Date: October 2021 – April 2022
Challenges faced by the client:
Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust and Kingston Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, alongside Your Healthcare CIC, agreed that working collaboratively across pathways and geographical boundaries while breaking down organisational barriers and separate funding streams, had the potential to facilitate improved patient outcomes. A more evolved partnership approach could also achieve a reduction in the number of handovers, eliminate unnecessary duplication and improve patient experience and outcomes. Working together could also increase resilience for services, creating a ‘one team' ethos with new and exciting job opportunities and roles for staff, as well as providing an opportunity to make best use of collective resources and increased scale.
Support offered:
Mutual Ventures and Bevan Brittan were commissioned in October 2021 to set out the strategic case for the Better Together Programme; develop a ‘Partnership Agreement’ document outlining the way the two parties would engage with one another and with other stakeholders, and to co-design the supporting governance framework.
A key element of the evolving governance arrangements was the establishment of a decision-making Committee-in-Common, with Executive and Non-Executive Director representation from both organisations. This forum will make decisions on behalf of both parties, with delegated authority from both Trust Boards to two newly formed Trust Board Committees. A range of Joint Subcommittees was also designed and implemented, including Finance, Quality, and Workforce and Equality & Diversity. Concurrent with this, a Single Executive Team was established, alongside the exploration of Non-Executive Directors in Common roles.
During the final stage of the Implementation Programme, Mutual Ventures facilitated a Joint Board Development session, focusing on the governance arrangements and led a wide-ranging discussion with all members of both Trust Boards, including management of conflicts of interest, risk management, dispute resolution and Senior Independent Director roles.
Outcome achieved:
Mutual Ventures and Bevan Brittan successfully drove the establishment of sustainable and robust governance arrangements, ensuring that the partner organisations are able to focus on emerging opportunities for collaboration in order to improve patient outcomes and experience. The Partnership Agreement was signed in April 2022, followed by the initial meeting of the Committee-in-Common.