Acevo sets out vision for better partnerships between NHS and voluntary sector

07 Nov 2014 News

Charity chief executives body Acevo has published a framework aimed at improving partnerships between health and social care commissioners and the voluntary sector.

Charity chief executives body Acevo has published a framework aimed at improving partnerships between health and social care commissioners and the voluntary sector.

The framework is laid out in a report, Working in Partnership, published today by Acevo in partnership with the Central Southern Commissioning Support Unit, which supports NHS health and social care commissioners

The report sets of seven principles for better partnership working in the design and delivery of health and social care services.

It calls on healthcare commissioning units across the country to adopt the principles and work more closely with the voluntary sector.

Sir Stephen Bubb, chief executive of Acevo, said: “We want commissioners across the UK to adopt the principles of working in partnership in today’s report, and commit to giving the third sector a seat at the top table when designing and delivering NHS services.”

The report says there are perceived barriers to effective partnership working between healthcare commissioners and the voluntary sector. “Engagement needs to be improved, partnerships need to be developed and contracting needs to be more intelligent and straightforward,” it says.  

The principles include: sustainability – organisations should build partnerships through jointly committing time and resources to understanding each other’s operating environments; transparency – being more open with each other about the purpose and benefits of the partnership; joint vision – plans should be shared as early as possible so organisations can identify synergies and opportunities to develop a joint partnership vision; joint capability – enhancing organisations through, for example, transferring knowledge or the joint provision of services; and proportionality – both partners should be equal and proportionate in their requirements of each other.

The remaining principles are innovation and improvement, and accountability and governance – agreeing how each partner will hold the other to account.

The report follows the publication of the NHS Five Year Forward View, a strategy document on the future of the health service, published at the end of last month, which highlighted the need for a stronger and more developed relationship between the NHS and the voluntary sector.

Acevo said its report provide a detailed framework for the involvement of the voluntary and social enterprise sector in the provision of future preventative care that is not given in Five Year Forward.

Bubb has urged Labour not to exclude the voluntary sector from involvement in the design and delivery of NHS services. It comes after Andy Burnham, the shadow health secretary, reiterated Labour’s commitment to the NHS as the ‘preferred provider’ for health commissioning.

He said: “If Andy Burnham’s policy of the NHS as ‘preferred provider’ excludes the third sector from aspects of service design and delivery that will cause problems for the NHS in future. To achieve his vision for the service, the third sector has to be given centre stage. We mustn’t be shut out.”