarity in duties of each other as well
as professional approach. However, there are some negative outcomes too, that mainly resulted
in Mr Ian's condition. These negative outcomes included lack of communication between the
members, members and the patient where the patient was not allowed to make any decision
although he was capable through during his senses. Also, lack of communication created
complications during the service provided by female staff members despite due the male staff
required by the patient which lead to increase in his anger and abusive behaviour.
Organizational outcomes- These outcomes are the ones that are been achieved due to
organizational and the team efforts being made by the individuals. Working partnerships has
many of the positive organizational outcomes that benefits the health care organization. Positive
outcomes mainly comprises the Coherent approach, sharing of principles among the individuals,
integrated and common working practices being shared by the professionals and many other
elements. However, there are many of the negative elements being raised and are commonly
seen in Mr Ian's case study in the form of consequences. The negative outcomes include low
level of communication or communication break down, poor service quality and poor rating. All
these elements are mostly seen in the case study where the application of these negative
elements led to the poor quality service provided to Mr Ian and further resulted in death of the
patient.
3.2 Analysis of the potential barriers to partnership working in health and social care services
Barriers are the hurdles and the problems occurring in the successful completion of the
activity. The following are the barriers to partnership working in health and social care services-
Lack of communication- This barrier refers to lack of exchange of words or information
between the individuals in an organization, that further results in rise of negative outcomes or
delay in completion of the activities or both. These barriers arise when the people do not
communicate and exchange the information either. In case study of Mr Ian there was lack of
communication between the doctors and the risk assessment was not being mentioned that lead
to negative consequences later.