Principles for supportive and aligned regional and system partnership working

The aim of this guidance is to share principals and ways of working which outline how it would be helpful for systems to support partnership working, alongside the regional SPF, regional people boards and organisational joint negotiating, consultation committee (JNCC) arrangements. 
 

Introduction

These principals have been developed by the Midlands SPF, including involvement from ICB workforce leads. It was subsequently discussed and agreed by the Midlands SPF and ICB chief people officers during 2024. It sets out the key principles for partnership working recognising the changing landscape within health and social care, particularly the collaborative work across organisations through Integrated Care Systems (ICSs).

The intention is not to mandate action, but to provide insight into the challenges and opportunities for enhancing partnership working at ICS level without undermining the Midlands regional SPF or local negotiating machinery in individual organisations. The guidance sets out key principles for effective partnership working across systems.
 

Principles for partnership working

Principles to support productive, participative partnership working at system level across the Midlands:

• ICS Partners (employers) should work with trade union organisations to develop the system approach to partnership working, with trade unions locally taking account of the principles set out in the SPF partnership agreement.
• System leaders and co-chairs of the Midlands Regional SPF should ensure arrangements are in place to provide the Midlands Regional SPF with oversight of workforce discussions across systems, share good practice, debate approaches that can be applicable across multiple employers within the region.
• Staff side colleagues should have the opportunity to be linked into system and regional forums / boards to support influencing and information exchange. This could be regional staff side or local staff side, to be determined on a case-by-case basis in discussion with the conveners of the respective forums. Current arrangements provide for a staff side representative at ICS people boards (or their equivalent). This confers a number of rights and responsibilities:
  • For staff side members as representatives at ICS people boards, there are rights to be informed of the ICS agenda, to raise issues on behalf of staff side representatives, and to nominate a deputy should the allocated representative be unable to attend. There is a responsibility to keep staff side colleagues informed of any issues and, where possible, to escalate issues of concern with staff side colleagues as may be necessary. It is fully recognised, however, that staff side representatives at ICS people boards are not empowered to negotiate on behalf of the wider staff side.
  • For employer members, and employers at ICS people board particularly, the people board provides a good opportunity to share information with staff side.  People board employer members are responsible for highlighted issues likely to be of interest to staff side members to aide with wider dissemination. 
• Part of the role of members of other regional / system forums is information sharing and escalating issues, if appropriate, to the Midlands regional SPF.
• SPF arrangements at system or regional level, or the involvement of staff side colleagues in ICS people boards do not obviate the need to negotiate through established machinery such as JNCCs in sovereign organisations.
   

Context

Partnership working

The Social Partnership Forum – partnership agreement at national level sets out key principles of partnership working to which all parties commit in their dealings with each other:

• Build trust and mutual respect for each other’s roles and responsibilities.
• Openness, honesty and transparency in communications and engagement.
• Top level commitment, reinforced by senior level representation.
• A positive and constructive approach based on shared goals and aspirations.
• Commitment to work with and learn from each other.
• Early discussion on emerging issues and maintaining dialogue on policy and priorities.
• Commitment to improving and ensuring high quality outcomes for patients and the public.
• Where appropriate, confidentiality and agreed external positions.
• Make the best use of resources.

The role of the Midlands regional SPF

The Midlands Regional SPFs and successor forum, the Midlands Regional SPF, are particularly keen, with reference to system working (including system partnership working), to commit to the following:

• To ensure an overview and understanding of work in the various ICSs as an essential part of a regional SPF because what happens in one system can often have a ripple effect on other systems.
• To recognise the Midlands regional SPF as the best place to have oversight, in partnership, and to receive a regular report on what each system is doing.
• To recognise the Midlands regional SPF should be used as an umbrella for communication and sharing of information, especially across systems.

Benefits of partnership working (at all levels)

Employer and staff side members of the SPF recognise that there are key benefits to working in partnership:

• The value of openness of communications to build trust and support joint discussions to understand issues affecting multiple employers.
• Sharing information, influencing national, regional and system policy, socialising good practice examples, and, where appropriate, considering the benefits and ability to agree an approach covering more than one employer.
• Identifying key areas of workforce opportunity and risk where a collective view in partnership is likely to ensure the best outcomes for staff, patients and service users. 

Forums across the Midlands with staff side involvement

There are several levels where staff side involvement takes place. The staff side colleagues attending these forums may be regional full-time officers or local staff side:

• System partnership working forums
• Local JNCCs (including at the ICB as an organisation itself) 
• Midlands regional SPF 
• Midlands regional people board
• EDI subgroup that feeds into the Midlands regional people board.
   

Clarity of purpose of a discussion

• Staff side would like to participate in discussions with employers where they can influence the outcome and ensure their members are appropriately represented. 
• It's important to tease out the difference between topics colleagues need to have information about and topics colleagues need to influence and have a conversation about the outcome of.
  
  

Challenges and ways to overcome them

• Some regional staff side colleagues have capacity challenges when required to attend multiple system partnership working discussions, when attending on behalf of all staff side organisations. Linking with local staff side colleagues could be a solution to this. 
• There should be a balance between not duplicating what takes place at a regional level and at system level, while ensuring there is a broad level of information sharing across multiple systems.
   

Areas of focus

Through the Midlands regional SPF, there is a shared work plan, areas of focus and outcomes which the Midlands regional SPF will review and agree annually and take forward through the meetings of the Midlands regional SPF.