Two consultations which will help determine the future of the involvement of the voluntary sector in health and social care have been published today.
They follow a review by an advisory group of health and social care and voluntary sector representatives, known as the VCSE Review. A report by the group last year concluded that “current approaches to partnership, funding and commissioning are unlikely to lead to the desired improvements in health and wellbeing outcomes”.
The review, which was commissioned by the Department of Health, NHS England and Public Health England in November 2014, was overseen by a group of representatives from both these organisations and from the voluntary sector. It has also been project managed by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations.
Alex Fox, chair of the VCSE Review and chief executive of charity Shared Lives Plus, said: “This is a unique opportunity to inform thinking about how scarce resources are used to invest in the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector’s vital work in health and care. In one version of the future, it gets increasingly difficult for the hard-pressed statutory sector to fund voluntary sector services, and it retreats to core work, becoming more reactive and less able to aim long term.
“In another future, while there is no more money to go round, everyone involved in health and care works together to plan how to spend it. We recognise that communities can’t be engaged, nor volunteers recruited, for free. But money and the kit, buildings and staff it buys are only one of the resources we need to draw on. Equally important is the contribution of carers, families and communities.”
The first consultation, available here, asks for views from the voluntary sector and from those working in health and social care on the “current state of investment, partnership working, and how closer collaboration could be fostered”.
The second, available here, asks for views on the role and effectiveness of the government’s current ‘voluntary sector investment partnership suite of grants”.
It will look at the Voluntary Sector Investment programme, launched in April 2009, which seeks to enable the voluntary sector to work in equal partnership with public sector health bodies to help shape and deliver policies and programmes to improve health and wellbeing outcomes. Approximately £22m is available for the whole programme annually.
Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: "I think it is essential that NHS England is working with the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector in co-producing the future of our NHS. We are working closely with voluntary organisations in the future direction for cancer, mental health, learning disability and other services.
"The work of voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations is often not highly visible but makes a huge impact on the lives of millions, often reaching people that do not typically access NHS services and experience the greatest health inequalities."
The consultations, which went live at midday today, are open until Friday 6 November. More information on the VCSE Review can be found here.
