Working Together Towards Common Goals

WORKING TOGETHER TOWARDS COMMON GOALS

COMPACT BETWEEN THE NORTH EAST WALES NHS TRUST,

WREXHAM LOCAL HEALTH BOARD,

WREXHAM COUNTY BOROUGH COUNCIL

AND THE ASSOCIATION OF VOLUNTARY ORGANISATIONS IN WREXHAM [AVOW] on behalf of the voluntary sector

Foreword

·  WCBC Leader of the Council

·  Chair AVOW

·  Chair North Wales NHS Trust

·  Chair Local Health Board

In this Compact the term ‘voluntary sector’ incorporates voluntary and community organisations and volunteering interests. The term ‘Wrexham’ refers to the Wrexham County Borough.

This compact sets out the broad principles and shared values which will govern the relationship between the health agencies, the local authority and the voluntary sector in Wrexham County Borough. It represents the shared commitment of the partners to encourage partnership working between the North Wales NHS Trust, Wrexham Local Health Board, Wrexham County Borough Council and the Voluntary and Community sector in Wrexham.

1. Background

There have been a number of earlier Compacts between the partners. [Please see Bibliography]. It is acknowledged that the commitment to developing partnership working contained within those Compacts and the on-going commitment of individuals and agencies to promote their aims has been the foundation for this document. This Compact aims to subsume previous compact documents.

The Welsh Assembly Government is placing increasing emphasis on working in equal partnership between statutory and non-statutory agencies. The successful development and implementation of multi agency strategies will depend on these partnerships for example, the Community Strategy, the Health, Social Care and Well Being Strategy and the Framework for Children and Young People.

2. Statement of Partnership

This Compact represents a shared commitment to encourage partnership between the statutory partners and the voluntary sector where the complementary contributions of each to the quality of life, health and well-being of the people of Wrexham is recognised and valued.

Within this Compact all partners seek to adopt the following principles:

·  Develop and maintain a strong, rigorous and independent structure that supports all partners in Wrexham.

·  Support all partners to provide a range of services that delivers the highest possible quality and choice of services within Wrexham.

·  Encourage and develop a professional workforce that promotes the co-operation of paid and volunteer staff.

·  Establish shared policy initiatives that ensure funding is properly targeted, utilised and accounted for.

·  Ensure that all partners play an equal and active part in the strategic and operational planning of services by creating mechanisms that facilitate participation by all partners.

·  Ensure effective joint consultation and joint planning across all partner agencies.

·  Acknowledge and appreciate the distinct role of each partner.

3. Shared Values

It is recognised that all partners have a wide range of differing skills and experiences that make a valuable contribution to the quality of life in Wrexham. The following shared values form the basis of the common ground of this partnership.

Our agreed values are to build a democratic society which:

·  Offers equality of opportunity to all its members, without discrimination;

·  Encourages everyone to benefit from the services and opportunities available in Wrexham;

·  Encourages people to take responsibility for decisions that affect them and to be active in their communities;

·  Promotes partnership between the public, private and voluntary sectors for the benefit of all, based on best practice principles.

4. Roles

It is recognised that all partners operate within their founding principles and are separately accountable. The legal and financial constraints within which Local Government, the Health Services and the Voluntary Sector operate are different. All partners in this Compact have their individual roles. In particular it is recognised that:

The role of the North East Wales NHS Trust is to provide a comprehensive range of secondary (acute, community and mental health) services to a wide catchment area that extends beyond Wrexham and Flintshire to include South Denbighshire, North Powys, the Mawddach Valley (South Gwynedd) and South Cheshire representing a population in excess of 270,000. The Trust has developed five core values that underpin the present delivery and future development of the services they provide. These values are summarised within their mission statement:
* The Trust is committed to improving the wellbeing of the communities of North East Wales through the provision of acute, community and mental health care services
* The Trust will provide services that are safe, appropriate to our patients' needs and effective in meeting those needs.
* The Trust will continue to review and improve our services and will seek to work in partnerships with other agencies and organisations where this can bring benefit to our patients or the wider community.
* The Trust will treat all people with fairness, respect and dignity

The role of the Wrexham Local Health Board is a statutory body with responsibility to work with local and national agencies and local people to improve the health of the community. It’s role is to commission primary, community and secondary health services on their behalf according to the identified local health needs.

Wrexham County Borough Council has specific statutory powers and duties to provide and enable services to be delivered to the local community, ensuring that public funds are used appropriately and responsibly. It also acts as community leader with the power to promote the social, environmental and economic well being of the community it serves.

The voluntary sector in Wrexham County Borough consists of around 2000 voluntary and community organisations each with their own aims, objectives and legal constitutions. They aim to provide cost effective and sustainable services to the community by mobilising the skills and expertise of the community. AVOW is the organisation that brings together a large number of these groups to identify a common purpose and agreed united action.

5. Responsibilities

All partners are committed to working, promoting and developing good practice, policies and procedures. The content of such policies and procedures may be specific to each individual agency. All partners are committed to ensuring that they:

·  Have clear structures with specified aims and objectives;

·  Operate within the terms of their stated aims and objectives;

·  Are accountable, as appropriate, to their members, their clients, the communities in which they work, the general public and the funding bodies that support their work and the regulatory bodies that oversee their activities;

·  Assess the likely impact of policy changes on other partners, in consultation with those partners;

·  Have effective employment policies, management arrangements and appropriate quality control procedures.

6. Aims of the Compact

Partnership means working together towards common goals as equals, in a climate of trust, with each partner recognising and valuing the distinctive contributions of the others. All partners have a shared commitment to develop the following key issues.

6.1 Consultation and involvement / formal consultation:

The partners agree to develop joint procedures for information sharing, involvement and formal consultation. In particular the partners will:

·  Support the commitment of each partner in developing a framework for improved two way communications with the public service users and local communities;

·  Promote the recognition of all partners as equal and value their contribution to formulating and delivering public policy;

·  Assess carefully, in consultation with partners the likely impact of policy changes, and modify them if appropriate.

6.2  Partnership:

The partners agree to develop a partnership approach in areas of common benefit. Practical joint working arrangements will be agreed to promote the spirit and principles of partnership working contained in this Compact. In particular the partners will:

·  Develop an effective strategic partnership between all partners to promote the health, social care and well-being of the residents of Wrexham;

·  Encourage partnership approaches to tackling community needs and developing services;

·  Ensure that the principles of partnership are accepted and implemented at all levels in all partner agencies.

6.3  Volunteering:

The partners agree to develop a shared vision of how statutory agencies can support and promote voluntary action, while respecting the volunteers’ independence and free choice. In particular the partners will:

·  Promote volunteering initiatives and the belief that voluntary activity is a desirable part of citizenship;

·  Promote best practice principles within their organisation on the use of volunteers.

·  Promote volunteering activity amongst the workforce of the partner agencies for the benefit of the community.

6.4  Resources:

All partners are committed to maximising the levels of funding within Wrexham to meet the identified needs of the community. Within this it is essential that appropriate funds are accessed and these are used effectively with quality outcomes for targeted recipients. All partners will:

(i) Funding:

·  Establish and maintain procedures to ensure accepted best practice in the development of commissioning and contracting arrangements.

·  Involve partners, as appropriate, in the design and operation of internal and external funding initiatives;

·  Produce regular, clear, consistent advice and information on internal and external funding opportunities.

(ii) Non-financial support:

·  Provide non-financial support as appropriate e.g. accommodation, staff support, training etc.

(iii) Training:

·  All partners are committed to the value of training and staff development. Within the partner agencies there are many resources dedicated to the provision of training and it is recognised that the benefit of these resources should be maximised. All partners will seek to design and commission joint training programmes (where possible and appropriate).

6.5  Equality:

The partners believe that everyone has a right to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect. Therefore they are committed to promoting equality of opportunity through their policies, procedures and practices. In particular the partners will:

·  Promote equality generally and specifically in relation to disability, gender, religion and race;

·  Promote equal status of the Welsh language.

6.6  Planning:

The partners agree to develop a framework for joint planning that will:

·  Promote effective partnership working that is both dynamic and delivers agreed outcomes.

·  Support the development of effective processes and structures to enable partners to engage at a strategic level in the planning and delivery of services;

·  Encourage best practice and a consistent approach to performance management, particularly where organisations receive statutory funding as service providers;

7. Implementation, monitoring and review

A further series of guidelines and protocols will be developed over time through an action plan that reflects the strategic aims contained in this Compact.

The operation and effectiveness of the Compact will be monitored and evaluated by the Partnership Liaison Group, and will be subject to regular reviews at least every two years.

Bibliography

‘Wrexham Compact’ – Partnership Agreement between Wrexham County Borough Council and the Voluntary Sector in Wrexham. 2000

‘A partnership for well being – working together for a healthy community’ Joint Compact agreement between Neath Port Talbot Council for Voluntary Services, Neath Port Talbot Local Health Board, Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council and Bro Morgannwg NHS Trust.

‘Compact’ The Compact between Bridgend County Borough Council, Local Health Group and Voluntary Sector.

‘COMPACT – A SHARED VISION’ Compact between the statutory health sector and the voluntary sector in North Wales. (Acted through the six Local Voluntary Councils in the North Wales Area)

‘A Future Together? A guide to local government and the voluntary and community sector working together in Wales.’ Joint Wales Local Government Association and Wales Council for Voluntary Action document. Published June 2003.

‘Voluntary Sector Scheme’ The National Assembly for Wales. Published September 2000.

‘Local Compact Guidelines – Getting local relationships right together’ Local Government Association. Published July 2000.

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Draft 4 – 21 April 2004

[G drive, PLG, Tri Partite Compact – 1 consultation draft]