What are provider collaboratives?
NHS-Led Provider Collaboratives mark a new era for specialised mental health, building on the success of New Care Models for tertiary mental health services. NHS-Led Provider Collaboratives will deliver care closer to home, invest in community services and drive improvements in patient outcomes and experience.
NHS-Led Provider Collaboratives are a new way of planning and providing specialist mental health, learning disability and autism services.
The Provider Collaboratives aim to change the way services are provided with different organisations working closely together. This means that services will be provided closer to home and as much as possible out of hospital.
The Lead Provider, for Adults Eating Disorders Services in the North West and Young People and Families Tier 4 Services across Cheshire & Merseyside, Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, is working with other providers to make improvements to local specialist services for people and their families.
The Provider Collaborative is working with people who use these services as well as people who deliver these services to plan what needs to change in the future.
There are key principles which underpin the Provider Collaborative model:
- Experts by experience and clinicians leading improvements in care pathways
- Collaboration between Providers and across local systems
- Managing resources across the collaborative to make sure that money is spent on support for people at or close to home and help make sure that people don’t go into hospital when they don’t need to.
- Working with people and groups locally, including people from the voluntary and community sectors.
- Improvements in quality, patient experience and patient outcomes driving change
The ambition of NHS-Led Provider Collaboratives is to ensure that people with a mental health need who need care experience high quality, specialist care as close to home as appropriately possible and that care is connected to their community.
Provider Collaboratives are aiming to invest in specialist care in the community to help reduce hospital admissions, unless necessary, and to enable people to leave hospital when they are ready.
If you would like to know more about Provider Collaboratives please watch the short video below by NHS England:
Our Learning and Information Offer has been developed using informal feedback, evaluation data and evidence of best practice since the Provider Collaborative was established. We attend market place at our host organisation's monthly corporate induction and have listened carefully to feedback from new colleagues.
Our Learning and Information Offer is intended to support professional partners across Cheshire and Merseyside participate in collaboration and promote a sustainable, multi-agency system culture with us.
This offer is open to any individual or group with a professional interest in the Provider Collaborative and includes 3 features:
1) Online Provider Collaborative Resources
Prior to engaging with Transformation Events or arranging and Information Session with us, we recommend colleagues first consult our online resources.
These resources have been designed to support a range of learning styles across multiple organisations and professions engaged with our work. They include documents featuring detailed text, plus video material and news, reflecting our stakeholders and programmes of work. Colleagues consulting online resources have the opportunity to engage with:
2) Transformation Events
Our Transformation Events were established in 2023 for professionals engaged in work with the Provider Collaborative. The events are designed to provide opportunities to learn from colleagues' experience on collaboration, successes and barriers, to shape consistent development and continuing improvement.
Professionals attending Transformation Events may engage with:
- Updates on EmpowerED priorities
- A showcase of work lead by Experts by Experience
In 2024, we were delighted to host the first EmpowerED Conference, which focussed on fostering skills, relationships and knowledge across the area, to improve outcomes for people with eating disorders and complex emotional and relational needs. Information on the programme, speakers and presentations is also available for review.
3) Information Sessions on the Provider Collaborative for Individuals or Groups
Information sessions for indiviuals and groups may take place online or in-person.
They may be arranged as dedicated sessions for the sole purpose of sharing information concerning Provider Collaborative work, or as part of the agenda for a more general meeting, where participants share an interest in Provider Collaborative work.
Using feedback generated since 2023, Information Sessions provide opportunities to:
- Learn from examples of our collaborative experiences across Cheshire and Merseyside
- Develop an understanding as to the benefits of collaborative working
- Engage in discussion with colleagues, ask questions and reflect upon collaboration.
To discuss the possibility of arranging an Information Session, contact any member of our team.