Working in Partnership in Health and Social Care

The landmark failings in the case of the death of Victoria Climbie in 2000, triggered the Laming report which made 127 recommendations, 46 of which had to be implemented within 3 months (immediately), 38 to be implemented within 6 months, and the remainder to be implemented within 2 years (BBC News, 2003). The results and recommendations of the Laming report therefore indicated that the services for protecting children were essentially not fit for purpose. Laming’s recommendations were intended to further protect children and young people and prevent a repeat of cases such as Victoria Climbie and Jasmine Beckford before her (see Laming’s key recommendations as per BBC News article, 2003). Unfortunately, on 3rd of August 2007 Baby Peter Connelly (Baby P) was found dead in his cot (BBC News, 2012). A review of this case revealed striking similarities to the Climbie case.

Though there were similarities in the abuse and subsequent death of these vulnerable children, there were also similarities in the ‘mismanagement’ of each case. However in the post Laming years, the Head of Children’s Services and case managers in the Baby P case were held accountable. Therefore the key difference between the two cases was accountability. This key difference between the cases reflects some of the changes that were implemented as a result of the Climbie enquiry and the recommendations made by Lord Laming and the implementation of ECM the Children’s Act (2004).

Similarly to children’s services, in adult’s services there have been serious case reviews which have triggered changes in the law and working practices to ensure the safeguarding of adults. Such case reviews have taken place to investigate cases of death, neglect and abuse in adults. As a result new policies, frameworks and strategies have been developed and implemented to drive the prevention of such cases, for example the Mental Capacity Act Deprivation of Liberty to Safeguards (2007). This Act stipulates that those with dementia, mental illness or physical disability cannot be labeled as lacking mental capacity or as being unable to contribute to their own decisions without a prior assessment. In addition, the Office of the Public Guardian now requires an assessment of capacity to be made before it can be determined that a person lacks capacity. The Mental Capacity Act works in Conjunction with the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards to ensure that vulnerable adults are not a danger to themselves or others. Therefore, the responsible professional would also have to apply for a deprivation of liberty safeguard.

Other relevant legislative guidance, policies and procedures for the protection of vulnerable adults include the “No Secrets Guidance”, local SOVA boards, and POVA. An example of such cases include a range of health and social care professionals labeling vulnerable elderly adults as having a lack of mental capacity when no assessment or determination of their actual capacity had been completed beforehand, thus exposing an elderly person to exploitation and financial abuse. The Mental Capacity Act and Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards offer legal protection against the withdrawal of funds or being withheld against their will – by ensuring that an assessment must be made beforehand. If the assessment has not been made, capacity must be assumed. Additionally, the No Secrets guidance empowers professionals to blow the whistle on suspected substandard care, abuse and suspected abuse. However, despite these developments, serious cases of adult abuse, neglect and death have continued to hit the headlines.

Assignment

Write an ESSAY based on the below instructions, to include the below three sections. (You must submit the essay as ONE document only)

? Section 1

In an area of children and young people, carry out the following:

– Explain the philosophy of working in health and social care.
– Evaluate the effectiveness of partnership relationships

? Section 2

“Theories of collaborative working and informed decision making support the development of positive partnerships in health and social care”

– Analyse how this statement is achieved by models of partnership working such as multi-area-agreements (MMAs), local area agreements (LLAs), and joint working agreements
– You should also review legislation, organisational practices and policies in relation to partnership working in health and social care.
– Explain how differences in working practices and policies affect collaborative working.

? Section 3
In application to health and social care settings, carry out the following:

– Evaluate possible outcomes of partnership working for users of services, professionals and organisations.
– Analyse the potential barriers to partnership working in health and social care services.
–
– Devise strategies to improve outcomes for partnership working in health and social care services.