This chapter focuses upon the research findings of the second phase of the study with front-line practitioners and service users. The interviews were based on the selection of four ‘tracer issues’ in four of the nine locations reported on in the previous chapter. Topics were chosen that were of high priority in those areas’ Local Area Agreements (LAAs), namely: obesity (site 2); alcohol misuse (site 1); teenage pregnancy (site 4); and smoking cessation (site 3). These public health issues have been identified in order to explore through interviews with front-line staff and focus groups of service users their perceptions of partnership working. Although the context for partnership working will be different in future, it is unlikely that the views expressed have lost their salience since, for the most part, they transcend particular structural configurations.

Methods

A total of 32 semi-structured interviews were conducted with practitioners in the four study areas, and four focus groups in three of the study areas were held in regard to three of the tracer issues: obesity, alcohol misuse and teenage pregnancy. For the most part, practitioners were front-line staff responsible for delivering service provision in the selected tracer issue areas, but there were also some middle managers included in the sample.

The aim of this phase of the study was to address a number of key questions in relation to public health partnerships, including:

• • What are the perceived benefits of partnership working?

• • What are the determinants of successful partnership working?

• • What are the perceived benefits of partnerships for service users?

• • What are the views of service users towards partnership working?

Benefits of partnership working

Our interviewees were unanimous in their view that there were many benefits to be gained from working in partnership. Chief among these was having a coordinated approach to the delivery of services, the benefits that networking with partner agencies can bring and agencies bringing different perspectives to working in partnership on complex, multifaceted issues. In addition, having shared agendas and resources and promoting shared expertise were also believed to be key benefits of working in partnership, which are evidenced throughout this phase of the study.

A coordinated approach

A major theme of the benefits of working in partnership was being able to act in a coordinated manner with other agencies.