The type of contractual documents used when collaborating, if any, will depend upon the form the collaborative arrangements take. Alongside any 'contractual or partnering' documents, and depending on the model chosen, this may include terms of reference (of any committees formed) and a business plan/operational plan. Any contract will 'wrap around' and refer to such documents that already exist. The order that these documents are entered into will also be different depending upon the chosen model.
At the early stages of collaboration, partners may enter into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will set out the high-level principles and objectives of the partners in working together. This is not normally intended to be a legally binding document (although it can be if parties agree it should be) and will simply set broad intentions, outline principles of joint working and describe the goals and aims of the collaborative and perhaps next steps and proposed timelines for further actions.
The partners may then wish to progress from this document to a fuller partnering agreement/collaboration agreement/joint-working agreement (there are any number of names used but all have a similar intention). This document will go into more detail about the operational and practical aspects of working together including the objectives of the partnership and agreed principles to work to. Key areas such an agreement may cover includes:
- objectives and partnership principles,
- duration and review process,
- governance and financial arrangements,
- personnel and equipment, and
- arrangements at the end of the agreement, amongst others.
It may be that not all of these are included in an initial draft depending upon the remit of the collaborative and what it will be doing initially. For example, many provider collaboratives do not agree joint financial arrangements from the outset (even if partners contribute a fee towards the running costs of the collaborative).
If a corporate vehicle has been established, then the contractual arrangements between the partners will be quite different and will be covered in documents such as a members agreement or articles of association. However, the corporate joint venture is not a model that is often used for this sort of joint working arrangement.
Contracts for the provision of health services to patients
In terms of who holds the commissioning contract for the provision of health services to patients – initially this is likely to still be each partner separately and they will still be ultimately responsible to the commissioner for performing that contract.
Alongside this, the provider collaborative may be looking at ways of changing some service pathways which may affect how they are commissioned.
Over time, and depending upon the collaborative and contracting arrangements, how the various services within scope are commissioned may change. A lead provider model (lead provider model contractual joint venture) may be used or contracts may be awarded to individual organisations who then have separate arrangements amongst themselves as to how those are performed between the partners.