AC 1.1 Explain partnership philosophies.

Give specific examples of how these philosophies

are demonstrated in various health and social care settings.

According to Collins Dictionary, the definition for partnership is "a contractual relationship
between two or more persons carrying on a joint business venture with a view to profit, each
incurring liability for loses and the right to share in the profits".

Defining attributes for partnership are mutual trust and respect. Working in team, the
members share same goals, interests, commitments, they agree about reciprocity and empathy.

Health and social care workers have a very important role among partnership workers. The
performance of a group is given by the good partnership between each level.

The partnership working is underpinned by a few philosophies:

Empowerment

Independence

Equity

Power sharing

Trust

Respect

Empowerment is important for the effectiveness of partnership working in health and social
care. Through empowerment people are in control of decision and actions that could affect their
health (World Health Organisation, 1998). It is a foundation in developing good relationship between
service users and professional.

An example is unwritten fair rules for staff to provide a healthy working environment.

Independence means that decisions can be made without outside control. For example, a
client can choose the treatment he wants regardless the choice of professional or family member.

Equity in terms of health and social care is treating and giving access to services to every
person. The health resources are available for all people; everyone has the opportunity to take care
of their health.

Power sharing is another vital link in health and social care. Safe shared information help to
improve the quality of the service provided. Clients are actively involved in decision making
regarding their care plan.

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 It is essential for a client to have trust in professionals as openness and honesty is required
in order to get the proper care. In partnership working, trust is very important for the work
transparency of each level.

In partnership there is a common goal that partners undergo. To achieve this, respect is
needed. Respect means recognition of other's skills and knowledge Also it means to listen and take
in consideration the patient's behaviour, experiences, habits, preferences, etc when dealing with
illness.

AC 1.2 Examine the strengths and barriers of working within partnership relationships in
health and social care.

Working in partnership offers advantages to various levels of service users, professionals

and organisations.

However, it has also some disadvantages which will be looked into bellow.

In general, the positive outcomes for working in partnership are:

Improved services

Empowerment

Autonomy

Informed decision making

There are as well negative outcomes:

Neglect

Abuse and harm

Anger

Miscommunication

Information overload

Confusion

Frustration

Duplication of service provision

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 Disempowerment

According to Reeves at al. 2010, interprofessional partnership is an activity based on:

Common goals (e.g. effective care for the patient)

Roles and responsibilities clearly made

Commitment

Coordinated team members

Same team identity

Along with good communication, avoidance of mistakes and duplication, these are the
positive outcomes for partnership working.

Albeit partnership working is beneficial for everyone, it has also its issues. One of the most
important is confidentiality. When more people are working on a case, chances that information be
breached or lost are high.

Legislation helps to solve this problem (1998, Data Protection Act).

Other barriers that can arise in partnership working:

Poor communication-use of different languages in health and social care can be a serious
problem

Professional rivalry-people can make mistakes just because they want to be promoted

Cultural differences-certain practices can come against cultural habits and beliefs

Religion

Funds mismanaging

Organisations also are affected by good and bad aspects of partnership working. Shared
principles, coherent approach, good quality service provision are the benefits for the organisations.

The negative sides come from poor communication which has an important impact in
partnership working. High costs and loss of shared purpose can as well disrupt the activity inside
organisations.

Conclusion

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 Working in partnership is beneficial for service users and also for the care workers and
organisations. Although there are some negative outcomes, they can be overcome through policies
updated regularly. AC 2.1 Case studies have been provided to you in groups. Discuss and write an
analysis of the models of partnership applied in the case study

This essay is about how models of partnership could change the outcome of a situation in
health and social care. It will analyse three case studies, how are solved now and how they could be
solved by applying the partnership models that suits to each case.

Mr. Jenkins has memory problems and he is confused due to Alzheimer. When he goes back
home from hospital he do things that can affect him and neighbours (flood his flat).Placed
temporarily in a care home, he is even more confused, lost and not able to live on his own so he is
placed in a care home permanently. Applying the empowering of the patient model, staffs work as a
team to provide Mr. Jenkins wellbeing, helping him in daily routine. He would be assisted by
different professionals but he would be able to be somehow independent. He would feel safe in his
home and could start doing things that build confidence and make him feel useful. Empowerment is
a process where patients are encouraged to actively participate to their care plan.

The case of Mrs. Arthur can be framed in the better coordination of health and social care
model. Due to a fall, she is admitted in hospital. She is not happy there as she lives on her own in her
house. An infection is found and she has to stay in a care home during the antibiotics treatment. If
the staff will work and coordinate together, a better solution will be give to Mrs. Arthur: GP visits a
home, prescribe the medication; health and social care staff brings the medicines and a nurse would
administrate it. For future, she should be monitored by care staff in her home. This way she stays in
her favourite environment and receives the care she needs, helping her to be confident and enjoy
better life.

Good coordination could end passing people around the system of health and social care and
"could also bring efficiency and financial benefits" (Department of Health, 2013)

Mr. and Mrs. Higgins case is an example of building intelligence-rich teams. Both aged 80,
living in their own home. Mrs. Higgins is in a bad condition and her husband call 999 services. She
is taken to the hospital as she is dying. Her wish was to die at home but this is not happening, she
dies in the hospital because of procedures.. Mr. Higgins wanted to respect her wish and he is sad
when she dies in the hospital. In the future, care plans will be discussed with patients and different
professionals involved in their health, so arrangements to be done in the right time. Through these
models of partnership, the quality of the care services will improve. The aims are to help people to
help themselves, others and help people who need help. These innovatory models of partnership
would also reduce nursing home placements and would produce a shift in provider's behavior. AC
2.2 Review two pieces of current legislation and organizational practices and policies for partnership
working in health and social care

Review of Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice

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 The Mental Capacity Act (MCA) 2005 is an important legislation meant to help people who
lack mental capacity. MCA empower people in decision making and also protect them.

MCA is supported by the Code of Practice, a practical guidance explaining how the Act
works and giving examples to professionals.

The Code of Practice is for the use of everyone who is working and caring adults who may
not be able to make decisions (people who are 16 years and older).

The Act shows:

How to help someone to make their own decisions

How to deal with someone who can make their own decisions

What to do when someone cannot make their own decisions

MCA has as base five principles:

1. Every person must be considered to have capacity unless they lack it, attested by
documents

2. No person should be treated as unable to make decisions unless all the help provided is
unsuccessful

3. If a person make a wrong decision, does not mean is unable to make decisions

4. All actions and decisions must be taken in their best interest

5. Actions and decisions must be not restrictive of freedom and rights of the person

The Act sets rules on the following:

Mental capacity

Dementia

Mental health problems

Learning disabilities

This legal framework and its Code of Practice is a must to know for nurses, doctors, care
givers, social workers or other people who are paid for this kind of job.

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 Review of Valuing People - The White Paper

The White Paper aim to give better chances for people with learning disabilities. It is
structured in three parts and 10 chapters. Part one covers the first two chapters and is about "where
we are now". Chapter one explain what learning disabilities are, gives statistics about the actual and
future number of people with learning disabilities, the development since 1971 and what problems
the services are facing.

The New Vision is explained in Chapter two. It tells also about principles (rights,
independence, choice and inclusion our values), the Government objectives regarding Learning
Disability Services and what actions to be taken for change.

Part two is about better life chances for people with learning disabilities with following
chapters:

Chapter three-about disabled children and young people

Chapter four- about more choice and control for people with learning disabilities

Chapter five- Supporting Carers

Chapter six- Improving health for people with learning disabilities

Chapter seven- Housing, Fulfilling Lives and Employment

Chapter eight- Quality Services

Chapter nine- Partnership Working

Chapter ten- Making Change Happen

This legislation was issued for the wellbeing of people with learning disabilities-vulnerable
and sometimes excluded-and also for an effective partnership working for professionals. AC 2.3
Explain how differences in working practices and policies affect collaborative working. The process
in which different professional groups work together for a positive impact in health and social care
is the interprofessional collaboration. Good and positive changes can be made in health care when
practice-based collaboration is applied. If differences in organisational practice and policies occur,
partnership working can be affected. They can be statutory, voluntary and private agency practices.
When within the organisation there are agreed ways of working is beneficial for everyone (service
users and professionals).

Policies can be local, regional and national and they are issued by government departments,
specialists units or voluntary agencies. By operating activities in the same administrative way,
collaborative work is efficient, the common targets are achieved more easily and the outcomes are

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raised. When changes are done in their policies and practices (e.g. risk assessment procedures,
employment practices, service planning procedures), the risk to cover different areas occur.
Therefore, differences in working practices and policies affect collaborative work in health and
social care as the common goal is to overcome the difficulties for best outcomes and quality service
provision. Collaboration is the key for successful partnership (Scie Scie, 2009)

Evaluation Task 1

This report explains what working in partnership is, how beneficial is for everyone involved
in the process, what is that makes the activity flowing and what are the weak parts that can be
obstacles in offering the best service to the clients; a review of legislation is also done. Completing
the task again, more details would be given about legislation and a deeper analysis would be done
about the case studies (AC 2.1), as that is about new approaches in health and social care.

AC 3.1 Evaluate possible outcomes of partnership working for users of services,

professionals and organizations

Working in partnership is recognized as being an important factor in offering effective

health and care services. Partnership working generates positive and negative outcomes for:

Service user

Professionals

Organisations

According to Miller et al. (2008) the important outcomes for service users expected from
their care units are to feel safe, to have visitors, to live the life they want and where they want, in
general to stay well.

A good partnership in health and social care helps to improve the quality of the service,
increase autonomy and empowerment and informed decision making. Other positive outcomes for
service users are better health, raised well-being, better social inclusion, independence and
responsibility (Cook et al. 2007)

There are also negative outcomes. Poor communication has a negative impact and can lead
to neglect, harm and abuse, can make people feel frustrated, confused or overwhelmed and also
disempowered. Information overload and duplication of service provision are as well included in
negative outcomes.

For the professionals, outcomes are also two: positive and negative

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 The positive category covers:

-coordinated service provision, which can be done when professionals work together and
share knowledge, they work flexibly and they respond to the patient's needs

-clear roles and responsibilities-every member of staff is aware of his/her duties

-good level of communication between professionals makes a better work environment

-duplication of service is avoided

-when resources are efficiently used, the quality of the service is improved and staff are
fulfilled professionally

-collaboration helps in preventing mistakes, people learn from each other and from different
resources

The limitations for professionals or negative outcomes arise from poor communication,
waste of time, professional rivalry and also bad management of funds.

Working in partnership generates positive and negative outcomes for the organisations also.

The benefits are shared principles; the teams are focused on the same goals. Partnership
working provides integrated services; the members have common working practices, they follow the
same policies and procedures. This leads to a comprehensive service provision. Weaknesses for
organisations are given by bad communication; there are some barriers that could induce it (related
to language, culture, beliefs, etc). When the partnership works, as involves many categories of
people, loss of shared purpose can happen. Also partnerships can bring increased costs and
disjointed service provision.

3.2 Analyze potential barriers to partnership working in health and social care services

Working in partnership has its barriers. Misunderstanding of roles and responsibilities

impact the partnership negatively. Language and cultural issues, lack of communication or a
negative attitude towards a certain situation create tensions. When information is not shared, all
participants are affected. Also having different attitudes, values and priorities within organizations
and between them is not helpful and damage the quality of the service provided.

3.3 Devise strategies to improve outcomes for partnership working in health and social care
services

In order to improve the outcomes it is necessary to work on some levels. Improvement in

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communication is crucial as is the best way for everyone to express themselves. Sharing the
information is also basic for better outcomes. Promoting models of empowerment and adopting a
correct attitude when dealing with conflict; people consulting and negotiating together; multi-
agency working in collective is ways to improve the outcomes for the best interest of service users
and providers.

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