Social services representation in Primary Care Groups and Trusts

Against a rapidly changing policy backdrop, health providers and social services departments in England are attempting to develop partnerships in order to effectively provide services. Relations between health and social care organisations have long been recognised as being problematic, in terms of historically poor relationships between GPs and social services departments and the non-coterminous natures of many organisational boundaries. The development of Primary Care Groups and Trusts has provided an opportunity to try to overcome some of these problems. This paper draws on a national survey of a sample of Primary Care Groups/Trusts and associated in-depth case studies to describe the roles of the social services representatives on Primary Care Group Boards/Trust Executive Committees and discusses the extent to which closer collaboration in the development of services is occurring and its potential for development in the future. It highlights the importance of greater organisational stability and the need for time to form effective partnership arrangements in the future.