Problem Definition - Building Effective Relationships at a System Level

How can Helpforce support Systems to create productive and sustainable partnerships in order to create an integrated approach to volunteering? Through our work with Integrated Care Systems we have seen that those systems that have a strong partnership approach have been able to maximise their return on the financial investment in volunteering.

What is the problem for systems?

Over the course of the last year we have seen that those systems that had previously invested time and effort in building robust partnership arrangements and equitable organisational relationships were best placed to respond to the challenge of COVID. Through the research we carried out into volunteering responses to COVID we discovered that systems that understood the challenges, and capacity, of their partners were able to react more effectively and create a coordinated request for volunteers from their communities.

One of the challenges for some systems has been a race to create effective partnerships as a direct response to an evolving situation rather than having the time and space to develop relationships on their own terms. There are a number of barriers that have historically impacted on the ability to develop effective cross sector relationships:-

- Relationship building being seen as a poor use of resources
- Organisational restructuring occurs at different rates
- A power imbalance between commissioning and commissioned organisations

The move towards creating Integrated Care Systems has begun to unstick some of these barriers but is primarily driven by the NHS. The creation of systems has also focussed on structural change which, in some cases, has come at the expense of some of the more intangible work that needs to be done to build a shared approach to prioritisation.

We know from much of the work on system thinking that how relationships manifest themselves are one of the key building blocks of effective systems. Systems, by their nature, are a group of disparate organisations, communities and individuals brought together around common objectives. This means that all systems are fundamentally relational. The key to creating effective systems is ensuring that the relationships that underpin them move from being based on statutory obligation and contracts to a focus on serving communities.

We have also seen that as disparate organisations are brought together, in systems, this can lead to a competition in how priorities are set. Without a set approach to partnership, and clear lines of communication, resources can become focused on managing rivalry.

This need to change is particularly relevant to how systems approach harnessing the power of volunteering. The pool of volunteers that are available to a system are not attached exclusively to single organisations. How individuals contribute their effort is based on their understanding of the needs of their communities and the structure of systems should reflect that understanding.

We believe that investing time and effort into building sustainable relationships will provide systems with a means to react to external shocks such as the COVID Pandemic. They will also provide access to community intelligence that will create a more holistic understanding of levels of need.

How will things be better if the problem is solved?

There are some key benefits that can be delivered if sustainable relationships become the basis of integration:-

- There will be greater trust and transparency resulting in decision making that is aligned and efficient.
- Stakeholders will be valued for their expertise not their relative size or power.
- There will be greater clarity on the problem and common need for joined up solutions.

How does this impact on health priorities?

Different partner organisations, across systems, bring different perspectives on the needs of the communities that they work with. A shared understanding of the different needs creates a holistic, population level, appreciation of where resources can be best be utilised.

Through our work on how different systems responded to COVID we found that one of the key drivers to more effective work with volunteers was a clear shared objective. The need to respond to COVID was a shared objective that all partners prioritised equally which resulted in a much more agile response.

We believe that leveraging shared health priorities can create a similar common purpose and could be the catalyst for true integration. This would create:-

- A focus on health improvement over organisational improvement
- A better use of resources
- More sustainable health outcomes
- Better information sharing will drive quality improvement and the sharing of good practice

Additional work has been carried out by the Voluntary Partnerships Team within NHSE England. You can read more about the support that is available to develop partnerships here.