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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;
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
Specialist Organisations
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
……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
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?
I have said enough – hopefully I have given you enough ideas to develop the theme
UNITED WE STAND
DIVIDED WE FALL