Unit 5: Working in Partnership in Health and Social Care

Unit Aim:
The aim of this unit
is to enable learners
to develop
understanding of
the importance of
working positively in
partnership with
others in health and
social care.

UNIT DESCRIPTION:
Working in partnership is a key element of practice within health and social care. The concepts
of power sharing, consultation and joint ways of working are essential for effective service
provision. Health and social care professionals need to understand the importance of
promoting autonomy with individuals. They also need to be aware of their own roles and
responsibilities and how they relate to others within the sector.
Learners will explore the nature of partnership on three levels. First they will examine
partnerships with users of services that empower individuals to make informed decisions and
encourage independence. Second they will consider partnerships between different
professionals within health and social care and explore inter-agency working. Finally, they will
investigate organisational partnerships and examines different ways of joint working at a
strategic level. Learners will study a range of theories and research findings relating to
partnership philosophies and joint working practices. Methods of promoting positive
partnership working will be analysed along with relevant legislation and organisational policies
and procedures. Learners will also examine strategies to improve the outcomes of partnership
working for users of services, professionals and organisations.

Learning outcomes
On successful completion of this unit a learner will:
1. Understand partnership philosophies and relationships in health and social care services
2. Understand how to promote positive partnership working with users of services,
professionals and organisations in health and social care services
3. Be able to evaluate the outcomes of partnership working for users of services,
professionals and organisations in health and social care services.

Unit 5 Facilitator: Maxine Samuels

Published: Jan 9, 2016

LESSON 1.
AC1.1. Explain the philosophy of working in partnership in
Health And Social Care
At the end of the lesson, the students are expected to know about and understand:

Professional identities in Health and Social Services: Role distinctions, boundaries,

complementarity, conflict.

Perspectives and value bases in in Health And Social Services.

Values of groupwork and teamwork.

Partnership philosophies: empowerment; independence; autonomy; respect; power

sharing; making informed choices

Careers In Health And Social Care

Key Word Definitions
Philosophy
Philosophy is a state of mind or consciousness that influence the belief, values and
behaviors of people.
Partnership
This definition of partnership is provided by Scie.org.uk: The essence of partnership is
sharing. It is marked by respect for one another, role divisions, rights to information,
accountability, competence, and value accorded to individual input. In short, each partner is
seen as having something to contribute, power is shared, decisions are made jointly and roles
are not only respected but are also backed by legal and moral rights (citing Jo Tunnard, 1991).

Partnership Philosophy
A partnership philosophy is the mindset and notion that there is benefit in communication and
collaboration. This partnership philosophy also strongly emphasizes that in successful
collaboration, every member must demonstrate responsibility towards the team. As such
individual members must be: empowered with the necessary tool and information to make
informed choices and succeed; have role distinctions; personal identity; and independence and
autonomy to perform effectively in the assigned role thus there must be fair and transparent
policies and power-sharing. As important, successful relationships are based on respect. The

importance of respect in joint working is that due considerations will be given and reciprocated
and the importance of everyone in the venture/relationship will be highly valued and rewarded.

Scie.org.uk also provided different terms for Partnership:

Shared Learning

Cooperation

Collaboration

Teamwork

Joint Education/Practice

Interdisciplinary Partnership Working

Multi-Disciplinary Working

Participation

Understanding the Philosophy of working in partnership in Health And

Social Care
The following information on joint working in Health And Social Care was directly copied
from (Samuel, 2011):
Why is a philosophy of partnership i.e. joint working - important?
Successful joint working between health and social care staff is a vital component of improving
the lives of vulnerable adults and children. The objectives of partnerships and joint working
include:

Streamlining assessments and preventing families from having to give the same
information to multiple professionals.

Improving information sharing between professionals.

Improving the efficiency of the care system as a whole.

Co-ordinating the provision of care.

Improving the planning and commissioning of care so that health and social care
services complement rather than disrupt each other.

Types of joint working

There are a number of ways in which health and social care services work together:

Multi-disciplinary services or teams including health and social care professionals, such
as community mental health teams or child and adolescent mental health services. See
our expert guide to multi-disciplinary teams.

Joint commissioning of services by local authorities and primary care trusts or NHS
boards.

Pooled budgets across councils and NHS organisations.

Structural integration of organisations, such as the creation of care trusts to provide or

commission health and social care services or the establishment of joint management
teams to run councils and NHS bodies.

Strategic partnerships such as local safeguarding children boards.

Problems with joint working

Despite longstanding support for joint working, it has been beset by problems across all client
groups. Examples include:

Delayed discharges from hospital, mainly of older people. These involve cases when a
patient cannot leave hospital because of the unavailability of health or social care
services in the community or because of administrative issues within hospitals.

NHS cuts to continuing healthcare. This has led to disputes between NHS and social
care professionals and shunted costs on to councils, who often have to fund care
packages for people no longer fully funded by the NHS.

The break-up of community mental health teams. In some areas of England councils
have withdrawn social care staff from mental health teams, run by mental health trusts,
because of cost pressures or concerns over trusts approach to issues including adult
safeguarding and the personalisation of care.

A lack of NHS engagement in child protection and a lack of co-ordination of health and
social care services for children.

Pooled budgets have not translated into improved outcomes.

Formal partnership arrangements in some areas have been scrapped following

disagreements between partners.

More generally, barriers to good partnership working include:

Health and social care agencies facing different government performance regimes.

Health and social care agencies using different IT systems.

Cuts in one budget creating demand pressures in the other.

Health and social care staff being on different terms and conditions in integrated teams.

Roles Of Health And Social Care Worker In The Health Care Sector
Allaboutcareers.com provides the following information on careers in Health And Social Care:
Working in the health and social care industry doesnt mean youll spend thousands of years
training to be a specialist doctor or surgeon. At the same time, its not as straightforward as
putting a few plasters on your younger sisters knee after a trip in the park. There are loads of
jobs you can do from nursing to dentist, physiotherapist to speech and language therapist,
sexual health adviser to surgeon. Not only does the national health services of your country offer
health and social care apprenticeships, but so do organisations in the private sector, local
authorities and the armed forces. An apprenticeship in healthcare will usually involve working in
hospitals, doctors surgeries, pharmacies or occupational therapy clinics. Many apprenticeships
will require some technical and scientific knowledge, but not all of them. For example, there are
apprenticeship opportunities in the administrative and business side of healthcare too. An
apprenticeship in social care means youll be looking after vulnerable people, from children to
disabled people. It will give you the chance to really utilise your people skills.

Intermediate and Advanced Apprenticeships are available for a number of roles in the health and
social care industry. If you see yourself as a healthcare assistant or a support worker for the
disabled, Intermediate Apprenticeships are available for these roles, where you learn how to
perform well in a job role and also get paid.
Advanced Apprenticeships can be undertaken for roles such as social services officer and
pharmacy technician if you fancy providing safe and correct medicines to patients. Additionally,
Higher Level Apprenticeships, which can be the equivalent of a foundation degree, are available
for roles such as assistant practitioner, who works alongside other health professionals such as
nurses, doctors, therapists and radiographers. Assistant practitioners can also either specialise in
a certain role or assist a variety of professions, creating a hybrid role.However, if you want to be a
dentist, doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, speech and language therapist or midwife, you will need to
go on to study at further and higher education. Unlike other industries such as advertising,
marketing and PR, the ability to switch roles and take on extra responsibilities is less fluid as
there is less room to learn skills on the job. Think about it, you wouldnt want your teeth removed
by a dentist who didnt have a degree in dentistry!
However, if you want to be a dentist, doctor, nurse, physiotherapist, speech and language
therapist or midwife, you will need to go on to study at further and higher education. Unlike other
industries such as advertising, marketing and PR, the ability to switch roles and take on extra
responsibilities is less fluid as there is less room to learn skills on the job. Think about it, you
wouldnt want your teeth removed by a dentist who didnt have a degree in dentistry!

REFERENCE PAGE
Allaboutcareers.com (2013). Career Options in Health & Social Care: School Leaver |

AllAboutCareers. [online] Allaboutcareers.com. Available at:

http://www.allaboutcareers.com/careers/article/health-social-care/school-leaver [Accessed 9
Jan. 2016].
Samuel, M. (2011). Expert guide to health and social care joint working - Community Care.
[online] Community Care. Available at: http://www.communitycare.co.uk/2011/08/17/expertguide-to-health-and-social-care-joint-working/ [Accessed 9 Jan. 2016].
Scie.org.uk, (2016). The learning, teaching and assessment of partnership work in social work

education - What do we mean by partnership work?. [online] Available at:

http://www.scie.org.uk/publications/guides/guide23/messages/mean.asp [Accessed 9 Jan.
2016].

AC 1.2. Evaluate partnership relationships within health and social care services

Levels of partnership work in the Health And Social Care Sector:

Students are expected to develop skills in Partnership Relationships:

Professional Practice

Collaboration

Communication

Advocacy

Managing Multi-Disciplinary Meetings