Partnership Within The Workplace

A large body of experience and research provides clear evidence about many of the key determinants of successful partnerships. The focus is to achieve better outcomes through improved service delivery. Partnership working has come a long way in recent years. There is now a consensus that effective partnership working is essential in order to design, develop and deliver personal services for those requiring support and assistance to optimise their independence and happiness. The most important features of an effective partnership are engaging the right people and ensuring they function as a genuine team.

Inter professional working is formed from different health and social care professionals working together towards a common goal to meet the needs of a service user. It is about developing relationships within and between organisations and services involved in planning and delivering care and support to the service users we support. By working collaboratively it brings together different types of professionals to share their particular knowledge, experience, skills, occupational values and perspectives to improve service

focussed on the relevant area of the system. It is an industrial (six sigma) tool which

The features of effective partnership working are to ensure there is good communication between all parties that ensure a high standard of care is delivered to the individual involved at all times. It ensures each party is covering all area’s and that all needs are met and that all partys have a good knowledge of who is delivering what to the individual and the contacts they have if other issues may arise and the access they have to these.

The issue of interprofessional working is currently one of key importance in the field of health and social care (Moyneux, 2001). Using the 6 stages of Gibb’s Reflective cycle (1988) I am going to demonstrate my understanding and explore the importance of interprofessional working as well as discuss barriers and facilitators for team working. A healthcare system that supports effective teamwork can improve the quality of patient care, enhance patient safety and reduce workloads that cause burnout among healthcare professionals (Oandasan, 2006). The 6 stages of Gibb’s cycle include description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action planning for future practice. I am going to reflect on the preparation work which was carried out each week for the group summative presentation and the importance of communication within the group.

In the beginning of this activity, I did not know much about collaboration between different healthcare professionals. It helped me to clarify the meaning of a healthcare team and also to understand the role of different professionals in the team. Different team members have their specific roles and all of them work together to achieve a common goal –healthier patient. They work independently, but when it comes to decision making they seek advice from other healthcare provider in order to do the best for the patient. Not only doctor, physiotherapists, pharmacists and etc. are considered being part of the team. Patients must also be considered part of the decision making process,

It is very important that you work in partnership with your colleagues and all other people. This will include carers, families, advocates, doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, other health professionals, social workers, voluntary organisations and other people.

Partnership working is defined as “the use of inclusive and mutually beneficial relationships…to improve the quality and experience of care” (Tilmouth and Quallington (2016). Successful partnership working is reliant on effective communication between the necessary professionals, agencies and organisations, which requires some form of shared communication systems. This may be by using a shared database or as simple as granting access to files and records on a particular service user to ensure continuity of care. As a residential care home, the Care Act (2014) gives us a duty to promote individual’s wellbeing, which requires us to effectively work in partnership with other services. A good working relationship is also crucial.

Partnership is when two or more organisations work together, showing cooperation and collaboration. This can provide better care and support for service users. For example, different funds working together, instead of working individually and stressing. Another example, a social worker and the health visitor will need to work together, share ideas and use different skills to develop a support plan that will benefit children and families. This also promotes multi-disciplinary working. Partnership thus can reduce conflicts and enhance team working skills as professionals can work together, sharing responsibilities and ensuring need led approaches are met and set. This can be done by reviewing care plans and offering support.

Working in a team is an important responsibility by understanding each other’s role which may include doctor, nurse, occupational therapist, physiotherapist and many more. Team members divide the work based on their scope practice such as acute care, metal health care, homecare etc. Interprofessional collaboration practice is decision making and communicating between individuals for their patient’s health based on their knowledge and skills. It helps to promote habits, maximizing health resources, leading care to be safer with patient’s satisfaction and Canada’s health care (Kenaszchuk, Reeves, Nicholas, & Zwarenstein, 2010).

Partnership working is when different services and professionals work together with other teams of people to meet the needs of children, young people and their families. It brings together professionals to contribute their own specialist knowledge and skills. This way holistic approach to childcare is achieved as featured in Every Child Matters Framework. Below are some benefits of effective partnership:

In order to collaborate successfully with the other members of the team, they have to ‘work together’. Collaboration implies “working together to achieve something that neither agency could achieve alone” (cited by Biggs in Day, 2006, p9). It involves effective communication and contribution to a common goal – and the health and wellbeing of the patient and shared responsibility of the outcome. Each team requires a quality leader, regular meetings attended by all members, joint assessment, regular reviews of patient records which should include ‘shared care plans’; joint decisions following consultation and task delegation to individual team members with the outcome being that “care must be structured, organised and systematically provided to each person in a variety of ways” (Creating an Interprofessional Workforce, 2007, p10).

According to American Nurses Association (2010) Scope and Standards of Nursing Practice, collaboration is defined as, “a professional healthcare partnership grounded in a reciprocal and respectful recognition and acceptance of: each partner’s unique expertise, power, and sphere of influence and responsibilities; commonality of goals; the mutual safeguarding of the legitimate interest of each party; and the advantages of such a relationship”.(p. 64). Collaboration amongst health care providers is very crucial in providing quality care to patients. Integration of disciplinary teams, improves communication, coordination, and most importantly, the safety and quality of patient care. It provides interaction between team members allowing

A review of Samir’s needs is necessary before transition and after transition to adult services. The learning disability nurses have a unique role to play in the transition by working collaboratively with other professionals such as the social worker to ensure a smooth transition. This was supported by (Morton-Nance, 2015).

In this essay I will concentrate on inter-professional collaboration which is cornerstone for providing better care to patients. I will try to examine some benefits and opportunities, while identifying the barriers and issues to effective collaborative work between employees. Throughout my essay I will be using LEARN format for better reflection on my clinical practice, my thoughts and feeling. As a nursing student in Early Identification team which is focused on maternal and children’s health, I will discuss my experience as being a part of this team.