Strategic collaboration
What is strategic collaboration?
Strategic collaborations are arrangements where the commitment of the parties is underpinned by some form of governance (for example a memorandum of understanding or partnership agreement which may be wholly or largely non-legally binding) but that governance does not require the use of statutory powers (as is the case in committees) or contracts that are wholly legally binding (for example in contractual joint ventures).
There is a wide range of collaboration from informal to formal. For example, there are relatively 'informal' collaborative arrangements where the participating organisations have a memorandum of understanding without any shared decision-making, but nevertheless they are based on shared principles, and also established with clear strategic intent.
Strategic collaborations would include exploratory collaborations such as longer-term buddying-type arrangements, which seek to encourage learning and interactions between peers across two or more organisations to identify opportunities for fruitful joint working. Equally, two or more providers may look to establish longer term strategic programmes, such as bolstering diagnostic capacity, developing shared approaches to recruitment, or delivering on commitments as anchor organisations in their localities.
Decision-making may take place within existing structures and/or may have a more formalised structure for example an advisory group or group of individual decision-makers. Decision-making may also happen simply through an individual employee's delegated authority to make decisions and use resources. Any proposals that exceed an individual's delegated authority would be escalated through each organisation. There may be some personnel employed specifically (by any of the participating organisations) to support collaborative working and/or any programmes or projects that emerge from the exploration of opportunities.
Considerations
- Strategic collaborations are characterised by some formal governance arrangements and are harder to walk away from compared to informal collaborations. They will usually require organisations to give notice as set out in the governance document agreed between participating organisations (whatever form that may take).
- There are no restrictions on the types of organisations that can be involved, allowing NHS providers, local authorities, and independent and voluntary sector organisations to collaborate under these arrangements.
- They provide an opportunity to develop relationships between organisations. This can make them a useful option for providers at the start of their collaborative journey, providing a stepping stone to more formal collaborative arrangements.
- This type of collaboration can support delivery of joint strategic programmes between providers without the need for additional formal governance structures. Those involved in such collaboration should be clear about the limits of their delegated authority, and any paperwork underpinning a strategic collaboration should be clear and well-understood by participating organisations, with appropriate oversight through existing governance where necessary.
- A leadership group of some sort may be formed to oversee the work, which may be referred to as a partnership board, project board or programme board. The board may be advisory only or may allow decision-making by individual members of the board without the need for additional delegated authority, referring back up through their respective organisation if resources are required that exceed their limits of authority. Such decision-making must be by consensus.
- There may be documentation setting out the objectives and ways of working of the collaboration – such as terms of reference for an advisory group, or a project/programme work plan. Partners are free to set these up as they wish within the delegated authority of the individuals who are managing the activity. Alternatively, a memorandum of understanding might be used to set out the shared principles of collaboration and exploration encouraged between peers across the collaborating organisations.