For effective provider collaboration, a shared purpose, and a clear vision on what will be achieved by working together is crucial.
NHSE's guidance on provider collaboratives set out a range of benefits of working together at scale, which include:
- reductions in unwarranted variation in outcomes,
- reductions in health inequalities, greater resilience across systems,
- better recruitment, retention, and development of staff,
- consolidation of low-volume or specialised services, and
- efficiencies and economies of scale.
These benefits have guided many provider collaboratives in setting their priorities and objectives.
However, it is also the case that priorities for provider collaboration have been identified through alignment with system plans and strategies. Joint Forward Plans, published in early 2023, set out "how ICBs and partner trusts intend to arrange and/or provide NHS services to meet their population's physical and mental health needs. This should include the delivery of universal NHS commitments, address ICSs four core purposes and meet legal requirements". Delivery objectives for provider collaboratives are included in many of these plans. Some of these objectives relate directly to system priorities, while others are a distinct set of priorities identified by trusts.
Potential partners may find they can deliver elements of their local corporate and clinical strategies more effectively through collaboration. Meanwhile, the purpose and shared objectives for many provider collaboratives are clear from the outset. For example, NHS-led provider collaboratives for specialised mental health, learning disability and autism services have been established to arrange specific specialised services, and play a key system role.
The section, Relationship with integrated care boards (ICBs) sets out the principle of engaging with system partners when agreeing priorities for the collaborative.