An Organisational Development Project to Enhance Interagency Working between the Health Service Executive and Voluntary Agencies

Worldwide there is an increasing incidence and prevalence of disability. To provide a wide range of supports to people with disability, the Health Service Executive (HSE) works in partnership with voluntary agencies to provide specialist health and social care services. The integration of this sector has led to an emphasis on joint working of an array of professionals across organisational boundaries as teams and through teamwork. In reality while the need for joint working is an important component of policy, it is something that is not delivered effectively in practice. This organisational development project aims to enhance interagency working by promoting a culture of collaboration and co-ordination of services so that effective support is provided to service users. For the first time a network analysis was introduced into the department using the HSE Change Model. A participatory approach was utilised to monitor and evaluate the project. Outcomes achieved during the project included targeted communication strategies across HSE and voluntary agencies and the identification of critical success factors for interagency working. Finally, to share the organisational learning, the project has identified and recommended further changes which can be considered across wider services with the shared vision of achieving integrated care.