Here in Lincolnshire we have developed the Voluntary Sector Engagement Team (VET) Having established a Terms of Reference for the group at a very early stage we continue to meet monthly as a steering group.
Further to this, wider representation has been sought from across the voluntary sector with much success, for attendance at workshops in which we have been able to determine the design principles of VET including the sign off of our MoU.
A letter has been sent to seek a financial contribution, initially from the medium to large organisations involved to ensure future financial sustainability, the ability to make a contribution does not determine or exclude involvement. This has received a positive response with financial commitments being made.
VET meetings are always attended by at least two members of the statutory sector representing both the health and care sectors.
Representatives of VET have met with the lead for the
Lincolnshire ICS to discuss the key developments of VET where we laid out three
key ‘asks’ which were agreed to, they were:
- Agreement of a process to
discuss the VET MoU with the statutory sector
- Consideration of how to ensure
VET are engaged with the statutory sector in taking the Long Term Local Plan
forward
- Financial Support for VET – to
match the contributions made from within the voluntary sector
The Chair and Deputy Chair of VET have been invited to the
Joint Working Executive Group (JWEG) which will meet monthly and has been developed by the leaders of Health
and Care in Lincolnshire to discuss joint executive arrangements and joint
working. The initial meeting is to be
facilitated by the LGA.
We have been asked to attend a workshop on the ICS Workforce
development toolkit – Growing the Health and Care Workforce/Future Roles and
Development/Third sector/Volunteers/Patients.
VET has
established an information portal website at:
- http://localhost:8888/VETorigbackup
- Domain
name was decided by democratic process
- Site
was developed at approximately 10% of normal website development cost by
involving skills form existing partners
- Maintenance
and updating the site continues involving VET partners and volunteers within
their organisation, with appropriate resource
- Active
participants at engagement meetings are able to opt in to a mailing list from
the site, with an auto-generated news bulletin sent every Thursday to keep
members informed and updated. Currently there are 19 organisations receiving this
information.
- Site
also shows information of steering group meetings and relevant notes, published
in the public domain for additional transparency
Further work to
widen our engagement across the voluntary and community sectors continues with
plans for a conference to widen knowledge and involvement in April 2020
Case study example: How building
relationships at the system level has facilitated sustainable partnership
working
Background
At a national level, recent legislation (e.g. Health and Social Care
Act 2012, Care Act 2013, Five Year Forward View, NHS Long Term Plan, Prevention
in the 2020s consultation) recognises and promotes the role VCSE organisations
play in improving health, wellbeing and care outcomes. The accelerator site in
Lincolnshire provides an important opportunity at a local level for the VCSE to
come together to increase understanding of the services and support offered by
the sector; and to be recognised by the statutory sector as an essential
partner in the decision-making and delivery of health and care services going
forward.
The issues we faced
From a statutory perspective the VCSE is varied and complex and it can be difficult to know where to start and how to navigate the various organisations with a footprint or interest in health and care. VET (the Voluntary Engagement Team) was established to ‘bring together’ various VCSE groups and networks from across Lincolnshire to fully understand what each organisation does and how the VCSE might work together with a cohesive and defined purpose in partnership with the STP. Through the accelerator work we want the VCSE – through VET – to have a clearer voice and be a partner in the decision-making and delivery of health and care services in Lincolnshire.
The actions we took
- Provide different forums and
platforms for the VCSE in Lincolnshire to come together and be a part of VET.
This includes a dedicated website ‘Lincolnshire’s Voluntary Sector Portal’ (http://localhost:8888/VETorigbackup/)
and a series of consultations and events. VET has developed a culture of working
with all VCSE organisations that wish to participate to shape its offer.
- A steering group of 14 VCSE
organisations came together to draft a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) – this
contains some initial principals/themes setting out how the VCSE will work
together and sets out VET’s relationship with the statutory sector. VET is
sharing the MoU and consulting on its contents with VCSE organisations across
Lincolnshire.
- Developed a brand: ‘VET’
(Voluntary Engagement Team).
- Drawing on 1-3 to manage the
day-to-day running of VET (e.g. website, meetings), to begin to coordinate a
work programme (in conjunction with the MoU) and represent the VCSE collective
at statutory meetings.
Positive outcomes
The work undertaken by VET to date has provided an emerging mandate for
how the VCSE might work together and deliver better outcomes for people in the
context of health and care in Lincolnshire.
Representatives from the statutory sector (e.g. NHS, Local Authority)
are invited and attend and participate in VET meetings and events.
The statutory sector recognises VET and has invited representatives to
become more substantively involved in the health and care system and its
strands of work. Some examples include: the STP Stakeholder Board, Integrated
Community Care Programme, Lincolnshire Co-operative Board, Integrated
Neighbourhood Working, Integrated Personal Commissioning, Local Workforce
Action Board (LWAB) working group and STP workshops (e.g. workforce readiness
assessment).
Negative outcomes
Whilst the majority of VCS organisations have been very positive about
this development we have experienced some challenge from organisations who
would prefer different approach to the brokering of the partnership. The large
geographical and complex statutory governance nature of Lincolnshire, with 8
local authorities and 7 NHS organisations, has made it slightly more complex
and time consuming to negotiate a way forward than would have been the case in
areas with a simpler statutory governance structure.
Lessons learned
It takes time to bring the VCSE sector together – particularly in a
sparse rural/coastal county like Lincolnshire – but this is important in
getting to know fully what different organisations do, how they wish to get
involved in VET and to identify new opportunities to collaborate.
