Elsewhere in the public sector Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council and PCT…

…recognised the increasing overlap in areas of public health and social care, and developed a series of joint teams. The need for closer integration became clear when the PCT was created in 2002, and once established, its workforce began combining with the council's social services teams.

Within two years, the partnership was strengthened and a Section 31 agreement signed, allowing the council and the PCT to pool budgets, establish integrated teams and merge functions such as HR.

There are now over 20 integrated teams, including the Executive Leadership Team, a community older people's team and an intermediate care team.  However, the two bodies remain separate statutory organisations, and contracts for most staff are held by one or the other.

There is an HR protocol setting out how managers should be handling staff from different organisations, including secondments between organisations.  Knowsley has taken a flexible approach to recruitment, advertising for posts without insisting on which organisation an individual has to work for.

To find out more go to: http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=6462772