Latest News and Events
VCF (Voluntary, Community & Faith Sector) REVIEW NEXT STEPS
Following on from the VCF Review Event in January. The round table discussions which took place on each of the recommendation have been considered and will be used to help inform the next steps. As part of this the proposal is that a Sheffield Compact Delivery Board will be set up to look at the key themes and develop an implementation plan over the next 6 months.
There will be further opportunities for being involved in developing the specific recommendations, including opportunities for VCS (Voluntary & Community Sector) representation on the Board, and we will make sure that you receive updates on progress over the next few months. Disucssions are also taking place about the possibility of a further consultation event in the Autumn.
We would welcome your comments and feedback on the proposed next steps and in particular the setting up of, and representation on , a Sheffield Compact Delivery Board. This can be done through contacting Sue Herrick s.herrick@vas.org.uk tel: 0114 2536643
Comments are needed by the end of April so that they can be fed into discussions at the next Interim Compact Delivery Board meeting on May 17th 2010.
NHS Trusts Relationship Survey
In Spring 2009 a survey was carried out to look at VCS organisations relationships with NHS Trusts. Following on from this a smaller survey has been carried out with individuals working within NHS Trusts to find out about how they view their relationships with VCS organisations.Although the NHS Trust survey provided a very small sample of experiences it found that relationships were effective when there are:
- Good personal relationships with workers from VCS organisationsRegular communicationShared values and aims aligned to health prioritiesInvolvement of the local communityHowever, relationships were seen to be less effective where:Organisations did not communicate There was a lack of understanding of the roles each sector playsWhere VCS organisations were reluctant to adapt to changing needs.Suggestions for ways the Health Compact could assist in improving relationships:Creating networking opportunitiesFacilitating better partnership workingNeutral brokerage between organisationsGaining shared understanding of each other
The results of both the surveys will assist in forming the Health Compact action plan for 2010/11
The VCF Review Event on Monday 11th January 2010 was an opportunity for organisations to come together to discuss the recommendations of the Voluntary, Community and Faith Sector Review and consider its implications.
Despite poor weather affecting numbers, the event attracted over 80 representatives from VCF sector organisations, alongside Councillors, and officers from SCC and NHS Sheffield.
Write up of the event will be available soon.
To download a copy of the VCF Review Key Findings which went to SCC Cabinet on 13th January 2010, please click below:
Nov 2009
******Date for Your Diary ******
Sheffield Joint Compacts VCF Review event, Monday 11th January 9.30-1.15pm at The Town Hall.
Launch of the VCF review report including an opportunity to look at the recommendations and consider the implications for the Voluntary and Community Sector. For more information contact: s.herrick@vas.org.uk tel:0114 2536643
To download a copy of the flyer and a booking form please click below:
- Lee Adams, Deputy Chief Executive, Sheffield City Council
- Penny Brooks Cordon, Director of Standards and Engagement, NHS Sheffield
- Suzy James, VCS Unit Co-ordinator, Worcestershire County Council sharing good practice about the 'shopping. giving & investing' model
The event will be an opportunity to hear about the main recommendations and to input your comments and views.
The main policy recommendations from the VCF Review report cover:
- The establishment of better long-term partnership arrangements
- The adoption of a 'Sheffield Model' to define funding relationships between the voluntary, community and faith sector and statutory sector in the future
- A commitment to the importance of a healthy mix of funding between commissioning and grant aid
- Setting up an investment process to support innovative VCS activities
- Endorsement of the need for strong and effective infrastructure support.
The VCF review report is going to cabinet on 13th January 2010. Copies of the report and recommendations will be available from w/b 6th January.
Autumn Health Compact Newsletter
To download a copy of the Autumn Newsletter click below
Health Compact Autumn 2009 Newsletter
Report from NICE Event
To download a copy of the event report click below
Promoting Good Practice To Improve the Health and Wellbeing of Communities in Sheffieldlook at working together to put NICE (National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence) guidance into practice in Sheffield.
20th November 2009, 9.30am to 1.30pm at The Circle, VAS
Have you ever wondered…
- What the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence does?
- How is it implemented locally?
- What relevance NICE guidance has to my organisation?
- What opportunities and benefits are there for my organisation in getting involved?
- How can my organisation meet the NICE requirements in my NHS contract?
- How can my organisation get involved in implementing NICE guidance?
What relevance does NICE have for VCS Organisations?
- NICE guidelines will directly affect individuals that VCS organisations work with,
- By getting involved you can influence outcomes
- Organisations, with a NHS contract, have a requirement to be compliant with NICE guidance
- VCS organisations have a wealth of good practice, which will support implementation of NICE guidance
For information and to download a booking form click below:
NICE event 20th Novemember 2009
Please return the attached booking form via email to s.herrick@vas.org.uk or post to Sue Herrick, Sheffield Health Compact, Voluntary Action Sheffield, 33 Rockingham Lane, Sheffield, S1 4FW before 5pm on Friday 13th November.
Please note that bookings are limited to one person per organisation. For further information please contact Sue Herrick on 0114 2536643
August 2009
Refresh of the National Compact
Since the Compact was lauched in 1998, the size, scope and dynamics of the third sector have evolved rapidly. The national compact has launched a consultation 'Refreshing the Compact: A framework for partnership working. ' The aim of the refresh is to bring the National Compact documents up to date while preserving the sound and enduring principles on which the Comapct was founded.
For more information and to download a copy of the consultation document go to:
Sheffield LA and Health Compacts are planning to submit a joint response to the consultation. If you would like to input any comments into this response please emails.herrick@vas.org.uk by 25th September.
July 2009
Summer 2009 newsletter
To download a copy of the summer newsletter please click below
Health Compact Summer 2009 Newsletter
June 2009
Extended Contracts to help Voluntary Sector
NHS Sheffield is doing more to support the Voluntary, Community and Faith (VCF) sectors in the current economic climate by awarding contracts that last for three years rather than current contracts that last for one year. The change in contracts will happen immediately and contracts that have already been signed will be extended. The change was brought about thanks to the Sheffield Health Compact, an agreement between the VCF and the 4 NHS Trusts in Sheffield that aims to build a strong and effective partnership between the sectors.
Emily Morton Health Compact Coordinator said: “The Health Compact was instrumental in helping change the contracts. The partnership working allows NHS Sheffield to see how sustainable funding will lead to improved services for Sheffield communities.”
Gary McCulloch Health Improvement Principal at NHS Sheffield said: “I am delighted that we have formally changed the terms of the contracts to now offer VCF providers three year terms. “These providers are fundamental to the social, health, environmental, economic well-being and regeneration of Sheffield and its people. “Extending the contracts to 3 years provides the organisations with greater stability, which will allow them to plan for future growth and development. It also means fewer resources are wasted on funding applications, allowing them to focus more on service delivery.”
May 2009
The contract workshop was well attended and provided an opportunity to reflect on the contracting process, and to take forward learning points for the future.
The main purpose was to discuss an annual more in-depth monitoring pro-forma to be completed in the September of each year, in addition to the quarterly monitoring requirements. This new pro-forma aims to give a broader picture of how individual contracts feed into the wider health and wellbeing outcomes (especially achieving balanced health) and will also be used to assist in the NHS commissioning process, which starts in the autumn.
Please click on the link below to download a copy of the report
NHS Contract Workshop May 2009
March 2009
Contract Workshop 6th May 2009
A workshop is being held on the 6th May in partnership with NHS Sheffied for all VCS Organisations who hold a contract with NHS Sheffield.
With the introduction of the new NHS Contract there are also new monitoring & evaluation requirements which are closely linked to the contract performance indicators. It is essential that all VCS organisations with a NHS Contract are aware of these requirements and how they fit within the commissioning process. The workshop will also be an opportunity to reflect on the contracting process and to learn more about future commissioning.
Mapping Workshop 30th April 2009
The VCS Survey provided a good overview of relationships between VCS Organisations and NHS Trusts. Following on from this it was felt that by mapping relationships between a number of VCS organisations and NHS Trusts for a year it would help to gain a greater understanding of how the sectors interact, to identify in more detail specific areas that need improvement. It is also hoped that this will enable us to idenitfy areas of good practice so that organisations can learn from one another.
For more information on either of the above and to book a place contact:
Sue Herrick s.herrick@vas.org.uk tel: 0114 2536643
Contract workshop May 2009 Mapping Workshop April 2009
February 2009
Action Plan 2009/10
Following on from a productive action planning workshop the steering group have developed an action plan for health compact work for the coming year 2009/10
A copy of the action plan can be downloaded by clicking on the link below:
Sheffield Health Compact Action Plan 2009/10
VCS Survey
Thank you to all the organisations who took part in the VCS survey. The survey findings are based on 118 completed surveys achieved over a 10 day period. This equates to a 25% return rate.
Headline findings are summarised below:
- 60% of respondents were aware of the Sheffield Health Compact
- The most common relationship with the four NHS Trusts locally (namely the Primary Care Trust (PCT), Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust. Sheffield Children's Trust, Sheffield Health and Social Care Trust) was with the PCT (84% of respondents)
- Joint-working was the most common type of arrangement organisations had with each of the NHS Trusts
- Regular communications, being accessible and having mutual respect were cited to be the key to effective relationships with the NHS Trusts
The most effective ways in which the Health Compact could support the voluntary sector were said to be through the provision of more information about the NHS locally and ways in which VCS could work with it; and also more provision of information about funding.
This work served two purposes: it was a mechanism of obtaining valuable research to inform the work of Sheffield Health Compact but the process itself also raised awareness of the NHS locally and the Health Compact. 73% of respondents said they were interested in discussing these issues further. This is a positive platform for the Health Compact and local NHS to build future work.
To download a copy of the VCS survey results please click on the link below:
January 2009
A telephone survey of VCS organisations looking at their relationship with the 4 NHS Trusts has been commissioned from The Campaign Company.
The survey has been commissioned to ensure that work priorised by the Health Compact steering group has practical application. If common issues and themes come up then we will look to hold a workshop in order to look at practical ways to tackle the issue.
A survey asking similar questions will also be carried out with the NHS Trusts looking at their relationship with VCS organisations.
December 2008
The outcome from the consultation workshop on the future of Sheffield Health and Local Authority Compacts was that:
The Compacts should work more closely together with a view to moving towards a joint Compact in the longer term but retaining specific focuses on Health and LA.
Next Steps:
- Joint chairs meeting to discuss way forward
- Both compacts to improve their communciation with all sectors, especially at grass roots
- Compacts to identify ways that service delivery can be impacted
- Communication to the wider sectors about developments, impact, measuring success and ways of getting involved
- Working group made up of representatives from both steering groups, and others from both the VCS and statutory sectors to progress closer working possibly through identifying a specific piece of joint work
To download a copy of the consultation workshop, and report please click below:
Consultation Workshop Report Nov 2008
November 2008
An administrator has been recruited for the Health Compact until March 2009. Sue Herrick will be working 1 day a week on the Health Compact and will also be carrying out administration for the LA Compact and NHS Sheffield Advisory Forum. She can be contacted at VAS: healthcompact@vas.org.uk or phone 0114 2536643
September 2008
Where do we go from here?
Consultation Workshop on the future of Sheffield Health & Local Authority Compacts
Thursday 6th Nov at Grosvenor Hotel, Sheffield 9.15am - 12.15.
An opportunity to input into how to ensure Sheffield health and local authority compacts continue to be effective in encourging partnership working between the VCS, and NHS and Local Authority. We will be looking at whether merging the two compacts or just closer working would help to acheive this.
For more information and to book a place download the flyer below:
For more information email healthcompact@vas.org.uk or telephone Emily Morton 0114 2536643.
June 2008
A co-ordinator for the Sheffield Health Compact, has been funded by NHS Sheffield to oversee the work of the compact for the coming year. Emily Morton will be based at Voluntary Action Sheffield (VAS). Amongst over things she will be ensuring that the work carried out on a common monitoring and evaluation proforma, and recommendations in the Full Cost Recovery Report, are both taken forward. In the autumn a consultation will be undertaken, in partnership with the Sheffield Local Authority Compact , looking at how the 2 Compacts can work more closely together and whether or not it is appropriate for them to merge.
Emily can be contacted at VAS healthcompact@vas.org.uk or telephone 0114 2536643
June 2008
The report of the annual event is now available. Please email healthcompact@vas.org.uk for a copy or click below to download:
health compact event report 2008
May 2007
The Report on the Annual Compact conference held on 29th March, is now available. It can be viewed on the VAS website at www.vas.org.uk
February 2007
Website design and development.
31st January 2007
Domain www.sheffieldnhscompact.co.uk registered.
Oct 2009