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When Drena O’Malley asked me some months
ago to speak on the subject of Working in Partnership with other organisations
I asked if she really meant me. I had only joined RNID Scotland at the end of
the year 2000 and explained that I would hardly hold myself out to be an expert
in the subject. However, she persevered and thought that it might be a good
idea to have a relative newcomer to speak on the subject and perhaps introduce
a new angle to the matter. So here goes!!
When I joined RNID Scotland I got a copy of the
Directory of Services for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people – I could hardly
believe my eyes – it was over 500 pages long – and listed contacts
and service providers from John o’ Groats to Lands End. Coming from a
background of value for money, Best Value and Performance Indicators I thought
that there must be a great deal of duplication and overlap – The very
thing civil servants take delight in eliminating!!!!!!!
Different Organisations – Different
Roles
However the more I studied this encyclopaedia
the more I began to realise that, although there are many different people and
organisations working for deaf people, each has a different role, each
specialising in a particular area and each serving different people with
different deaf and hard of hearing problems – Let me give you a flavour of
the issues:
Who are these Organisations?
I would split them into four categories;
- National
- Large Regional
- Specialist
- Local
It began to dawn on me that although there were
many organisations dealing with deaf issues, each has its own important role to
play and no best value or value for money ethos should be brought to bear on
this matter. So the civil servant’s dream went out the window!!
National Organisations include;
BDA
NDCS
RNID
Deafblind UK and Deafblind Scotland
SENSE
Large Regional Organisations
- Deaf Connections
- Edinburgh and East of Scotland DS
- Aberdeen and North East DS
- Tayside Association for the Deaf
Specialist Organisations
- Guide Dogs for the Blind
- British Tinnitus Association
- Hearing Concern
- Hearing Dogs for Deaf People
- Sense Usher Services
Local Deaf Associations/Clubs/Schools
Scottish Council on Deafness
Many of the above organisations are members of
SCOD
THE CROSS PARTY GROUP ON DEAFNESS
represents the views of a wide cross section of deaf people.
ONE VOICE – ONE ORCHESTRA
Now a lot has been said about misunderstandings
and conflict arising between various organisations working for deaf people. I
think that the first step to a better understanding is better communication and
an understanding of possible conflicts of interest.
UNITED WE STAND – DIVIDED WE FALL
Scottish Parliament/Executive/Local
Authorities/Health Boards and Trusts all need:
Facts
Figures
Funding and
Evidence
The two things which politicians and civil
servants love are facts and figures
- best value statistics
- performance indicators
- year on year comparisons
- proven improvements
- allocations per department
……and I used to love asking for them!!
Without hard facts and evidence it is
difficult to win your case – yet such information can be difficult to
obtain and is sometimes inaccurate.
Local Authorities
- More demands on services
- Less resources
The reorganisation of local government in 1995
abolished Regional Councils and introduced unitary authorities.
More and more councils are providing only a
token service.
Local authorities need to consider the education
of deaf and blind children, social and leisure needs, the provision of
interpreters (there are only 37 fully qualified interpreters and 14 trainee
interpreters in the whole of Scotland!!) Yet the resources allocated to such
needs are totally inadequate.
Health Boards
The story is similar with Boards and Trusts
– too many demands and too little by way of resources.
EXAMPLES OF JOINT WORKING
However all is not doom and gloom – There
are many examples of partnership working in action.
Best Practice Standards
Healthy Living Centre
Audiology
Benefits
Employment and Learning Skills Service
Counselling and Support Services
Other areas where joint working is taking place
include:
Education
Mental health
Subtitling
THE COMMUNITY CARE PLAN
The Community Care Plan is prepared in the first
instance by local authorities who have led responsibility for preparation of
the plan. Input is sought from Health Boards and the Voluntary Sector, users
and carers. Accordingly this is a KEY document yet only 13 out of 32 local
authorities have a section on deafblindness.
THE KEY PLAYERS
What I am asking you, Central Government, Local
Government, Health Boards and Trusts to consider is the individual….
THE BIG PICTURE
It takes a lot of effort to co-ordinate the many
parties but we must try to see the big picture if we are going to have any
impact on society. The message is clear – voluntary organisations must
work in partnership with local authorities and the NHS if we are going to
achieve any real progress and obtain additional funding from central
government. Local authorities and health boards must consult Voluntary
Organisations more and listen to their needs if they are going to have any
impact on improved services. The message is clear – we must be able to
trust one another and share information.
HOW DO WE DO THIS?
- Through COSLA?
- Through economies of scale?
- Through a more focussed approach?
- By defining the constraints?
- Identifying the objectives and strengths?
- Following up the opportunities?
- Working together?
- Raising our profile?
- Improving our fundraising capabilities?
I have said enough – hopefully I have given
you enough ideas to develop the theme
UNITED WE STAND
DIVIDED WE FALL |
