Partnership Working in Public Health

Description

The UK government's reforms of the NHS and public health system require partnerships if they are to succeed. Those partnerships concerned with public health are especially important and are deemed to be a 'good thing' which add, rather than consume, value. Yet the significant emphasis on partnership working to secure effective policy and service delivery exists despite the evidence testifying to how difficult it is to make partnerships work or achieve results. Partnership working in public health presents the findings from a detailed study of public health partnerships in England. The lessons from the research are used to explore the government's changes in public health now being implemented, most of which centre on new partnerships called Health and Wellbeing Boards that have been established to work differently from their predecessors.The book assesses their likely impact and the implications for the future of public health partnerships. Drawing on systems thinking, it argues that partnerships can only succeed if they work in quite different ways. The book will therefore appeal to the public health community and students of health policy.

David J Hunter is Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of the Centre for Public Policy and Health, School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Health at Durham University, and a Wolfson Fellow in the Wolfson Research Institute for Health and Wellbeing. Neil Perkins is a research consultant. He was research fellow at Durham University, leading on the study of partnerships. Previous research has included studies of safeguarding vulnerable adults, and community development.

"In this challenging volume David Hunter and Neil Perkins build on a diverse array of ideas and evidence about partnerships, taking the reader beyond simple descriptions to explore the theoretical basis of partnership and examples of what makes for success."--- Professor Gareth Williams, School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University. "A timely and important analysis! As health systems are transformed in the UK and elsewhere, deeper understanding of complexity and how government enables or constrains innovation and change is critical."--- Allan Best, InSource Research Group. "The book achieves its aim of using research to explore public health partnerships and their ability to deliver better health outcomes... there is little available for the intended audience on public health partnerships and the book challenges the widely held views that partnerships deliver demonstrable improvements in public health."---Elaine Rodgers, Health Development. "The authors challenge the established view that partnership working is an effective way to tackle complex public health problems...and prompt the reader to consider a great array of factors that will challenge your preconceptions in considering a seemingly straightforward question." Research Policy and Practice