Working together for better care
At Mersey Care, partnership working is central to how we improve care, reduce inequalities and deliver better outcomes for the people and communities we serve.
We believe that many of the challenges facing health and care services can only be addressed by working together across organisational boundaries, sharing expertise, resources and ideas to create more joined-up and sustainable services.
We work closely with NHS organisations, local authorities, voluntary, community, faith and social enterprise (VCFSE) organisations, universities, community groups and people with lived experience. By bringing together different perspectives and expertise, we can create services that are more responsive to local needs and focused on what matters most to the people who use them.
Our partnerships are built on a shared commitment to:
- Improving outcomes for patients, service users and carers
- Reducing health inequalities and unwarranted variation
- Delivering more joined-up, whole-person care
- Sharing learning, innovation and best practice
- Making the best use of public resources
- Involving people and communities in shaping services
- Creating sustainable services for the future
Successful partnerships are about more than organisations working together. They are about bringing together professionals, communities, carers and people with lived experience to design and improve services. By listening, learning and working collaboratively, we can create services that are safer, more effective and better connected to the needs of local people.
Together, we are building stronger partnerships, improving care and creating healthier communities across Cheshire and Merseyside.
Our partnerships
Mersey Care and Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Trust have a strong history of working together to improve care for local communities. Together, we already support a wide range of mental health, learning disability and neuro-developmental services, including perinatal mental health, secure and specialist services, rehabilitation, crisis care and support for people with complex needs.
Both Trust Boards have agreed to renew and strengthen this partnership, reflecting the benefits it is already bringing for staff, service users, patients and carers, and our shared ambition to deliver high-quality, joined-up care.
Recent joint work has shown the value of closer collaboration, including improving support for new mothers and families, strengthening urgent and emergency mental health care, and aligning pathways for children and young people.
Partnership update: building the foundations together
- We are continuing to make good progress in our partnership with Mersey Care, with key work now underway to help us work more closely together for the benefit of the communities we serve.
Partnership Executive Programme Board
- The first meeting of the Partnership Executive Programme Board in May marked an important step forward, with senior leaders agreeing how the partnership will work in practice and how progress will be overseen.
Working together and our Memorandum of Understanding
- Both Trust Boards have approved a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which sets out how we’ll work together as the partnership develops, while each organisation continues to operate with its own statutory responsibilities.
Workstreams
- Our workstreams are now mobilised and will be the primary engine of delivery and future system working, with an early focus on agreeing priorities, planning how success will be measured and making sure they connect to the wider partnership arrangements. Some of the areas we are focusing on include developing clear joint plans in the areas where working together will have the greatest impact.
Next steps
- July marks a further step towards system alignment with plans to present to NHS Cheshire and Merseyside colleagues, at the next ICB Board, on progress so far.
Alder Hey, Mersey Care and University Hospitals of Liverpool Group are working together to improve community health services across Liverpool, Sefton and Knowsley. Our aim is to create more joined‑up, preventative and efficient out‑of‑hospital care that better meets local needs.
The partnership is not designing neighbourhood health services – this remains the role of the Integrated Care Board (ICB). Instead, we are developing a strong, integrated community partnership to work alongside the ICB, local authorities and Place leaders.
Over the next 12 months, we will focus on practical improvements such as better data‑sharing, more consistent communication with patients and reducing duplication across services. Early priorities include aligning lung health services, standardising frailty pathways and making better use of research, innovation and shared corporate services.
Governance arrangements have been put in place to support this work, with commissioning data helping us move faster towards a clearer community health offer.