The main focus of the review was on three objectives:
- reviewing the current and past work situation
- the vision for the future and how to get there
- embedding social partnership working in the wider NHS.
The full review report is available to download. The review reported that:
At national level
- arrangements are working effectively, with planned and structured agendas and strong secretariat and project management support. Strong ministerial support, commitment from senior levels of the Department of Health, from NHS Employers and NHS Trade Unions are important factors behind the success of the national Social Partnership Forum and there is a great deal to celebrate
- there is now widespread awareness across the Department of Health of the importance of timely reference to the Social Partnership Forum. The strong interaction with the Forum of the Next Stage Review has been exemplary. NHS Trade Unions are working together effectively within the Forum and NHS Employers play a strong role. Both should look to use the Forum more proactively to bring issues of importance to their stakeholders to the table
- it is vital that national Social Partnership Forum stakeholders continue to commit to deepening partnership working and behaviours, including policy development work in areas such a public health, health inequalities, to move up ‘from the transactional to the transformational’; the current emphasis on self-examination should continue
- providing the means and support to help embed partnership working at every level of the NHS now needs to be a priority for the national forum and its stakeholders.
At regional level
- there are some very effective examples of partnership working at regional level
- development has been patchy
- a clearer articulation of the importance, effectiveness and role of partnership working as the best way of doing business at regional level needs to be made.
At local level
- a thousand flowers are blooming at local level when it comes to partnership working. There are some impressive examples where it has been embedded as ‘the way we do things around here’. Many trusts have found it effective in working with staff to meet challenges such as financial overspends or introducing new ways of working. Others are using partnership to work through the challenges revealed by staff surveys. There are many different models and structure for local partnership
- at the same time the are substantial gaps in our knowledge of local developments and a lack of systematic information about effective practice, overcoming barriers and sustaining partnership working over time.
The review offered a number of recommendations for the Social Partnership Forum to consider. We have begun to action a number of the recommendations including:
- this web site
- developing the evidence base for partnership working
- strategic agenda setting for the national forum.
We will continue to consider the recommendations and use them to inform our work moving forward.