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'Collaboration' is the watchword in the NHS at the moment, whether through primary care networks, integrated care systems, or other three letter acronyms. So why is it the experience of many organisations that collaboration comes despite the policy context, rather than because of it?

How can we make collaboration effective if we're not sure how to go about collaborating well? Rich Taunt navigates his way out of the cul-de-sacs of conventional NHS wisdom on collaboration.

Exploitation, punishing schedules and some massive egos. Pop music and the NHS have more in common than you might think. We've just shared the characteristics of high performing collaborations, but how many of those characteristics are visible in the world of discos and divas?

George Dellal leads on our networks service at Kaleidoscope. Here we find out what he was like as a 5-year-old, and why he thinks children have a lot to teach us about developing collaborations.

A successful partnership depends on when and how to choose the right partner. In this guest blog, Jane Harris, CEO of I CAN, shares what she's learned from nearly 20 years of partnership working in the charity sector.

The new White Paper setting out the legislative proposals for a Health and Care Bill is a clear encouragement to collaborate and integrate. It is explicit that national policy, legal and regulatory frameworks affecting the NHS have impeded, restricted and delayed the practical integration of health and care around families and patients even where the will has been there. 

As a GP Principal for the last 19 years running a list size of 5,000, one of my sadnesses was that my patients weren’t getting joined up care. I wasn’t giving it and as a system we weren’t able to deliver it, but primary care networks are changing that.

Collaboration. Everyone agrees it’s a good thing. But evaluating it needs care and consideration. It’s more than data, it’s about people and long term shifts in culture and working practices.

Covid-19 has thrown us into the arms of new digital technology like little else before. Video conferencing for appointments is no longer a surprise, and the fact that Covid-19 tests (where available) should be booked online seems completely natural. While no one can deny that the rate of change in digital healthcare has increased, how much of this change is likely to remain with us long term?

If the future is collaboration, where are we now, and how do we bridge the gap? If we’re genuine about the high aspirations we have for primary care networks, integrated care systems, etc, do we know how big a challenge that is?