GEN124 Lead the development of inter-agency services for addressing health and wellbeing needs

Overview

This standard covers supporting and leading the development teams of people involved in delivering inter-agency services. It covers planning, negotiation and agreeing work plans with both service users and providers. This standard applies to those who are responsible for developing inter-agency services for addressing health and wellbeing needs. It assumes that the person has management responsibility for the inter-agency services. Users of this standard will need to ensure that practice reflects up to date information and policies. Version No 1

Knowledge and Understanding

You will need to know and understand:

1. the nature, roles and functions of the principal agencies within the health sector
2. the nature, aims, objectives, values, policies and systems of your own agency and how these differ from other agencies with whom you work
3. how your own work and work role interacts with others in related agencies
4. the contribution that your own and other agencies can and do make to promoting health and wellbeing
5. how to develop and sustain effective working relationships with people
6. how to communicate effectively with staff in other agencies to promote understanding, goodwill and co-operation
7. the benefits and costs of multi-agency working
8. how teams and collaborative working evolve over time and the impact of this on relationships and effective working
9. how to evaluate the effectiveness of inter-agency working openly and honestly
10. how to end collaborative working relationships once their purpose has been served
11. the legislation, standards, codes of practice and protocols which relate to the work being undertaken and the context in which it takes place
12. strategies to use in negotiating agreements regarding resources and work allocation for inter-agency services
13. methods of communicating with, motivating and supporting those involved to meet service requirements
14. the purpose of providing information on the inter-relationships between different agencies and roles in inter-agency work
15. ways in which you and others can provide support, development opportunities and information on the work required to staff
16. the range and use of standards, protocols and guidelines that can be used to both support people as they work and also control the activities which they undertake
17. why it is important to give and receive constructive feedback to improve future performance
18. how monitoring and evaluation should be built into the planning of services to enable sufficient and relevant information to be collected
19. the value of different perspectives in evaluation and how they can be encouraged
20. methods of analysing information and feedback to identify quality issues and potential solutions
21. principles of quality assurance, quality assurance strategies and systems and how to adapt and apply them
22. how to present conclusions and recommendations to people so that they are likely to be influenced and change their practice
23. how to influence people beyond your direct line of responsibility

Performance Criteria

You must be able to do the following:

1. identify the benefits which collaborative working will bring to:
1. the health and wellbeing of the population concerned
2. the agencies and individuals involved
3. the quality, quantity and effectiveness of services provided
2. work with relevant people to identify and agree:
1. the target group for the inter-agency services
2. the needs, context and culture of the target group
3. the focus and purpose of inter-agency services
4. clear aims and objectives for the services
5. relevant targets and performance indicators
6. the role and responsibilities of the different people and agencies involved in delivering the services
7. the evidence base for the work
8. the skills and skill mix needed to effectively deliver the services
9. recording and information systems and requirements, including confidentiality issues
10. the effective allocation of human, financial and capital resources
3. ensure that agreements on inter-agency services meet statutory requirements and achieve the best balance between the needs, values and interests of service users and agencies involved, and the resources available
4. revise agreements, following discussion and agreement with relevant people, when there are significant changes in circumstances
5. reach agreement with relevant people about the strength and nature of direction needed
6. produce clear and succinct information to direct or guide actions and review and update the information in discussion with relevant people
7. provide those involved with clear and focussed briefings on:
1. agencies' and individuals' roles and responsibilities and their relationship to others
2. the expectations for the services as a whole and their contribution to targets and performance indicators

Additional Information

This National Occupational Standard was developed by Skills for Health. This standard replaced MH84. This standard links with the following dimension within the NHS Knowledge and Skills Framework (October 2004): Dimension: G5 Services and project management