Betsy Thom, Rachel Herring, Mariana Bayley, Seta Waller, Virginia Berridge

Supported by Alcohol Research UK (AERC)

Society for the Study of Addiction, November 15th. 2012

Delivering alcohol policy: the role of partnerships

Faith or Science? Does it Matter? “Alliances or partnership initiatives to promote

health across sectors, across professional and lay boundaries and between public, private and non-government agencies, do work”

“Persistent policy support for the concept (of partnership working) is largely faith based”.

(Gilles 1998: 99, Effectiveness of alliances and partnerships for health promotion Health Promotion International 13(2): 99-1201).

(Smith et al. 2009: 212:Partners in Health? A systematic review of the impact of organizational partnerships on

public health outcomes in England between 1997 and 2008 Journal of Public Health 31(2), 210-221)

1998- 2008: What changed? Proliferation of partnerships under New

Labour Localism agenda: devolved responsibility/

control Partnership as a tool for local level

governance: especially ‘wicked’ issues Shift from ‘organic’ to ‘formal / required’

partnerships

A possible definition Partnerships are formal structures of

relationships among individuals or groups, all of which are banded together for a common purpose. It is the commitment to a common cause – frequently purposive change – that characterises these partnerships, whether the partners are organizations or individuals, voluntary confederations of independent agencies or community assemblies developing multi-purpose and long term alliances.

Peckham (2007, pp.2-3)

Research questions What kinds of partnerships are there and how

is their effectiveness assessed by a sample of professionals involved in their operation?

What do partners see as the challenges in partnership working?

What can we learn from informants’ accounts about the dynamics of partnership working?

Methods Key informant interviews (17) face-to-face Telephone survey (90 respondents) 2 Case study areas (20) face-to face

Analysis: survey- simple descriptive statistics

interviews- thematic content analysis

Some Findings Description of the partnerships Perceptions of partnership structures,

processes and effectiveness Perceived challenges to partnership working

Description of the partnerships: Employing agency

Respondent’s employing agency: 46% - by local authorities and county councils; 29% - by health services; 9% - by the DAAT; 14% - joint appointments (local authorities/

PCTs; DAATs); 2% - by the police.

Description: focus of main partnership a combination of health and criminal

justice (67%); health and other areas such as education,

employment, social services (8%); health alone (3%); criminal justice alone14%.

Description: Length of time respondent in post and when post created

Length of time in post n=85

% When post created n=78

%

Less than year ago 20 Less than year ago 22

1 year – less 3 years 36 1 year – less 3 years 22

3 years – 5 years 24 3 years – 5 years 19

More than 5 years 20 More than 5 years 27

Don’t know 10

Description: Nested in umbrella groups Local Strategic Partnership/Local Area Authority CDRP; Safer Communities; Community Safety;

Safer/Stronger Partnership/Communities; Stronger Communities

DAAT board Health and Well-Being/Health and Social

Care/Healthy Area Partnership/NHS Area Board

Description: Overlaps: A network of partnerships

overlaps with number overlaps with number

none 1 5 other 2

1 other 7 more than 5 7

2 other 21 many overlaps 8

3 other 14 not applicable 1

4 other 2

Sub-Regional FrameworkThe seven commissions, part of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities

North West Alcohol Forum Home Office Department of Health

Cheshire and MerseysideGreater Manchester Alcohol Strategy Group

(GMASG) Lancashire and Cumbria

Health Community Safety

Policy Evidence & Intelligence

Bury Bolton Oldham Manchester Rochdale Salford Stockport Tameside Trafford Wigan

Each borough has their own local Alcohol Strategy Group made up of their local partners

Public Protection Health New

Economy

Specialist Acute Trust Alcohol Health Workers Forum

Trading Standards

Licensing Planning

Challenges: large complex networks“There is a great deal of duplication in terms of personnel across the various partnerships …. so the same people tend to be in attendance”

Local autonomy “… centre’s about guidance and setting the

context and giving the people the tools to work with and then locally they have to plan what are their priorities…..local partnerships can be developed in their own ways, whatever is right for that local area, … their actual functioning and the way they are structured, is different”. (K4)

Challenges: complex lines of responsibility and

accountability

“we report into the Safer X partnership Board but we are not accountable to them. We are primarily accountable to the County Council. This is managed through scrutiny committees and the portfolio holder.” (16)

Perceptions of partnership structures

Perceptions of partnership processes

Perceptions of partnership outcomes

Comparison with other partnerships

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

Funding available to implement initiatives to meet targets

Availability of other resources e.g. people, time etc

Influence to access resources, get action

Percentages

Figure 3: Comparison of main partnership with others on funding, other resources and influence

5 Highest score

4

3

2

1 Lowest score

ChallengesQuite a number of the reported weaknesses and

challenges were summed up in one comment: “Lack of financial resources. Inability of ‘the

partnership’ to raise the profile of alcohol related harms. Silo working. Lack of focus. Lack of attendance. Lack of a vision to recognise that goals are best achieved by partnership working. Health versus criminal justice outcomes – i.e. the attitude of ‘well that’s health’s responsibility so health should do it’ rather than recognising that interventions can have cross-cutting impacts across sectors.” (90)

Challenge of developing shared priorities and goals “Alcohol is so difficult because different departments

have different takes on it and that can cause tensions…. the licensing act and current alcohol consultation highlight these differences. So, there is a lot of working across departments but not necessarily for the same outcomes – with alcohol, we might just have to come to a happy medium”. ..“My experience of the Civil Service was the antithesis of partnership working” (K8)

Who’s responsibility?

“The main weakness of the partnership has been holding individual agencies responsible for delivery – it can lead to a situation with cross cutting issues such as alcohol, that is the responsibility of everyone and therefore no-one”. (45)

Professional & institutional ‘silos’

“I am not convinced as to how far the partnership will be able to influence behaviour and action of partners, especially if this means changing what they do now. However time will tell! “ (Survey respondent, alcohol lead)

Main problems and barriers to partnership working Limited funding and resources Lack of high level ‘buy in’ Failure to sustain long term commitment Difficulty in agreeing shared priorities and goals Managing size and complexity Institutional ‘embedding’ Dealing with professional cultures and ‘silo’

approaches Poor communication and information sharing

Facilitating and improving partnership working: 4 key approaches Build a tradition of partnership working Appoint alcohol champions Tackle ‘silo’ working and cross boundaries Demonstrate gains

Key approaches : Build a tradition of partnership working

“The partnership has been in existence for some years now, with continued development and revision of policies and protocols to avoid stagnation and promote growth. The partnership is active and reactive, adaptive to change and well managed.” (12)

Key approaches: The alcohol champion The Alcohol Champion – needs: Good communication - sending out information to

partners – daily emails to partners, for example Good at facilitating consultations, making sure they

happen and responding to members Good at keeping networks involved Constantly working to keep alcohol on the agenda.“ So people like X, constantly, constantly, never letting

it go away…..even without the political will…It was drip, drip and if there’s political will now, then things could start improving.” (DAAT, team leader)

Key approaches: Crossing boundaries: changing professional behaviour: youth work and community policing

Initially I think when the project was set up ...... both staff and young people were very sceptical because- how can you work with enablers and enforcers together? … but because of the work, I suppose, and the commitment of the partners in terms of actually going outside of our briefs a little bit (the problems were overcome), in terms of when the PCSO (Police Community Support Officer) is there, they are actually working under the direction of youth work principles and under the direction of youth workers. They are not in their PCSO capacity for example. And so that’s taken quite a bit of time for us to work that out and trust each other, do you know what I mean? Because initially the police were kind of directing people to this space - then the young people almost felt corralled - which then creates issues and tension. (Case study, youth worker)

Key approaches: Demonstrate gains Partnerships should identify and concentrate

only on actions and activities that required joint working; not on actions that are core business or are already done by someone else. ‘Added value’:

“...what we do in partnership is only what we

can’t do on our own..” (local authority officer)

Top tips Appoint champions and secure buy-in from the top Define clear roles for partners and clear lines of

responsibility Build trust Break down professional silos/ institutional

boundaries Ensure good communication Demonstrate gains from partnership

Conclusion

From organic to formal:

Partnership working in unstable contexts