This report looks at how different sectors can collaborate to create services and pathways that meet the holistic needs of patients.

Key findings

• Foreword from ACEVO (Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations)
• This report shows how consortia work in practice, what the barriers are and how these barriers can be overcome.
• Case studies detail how networks can support the integration of care and services in different ways, including commissioning services together, providing services together and delivering services together.
• The work of the People Powered Health teams has shown that three core actions are necessary for partnerships to be successful - establishing a common purpose, developing a shared culture and enabling information sharing and open dialogue.

Networks and partnerships are critically important in a People Powered Health approach. There is a wealth of expertise and knowledge about how to identify and meet the needs of patients across the NHS, social care providers and third sector organisations.

In a People Powered Health approach, such knowledge and expertise needs to be brought together to commission, design and deliver holistic, integrated healthcare services. This is done not from the perspectives of existing institutions or services but from the perspective of what patients need to improve their overall health and wellbeing, which may include completely new services.

Networks that Work: Partnerships for Integrated Care and Services is one in a series of learning products which explain why People Powered Health works, what it looks like and the key features needed to replicate success elsewhere.

This video outlines how different groups can work together to deliver the best care for patients for long-term conditions:

Authors
Katharine Langford, with Peter Baeck and Martha Hampson. Series Editor Julie Temperley