DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
News Release issued by COI News Distribution Service on 14 April 2009
A new website to
support partnerships between NHS staff and trade unions was
announced by Health Minister, Ann Keen today.
The Social Partnership Forum (SPF) is a partnership between the
Department of Health, NHS Employers and NHS Trade Unions to
improve working relationships and involve partners in the
workforce implications of NHS policy development. The new SPF
website includes:
* Advice and materials to support and encourage partnership
working between employers and Trade unions at all levels in the
NHS
* Case studies, examples of good practice and a selection
of toolkits to support regional and local partnership
working
* Details and application materials for the new NHS
Partnership Fund. NHS organisations can bid for money from this
£500,000 fund to support partnership projects that support NHS
Constitution pledges, meet local organisational goals, effectively
communicate and engage with NHS staff and improve the quality of
patient care.
The website was a key recommendation in a progress report by the
Involvement and Participation Association (IPA), which is also
published today, on the role and function of the National SPF. The
IPA report 'NHS Social Partnership Forum Review - Final
Report' highlights the good progress the SPF has made to
date, praises the strong Ministerial support and effective working
practices and makes recommendations as to how these can be built
upon in partnership.
Health Minister, Ann Keen said:
"Employers and unions working constructively together on a
project can make a real difference.
"The Social Partnership Forum has successfully looked into
ways in which it can increase staff involvement in improving
patient services, therefore delivering on commitments made in the
NHS Constitution. This website and funding will help NHS staff
feel more supported and engaged in their organisations.
"The NHS workforce delivers some of the best healthcare in
the world, day in, day out but our aspiration is to build on their
achievements to date and to continue to go from strength to
strength to deliver the highest quality care to patients."
Karen Jennings, Chair of the SPF Staff Side, said on behalf of
the NHS Trade Unions:
"Instilling a culture of partnership working into the
bedrock of the NHS will pay dividends for patients and staff. It
makes sense to listen to staff and their trade unions and to share
the experience and innovations generated by them across the whole
of the NHS. I have no doubt that the result will lead to better
patient care."
Gill Bellord, NHS Employers' Director of Pay Pensions and
Employment Relations said:
"The new Social Partnership forum web site is a great
opportunity to demonstrate partnership working in action in the
NHS. There are tough challenges ahead for health care
organisations that can only be met by everyone working together to
solve them.
We hope that the good practice ideas will provide help and
encouragement to others. Our aim is that the website will be
useful to and used by all the social partners. "
Notes to Editors:
1. Applications forms are available at: http://www.socialpartnershipforum.org
2. Ann Keen is chair of the national Social partnership Forum.
The SPF has developed highly effective working relationships on
the workforce implications of policy since its re-launch in
February 2007.
3. *IPA Report - The Involvement and Participation Association
(IPA) undertook a review into the operation of the Social
Partnership Forum to ensure that the Partnership Agreement between
partners remains fit for purpose. The full report is published
today and is available from http://www.socialpartnershipforum.org
Partnership Fund - The IPA Report emphasised the need to
encourage and develop partnership working at local employer level
within the NHS. In response to this, Ann Keen announced the
Partnership Fund of £500,000 at the NHS Employers Conference in
October 2008. The money is to be made available in the financial
year 2009/10. The Partnership Fund supports the NHS Constitution
Pledge on engagement and partnership working (p96 of the handbook
to the NHS Constitution).