Vic Citarella – a post that first appeared on RiPfA website on the 9th March 2017
As everyone seeks to squeeze more out of the social care system, how can strong and positive relationships lead to improved and more cost-effective working practices?
I have recently authored a Strategic Briefing for RiPfA on effective commissioner-provider relationships and facilitated a workshop on the same topic. I will also be leading their upcoming open access webinar ‘developing effective commissioner-provider relationships’ (28 March, 12-1pm, online). As part of my approach to gather evidence relating to this work, I began by asking some initial questions. I found it helpful to test out some of the underlying assumptions, namely that:
- there is a problem
- the relationship that matters is the one between the commissioner and the provider
- such relationships have character – effective, strong and positive – which can be improved
- there is an answer to the problem.
Problem – what problem?
Clearly social care is experiencing unprecedented financial pressures which is characterised as a problem or even a ‘crisis’. RiPfA identified this as a key issue back in 2012 in the publication: How to maintain safe, effective and quality services with reducing resources.
The underlying assumption is that integral to the problem are poor relationships between commissioners and providers. Community Care and the Guardian certainly think so. The guidance and toolkits say so. If only commissioners and providers got on better, they could make the money go further and people in need would get what they want. Implicit in this assumption, and reinforced in the Care Act 2014 guidance (Chapter 4), is that it is for the commissioner to do something about this problem. They have the money, the power and are the public authority.
But is this in fact the case? Does the responsibility lie at their door? The forthcoming webinar offers an opportunity to check this out.
A many-faceted relationship
Perhaps a more worrying assumption is that the relationship we are talking about involves just the two parties – commissioner and provider. But social care is patently a more complex system involving lots of people, organisations and stakeholders. Relationships between two people are hard enough. Imagine how much more convoluted relationships are in the multi-agency, multi-professional and multi-faceted world of social care.
The webinar session will try to unpick some of these relationship interactions and dynamics, and look at common purpose, co-production and role clarity. We will look at ideas around stakeholder mapping, user-led approaches and person-centred coordinated care.
The character of a relationship
That a strong relationship is a positive one and leads to more effective services is another assumption we can test. From there we can explore what steps can be made to build strength in relationships. How we turn our social care values into commissioning and service providing practice is the proving ground for the customers.
Clearly trust and communication are at the heart of all kinds of relationship building – but what do you actually do to make these things happen? The webinar will also look at how the behaviours of the participants in the commissioner-provider relationship can be (positively) developed, drawing on examples that have been tried involving individuals, groups and organisations in a variety of settings and formats.
A problem demands a solution
Lastly there is an assumption that there is an answer to the problems of poor commissioner-provider relationships. There is no sure-fire formula for success. Like personal relationships, those in business and between organisations require continuous work (and as with personal relationships there are online quizzes to evaluate the partners’ starting point and where they want to go with a business relationship, for example: http://www.growthink.com/content/finding-business-partner-take-quiz). In fact, the similarities between the advice offered by relationship counsellors and business gurus is quite remarkable. Writ large are trust, open communication and respect.
What we will examine during the webinar is ways for commissioners and providers to work together, how to make the time, and some methods that have been found to work. We will consider approaches to procurement and contracting as procedural processes to cement relationships, to record agreements where the players may change and to cater for endings and failures as well as success.
If you are a commissioner or service provider (of any kind – registered/not registered/large/small/private/voluntary), please do join us at the webinar on 28 March. As we are looking at relationships between commissioners and providers in social care then it would be beneficial if people who have worked together in these roles could participate jointly (although this may of course not be possible). People who use services and/or directly commission for their own needs are very welcome to attend.
If you have any thoughts or questions, please email me in advance at vic.citarella@cpea.co.uk– although I am not offering relationship counselling!
About the author
Vic Citarella is a qualified social worker and a former Director of Social Services. He now works with local authorities, NHS bodies, private and voluntary social care providers, to help them improve standards and quality of services.
Related resources
Developing effective commissioner provider relationships: Webinar (28 March 2017, 12-1pm, online)
Cpeanose 