Working

in
Partners
hip in
Health
and
Social
Care
HND Health and Social Care
Course

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Questionnaire
1. How will you define working partnership?
Working partnership could be defined as a mutual relationship within the
participating members based on trust which improves the quality of service
and benefits both, the people involved in the working partnership as well as
the people who are being served. In health care centre the working
partnership is between the health care employees, the health care centre
employers and the people who are being taken care of. A healthy working
partnership between the employers and the employees gives the care takers
a sense of responsibility and a clear understanding of their duties (Gilmore et
al, 2011).
Working partnership is very essential for the growth of any industry. If we
discuss the importance of working partnership in the field of health care then
this becomes even more important as a good working partnership amongst
the management and the working staff of any health care could help the
people being taken care of in the health centre and also the people who have
the responsibility of taking care of them.
A good working partnership ensure that the organization and the people
working in the health and social care centre have a common goal and they
both approach their goal with equal sense of responsibility and
determination.
2. What is the purpose of a team?
A team comprises of 2 or more individuals who come together to work for a
common goal and are equally responsible for the success or the failure of the
common objective. The purpose of a team is to have people who are experts
in their own field come together to form a big group and work together
towards a common objective. A group of highly motivated people when
come together to work as team, the results become better as each of them
comes up with their own ideas and the team as a whole has more risk taking
capability than an individual.

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A team working in any health care centre ensures safety of the patient and
ensures proper care of the people in the health care (Leathard, 2013). It
makes sure that the quality of service offered is as expected by the people
being taken care of in the health centre and which helps in a speedy
recovery. A team is better equipped to handle situations of emergency and is
capable in decision making which benefit each and every member of the
health care centre. Each and every member of the team is important and the
quality of service offered depends on how well managed the team is.
See here: HND Business Managing Human Resources Assignment
3. Have you worked in partnership in health and social care?
Yes, I have partnered with other individuals working at the health centre
during my job at the Yale health care centre. I found that working in a team is
more effective way of working than working individually. My job in the health
care team was to take care of all the supplies required by the organization. I
was responsible for ordering and managing all the things of daily needs of
the patients and the staff at the health care centre. For this I had to interact
with the staff and the patients on a daily basis to get the exact requirements
and then had to work closely with the management to define the budget and
suppliers for the same for each month. I tried to minimize the wastage of the
perishable goods and ensured that proper supply of the daily need products
is maintained within the health care (Lgar et al, 2011).
4. Explain four philosophies of working in a partnership in health and social
care.
The four philosophies of working in a partnership in health and social care
are:

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Empowerment: Empowerment in health and care units means to

authorize or enable the staff, the caretakers and the people who are
being taken care of. This ensures that everyone in the health care
centre has the freedom to make their own choices depending on what
works best for them. For example in a health care, people could choose
their own timings for consuming food. This ensures that the situation
where the patients have to have their meals even when they are not
feeling hungry never comes.

Respect: Respect for the patients at the care centre and also for the
staff working to take care of the patients is very necessary (Minkler &
Wallerstein, 2010). This makes sure that the patients and the staff
doesnt lose their individuality and are given the proper attention
required by them.

Independence: Independence at a health care centre ensures everyone

in the health care centre has the independence to choose whatever
they feel best suits for them. They are allowed to take decisions hence
helping the management to come up with a plan which suits every
individual at the health care centre.

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Making informed choices: This1 is the most important principle for

running a health care centre. Making informed decisions/choices is
very important for both the patient and the care taker. This principle
means that any decision taken towards how a patients would be
administered depend on the individual communication with the
patient. The patient is the best person to decide if any routine etc. is
working for him or her. Based on this he could communicate to the
care taker what could work out best for him or her.
See solution of Unit 3 Employability and professional Development
5. Draw a map of your team showing who you work with in collaboration
within health and social care.

As shown in the figure above, I work in the supply team which works closely
with the caretaking staff, the doctors, the patients, the vendors, the finance
team and the top management. The requirements of the supplies come from
the patients, the caretaking staff and the doctors. The consolidated list is
created and quotations from different vendors are obtained. This quotation is
then sent to the top management for approval of the vendor. Once the
vendor is approved the finance team takes care of the funds release to the
vendor. Finally the transport and security team help to get the product to the
centre (Munn & Winter, 2013). The discussion clearly shows how integral is
my team to the working of the institution.
6. List types of relationship that occur while working in partnership at heath
care centre.

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The different types of relationship which occur at health care centres are:

General relationship: This type of relationship is the one which is there

within the people working in the same team. They share a general
relationship and are available for help when required.

Limited relationship: This type of relationship could be between the

finance team and the supply team in the above example. The two
teams interact only when an approval of any financial expenditure is
required. In other times these two teams never interact.

Relationship at will: In the above example the relationship at will could

be between the vendors and the supply team. The supply team
interacts with the vendors only when there is a requirement to procure
the items required in the health care centre. At other times there is no
communication at all.
7. Evaluate partnership relationship that could occur with the service users in
different departments in the health and social care.

Following are the different types of relationship which could occur between
the service users and different departments in a health and social
care centre:

Caretaking Staff: This is the team with which the service users interact
the most. This is a general relationship. The service users are mostly
dependent on this staff.

Medical Staff: Medical staff does a routine check up on the service

users and this relationship is at will (Pearce & Doh, 2012).

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Finance Team: The finance team1interactions with the service users are
very less and hence the relationship between them is at will.

Top Management: The interaction of the service users with the top
management is very limited and usually none at all. This could be
termed as limited relationship.
8. Why is your team important to you, the service the organization and to
those who use the service?

The team which I work with is the supplies team and its job profile is to
manage the supplies which are required by the people who work in the
health care centre and the people who are being taken care of in the health
care centre. In my opinion the job profile of my team is very important as its
a job which serves everyone in the health care on a regular daily basis. The
job requires a daily evaluation of the different requirements within the health
care centre and it also needs partnering with the various vendors for
procurement of the required products. The importance of the team lies in the
fact that the team is the very core of the functionality of the health care
centre. The health care centre could never work without the support of this
team. The team has to be proactive and has to anticipate the requirements
which could come in near future. It has to take adequate steps to partner
with multiple vendors so that in case of shortage of items alternate
arrangements could be made (Reeves et al, 2011). The team is important to
me because I feel that I have a job of great responsibility in hand. The job
gives me a lot of excitement as every day I face some new challenges which
make the job very interesting. (See here HNC Organizations and Behaviour
Assignment)

Task 2 Case Study 1

QU1 Strategies to improve partnership working in health and social care
There is no doubt in the fact that working in partnership is very beneficial for
both health and care centres as well as for the patients. But there are
number of issues which need to be taken care for the success of partnership
working. From the case it is clearly evident that the partnership between the
local community mental health team and mental health trust was not
functioning properly. The main reason for this was lack of clarity of roles and
repetition of the roles. In a collaborative working style, it is very important to
ensure that all the members from both the partners must be told about their
roles very clearly and distinctively. This task can be achieved by appointing a

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1 got the decision making skills and

strong person as a leader who has
excellent communication skills (Reeves et al, 2010). The leaders main tasks
would be to ensure that all the members are clear about their roles and
hence there is no confusion regarding the roles. In order to achieve this
objective the leader must be able to effectively communicate the roles and
responsibilities to each and every employee. The leader should also be
capable enough to make important decisions regarding the repeated roles.
There various repeated roles should be merged into single one role, so that
there is no clash among the employees regarding their roles. If the
employees are clear about their role then, automatically the quality of the
services will get better and hence the patients will get better care. Hence, in
the case the main problem of distinctive roles and responsibilities can be
achieved with the help of a good leader and his efficient leadership.
See Here Managing Communications and Information Assignment
QU2 Type of partnership in the case study and the different models of
partnership that can be considered in health and social care
In the case study, the type of partnership is general or collaborative
partnership. In this type of partnership both the partners have equivalent
privileges and responsibilities regarding the functioning of the care. In the
case both, local community mental health team and mental health trust have
got same right to take decisions for the benefit of the patients and health
and care centre as a whole. In this kind of partnership, each and every
member of the organization holds the complete responsibility of any kind of
arrears and commitments towards the patient. Also, in this type of
partnership both the partners have got equal right on the profits and the
benefits of the care centre (Umberson & Montez, 2010).
The other types of partnership which could be used in this case is limited
partnership. In such type of relationship, one of the partners will assist in the
functioning of the care centre but they will not contribute towards the
administration of the care centre. This kind of partnership is helpful as the
other partners works as silent partner and hence the main decision taking
power remains in one hand and also usually in this kind of partnership there
are no problems of clash of roles, as the members of the partners will help
only where they would be needed. (Read hereUK College Research Skills
Assignment)
Task 3 Case Study 3

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QU3 Potential barriers to partnership working
in health and social care
services
In the case, the most critical barrier is communication. There is no proper
communication between the care takers and the community or the
administration. The nurses are facing problem in taking care of Mr. M as his
condition was serious and hence not possible to take care at home. But
neither the family members nor the community members understand the
situation. If there would have been a proper and efficient communication,
then people will understand the situation clearly and hence will be able to
take the required necessary steps at much faster speed. Even the family
members must be communicated properly about the situation of the patient
so that they do not hesitate in raising up their funds for Mr. M. If the budget
will be increased then, Mr. M can be easily accommodated in the private
nursing home. There should be a proper flow of information so that all the
important, relevant and urgent message could reach to the concerned
person.
The other barrier can be the unskilled or inexperienced staff in the partner
firms. The employees may not be confident and motivated enough to work in
partnership (Zambon, 2010). In a partnership all the workers work together
and hence if any of the worker is not able to perform well then he will fell
dejected and discouraged. Hence, in this the potential barriers to working
partnership is lack of proper communication and unskilled & inexperienced
work staff. If these two issues are solved then, the problems of both the
family and the community will be solved.
QU4 Possible outcomes of partnership working for service users,
professionals and organisations
The possible outcomes of working in partnership working for service users,
professionals and organizations are as following:
Service User: The partnership working proved to be positive for the service
users as it increased the efficiency of the staff members. With more number
of workers available for the job, better care of the patients is possible.
Working in partnership increased the long term availability to the staff
members and hence the quality of the services improved as the workers are
well versed with the style of working. Hence, working in partnership
increased the positive outcome from the service users.

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Professionals: Working in partnership
do have a positive outcome on
professionals also as to make their partnership successful they need to share
their capability and knowledge with the other members in the team. This will
increase the knowledge of the members and hence they will be able to
perform the job in much better way (Gilmore et al, 2011).
Organizations: The most important outcome of working in partnership for
organizations is that the investment is distributed among partners and hence
no one person bear all the burden. During partnership the worker from varied
background come together and work and hence a diverse cultural work
environment is created. Also, there is an inflow of more of the knowledge and
skills in the organization.
So, it is clear that all working in partnership leads to a positive outcome but
only if properly executed and implemented. Relevant and proper
methodology should be followed. Proper flow of information flow will lead to
the positive outcomes.

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References

Gilmore, A. B., Savell, E., & Collin, J. (2011). Public health, corporations and the New
Responsibility Deal: promoting partnerships with vectors of disease? Journal of Public
Health, 33(1), 2-4

Leathard, A. (Ed.). (2013). Interprofessional collaboration: from policy to practice in

health and social care. Routledge

Lgar, F., Stacey, D., Gagnon, S., Dunn, S., Pluye, P., Frosch, D, & Graham, I. D.
(2011). Validating a conceptual model for an interprofessional approach to shared
decision making: a mixed methods study. Journal of evaluation in clinical practice, 17(4),
554-564.

Minkler, M., & Wallerstein, N. (Eds.). (2010). Community-based participatory research

for health: From process to outcomes. John Wiley & Sons

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Munn-Giddings, C., & Winter, R. (2013).1 A handbook for action research in health and
social care. Routledge

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