Partnership Working In A Healthcare Field
Partnership working has been described as a joint working arrangement where the partners all agree to achieve a common goal for the person we support to achieve a common goal for the client despite being independent bodies. Looking at my place of work, I partner with the local authority, doctors, psychiatrists, nurses, my staff and other professionals in order to ensure that we achieve the outcomes of the people we support. There are clear agreements for decision making because as the person we support is the center of their care, there are certain things like the funding that they cannot make decisions on.
Funding decisions are made by the local authorities and also some are negotiated by the care provider. As we work together with other team information sharing is important and we gain consent from the people we support to share information with others and also we transmitted the information and secure way. The company has put in place measures that ensure that data protection is paramount. It is very important that every partner understands their roles in the partnership or joint working. For example a social worker cannot do the job of a carer or doctor. Therefore when the team has understanding of the role that each person plays they will be able to accept the challenges each party faces and acknowledge each other’s expertise as well as respect peoples differences and diversities.
I have sat Insafe guarding meetings where every partner is from different company and they all come together to discuss the issues that are not going well in person we supports life. This is an example of partnership working. In this meeting there is an identified lead person and everyone has different roles and responsibilities. This helps identify who is has what responsibility and who will take what actions. As the discussions go on each person in the team will have delegated duties expected to complete by the next time we meet.
In partnership working there are several barriers to effective partnership working. Anything that will restrict the lines of communication for example using terminologies other partners cannot understand. Having communication methods that other partners understand, providing accessible information that is jargon free and using different formats to meet individual communication needs will help to ensure effective partnership working. There are also partners that may have their own agenda or controlling the process for their own benefits for example a parent wanting to control the finances of the person we support with an agenda to control the finances.
One the ways to stop this is to have a best interest meeting and a capacity assessment that will help put a structure to the person we supports finances. Some partners may have clashing or strong personalities which could sabotage outcomes. Personality clashes can lead to the breakdown of working relations within a team and can damage the cohesiveness and productivity of the team. Therefore, understanding the root cause of any personality clash can be first step towards resolving it.
Many different factors can underpin such clashes - for example, differences in how two employees approach certain tasks, particularly if one depends on the other in their work role. As a manager I play a vital role in spotting problematic personality clashes early on, addressing the underlying issues and resolving them. When a team does not have shared goals and agreed objectives, they tend to achieve different things and so there is a need for the team to have goals and objectives that are clear. Appointing a lead person and having agreed and defined roles and responsibilities will help to overcome this barrier too.
Another barrier is that people working in partnership may not respect each other’s ways of working and different working practices. This poses conflicts and if not resolved then no outcome can be achieved in the right way. Restricted or lack of resources or funding is another barrier to partnership working. For this to be overcome, the partners need to discuss the impact of lack of resources and funding to the person we support so that they can come up ways to ensure proper support. For example if the person we support doesn’t have any money to pay for their care then the social worker is able to find a way to get funding.
And lastly unrealistic timeframes are a barrier. For example as a manager there are a lot of times when targets given but the timeframe to meet this targets is unrealistic. It is important to address this with the person that is giving the targets in order to discuss a better way that will not affect the moral of the people performing. For partnership to work it requires collaboration, therefore effective team work enhances great care and safety of the people we support as the staff team coordinate and communicate their activities and have the person we support at the centre of the care. It is my responsibility to ensure that the staff team works collaboratively, by giving them guidance and ensuring they have all the resources they require in order to active the outcomes. A
s a manager I make sure that staff are aware that the people we support are treated as equal partners when planning any care and support. I have made sure that I have allocated each person we support with a link worker who will work closely with the person we support and the family members and update the rest of the team on any issues. This strengthens the relationship between the families, people we support, other professionals and the management. As information leaves my organization it is my responsibility to ensure that I and the staff team are aware of the data protection law and the importance of confidentiality. I have had this discussions with my staff teams about how to maintain confidentiality. One of my main role is to act as a link person in the partnership, whether it is with families or other professionals and also to develop a climate of trust between all the partners.
Evaluation of own working relationship with colleagues. Although my opinion of how I work may not always be what others think I do, I try as much as possible to be a manager that will always have an open door for my team. This means that my team can come and talk about the things that are a concern to them. As a leader I, I have skills like people management and team working that help me to be a partner in a group with others. I am able to give guidance to my team and give opportunities to other members to bring their views, and this is where I encourage discussion so that we can have a decision made. I use this team skills management method for decisions that requires evaluating the problem in my team. For example if there is a care plan that for a person we support and it is not clear, then I engage the team, person we support and the families where necessary so be able to come up with a better way to give support to the person we support the best support. As team leader I can also complete self-appraisal.
Self-appraisal is an important part of the performance appraisal process whereby give a feedback or views and points regarding my performance. Usually I fill in the appraisal form and rate myself on various factors, put my training needs, if any, talks about my accomplishments, strengths, weaknesses, problems faced and so on. I believe that my effectiveness as leader can be assessed by measuring success against set targets and by reviewing objectives and checking progress.
Evaluation of procedures for working with others and with other professionals. This example was a partnership with colleagues as well as with professionals. I and my team worked together to ensure that one new person we support moved in and settled well. There was a bit of uncertainty on how he would settle down in his new environment bearing in mind that he has never moved out of his mother’s house. Staff worked well and communicated every step of the way to the person we support and each other until everyone one was happy that he was well settled.
We also worked together with person we support, families, care managers and other professionals. The main goal to this partnership was to ensure that the person we support had a good transition from home to living in his own flat and promoting his independence. It was important to agree the outcomes and timescale at the beginning of the partnership. There were system in place to monitor and review progress like review meetings, recorded support plans with clear outcomes, recorded dairies of support from staff and so on. It was also important to follow the care act 2014 guidelines to partnership working to make sure that everything was running smoothly and putting the person we support at the center of his care. Staff were able to work well as they used the communication tools put in place by the company to make sure that everyone knew what they were expected .
Staff also worked hand in hand with the parents and the care manager to better know what the person we support could need, although most of the time the person we support knew exactly what he needed. There were conflicts at time especially when the parents would say the person we support needed one thing but he actually wanted something different. There was this situation that the person we support was said that he could self-medicate with supervision but when staff would go to his flat they realized that on several occasions he has not had all the medicines. I gave instructions to staff to make sure that he was observed and sign the MAR sheets as observed. The sisters to the person we support felt that we should do this because he used to do it at home. Roles were agreed on from the beginning everywhere the person we support moved in.
Communication between the partnerships was effective because everyone was clear on what they were expected and when they were not, we sat down to review. We had close contact with each other on what was happening through weekly catch up with the family and later 6 weeks reviews with the professional involved. Staff used the internal communication tools to make sure everyone is aware of the updates. Everyone maintained confidentiality when communicating with each other. When I required to send information I used emails and encrypted attachments or sent and received documentation on posts addressed to me of the person that required the documents. Every objective that was agreed was met.
Looking back there was a lot of things that each partner learnt about each other and although it is human nature to disagree, each partner was able to come together and agree on what things needed to happen and putting the person we support at the center of every discussion.
