Self-assessment for NHS boards, councils and other partners to improve joint working between health and social care
The last column in the checklist can be used to record sources of evidence, supplementary comments to support your assessment or to highlight areas of interest.

	Assessment of current position	1.	Comments	
	No – action needed	No – but action in hand	Yes – in place but needs improving	Yes – in place and working well	Not applicable		
Governance	
We have carried out a fundamental review of the various partnership arrangements for health and social care in our local area to ensure these are efficient and effective and add value. 							
We have delivered a programme of education to ensure leaders and staff understand the differences between partners’ governance arrangements, including decision-making processes.							
Health and social care planning is integrated within the Community Planning process and CHPs are linked to this framework.							
We have agreed a clear joint vision, priorities and strategy for health and social care services which focuses on outcomes for service users, based on an analysis of need.							
We have a clear strategy to involve GPs and other health and social care professionals in planning services for the local population, in decisions about how resources are used and work with them to address variation in GP referral and prescribing rates.							
We have developed sustainable strategies to address delayed discharges and emergency admissions within the local area and regularly monitor our performance.							
We have clearly defined objectives for measuring CHP performance, agree what success looks like and implement a system to report performance to stakeholders. Measures used:
•	reflect the priorities in the national guidance
•	enable partners to demonstrate that their actions produce the intended outcomes.							
We have up-to-date schemes of establishment for CHPs. As a minimum this:
•	clearly covers the requirements set out in the statutory guidance for CHPs
•	is consistent with our corporate governance documents such as standing orders and schemes of delegation, as well as any partnership agreements.							
We have partnership agreements for all integrated or delegated services, including those delegated to the CHP. Agreements cover our respective roles and responsibilities, decision-making and accountability processes. This is underpinned by a comprehensive joint financial framework.							
We have a joint financial framework to ensure budgets are devolved or delegated and managed in a transparent and structured way. The joint financial framework is consistent with the CHP’s scheme of establishment, partnership agreements and each partner’s scheme of delegation.							
Accurate and up-to-date schemes of delegation are in place. These include details of specific services and budgets which are delegated to each other to manage, including via the CHP. Financial authorisation levels of individuals or groups are clear.							
We systematically collect, monitor and report data on costs, staff and activity levels to help inform decisions on how resources can be used effectively. This should include information on staffing numbers, sickness levels and vacancies.							
We ensure partnership financial reports are regularly considered by the CHP, NHS board and appropriate council committees. This should include any information on overspends.							
We acknowledge and have a joint system for identifying and managing risks associated with partnership working.							
We have clear policies and procedures which are consistently applied for appointing and managing joint staff. Policies cover arrangements for dealing with differences in employment terms and conditions for staff working in integrated teams. Managerial and professional lines of accountability are clear for all staff.							
We have identified and addressed local barriers to sharing information between health and social care staff. This includes:
•	ensuring that information sharing protocols developed by Data Sharing Partnerships address any specific local issues
•	adoption of eCare electronic system or ensuring compatibility issues are identified and addressed where eCare is unsuitable
•	ensuring that Single Shared Assessment forms accurately capture information required to assess and manage risks of those requiring care. 							
Use of resources	
We have processes in place for identifying, allocating and monitoring resources used to administer joint working.							
We have reviewed the scope for and have a plan for achieving efficiencies through sharing assets including staff, buildings, equipment and IT.							
We are using the Integrated Resource Framework to help plan how resources are used in the local area.							
We always carry out an options appraisal, including an assessment of the costs and benefits before implementing service changes or initiating pilot projects. This includes an assessment of workforce, finance and other resource implications. Decisions on service delivery changes secure value for money.