Partnership Agreement
Partnership Agreement
Foreword
The NHS workforce deliver excellent care day in, day out. It is thanks to them that the best in the NHS is amongst the best in the world. Our aspiration is to build on their achievements to date to improve care for patients. It is for this reason that we are introducing a range of important changes and reforms.
A key factor in any successful change programme is a commitment to engaging and
involving the workforce at all levels. Staff who understand the need for change and are fully involved in the process of change can make a larger contribution to improving the service.
It is through partnership between patients, users, managers, employees and trade unions that organisations can innovate. The views of staff matter - staff have the knowledge and experience to know what really works, and we need to harness this knowledge and engage the experience to help facilitate change.
It is these messages which the trade unions brought to me in the summer. I invited Minister of State, Andy Burnham, to lead a short piece of work to see how we could improve our existing arrangements, and I am delighted that this work has now brought forward the proposals in this document.
This partnership agreement outlines how partners will work together to promote effective partnership working on the workforce implications of policy. It recognises respective roles and responsibilities, establishes shared values and common purpose and sets some key principles for effective joint working. I am confident that this provides the basis for a continually improving partnership which will lead to long-term solutions that work both for staff and, more importantly, for patients.
Trade unions play a central role to giving NHS staff a voice at national and local level. They have championed the cultural change necessary to improve services. The reassurance they give staff that their voice is heard at a national level is essential at this time of change in the NHS. Our clinical leaders also have a role to play in engaging all staff to ensure they understand and support the change agenda. It is only by working together that we will achieve the principles outlined in this agreement.
Whilst the arrangements outlined in this agreement apply to national arrangements, the principles of partnership which we have developed and the shared values we have identified will be equally applicable at more local levels. I would therefore encourage local employers and SHAs to review their existing arrangements against this document.
I would like to record my thanks to all those involved in working on this document and the spirit in which this has been developed.
Patricia Hewitt
Secretary of State for Health (2007)
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