Partnerships in primary care: What we can learn from the experience of Scottish local health care co-operatives

Abstract

A number of countries are introducing partnerships in primary care that promote collaboration within the primary health care sector in order to provide seamless and high-quality care to patients, whilst containing costs. This paper reports on a nationwide survey of Scottish local health care co-operatives to illustrate how partnerships in primary care manage the process of organisational change and start tackling their core functions. During their first year of operation, local health care co-operatives have put an organisational structure in place to start developing primary care services in collaboration with other health care providers. Strong management has been fundamental to the success of local health care co-operatives in stimulating collaboration between health care providers and in developing services. However, a lack of time of general practitioners to participate in the activities of the co-operative, inadequate representation of stakeholders in management bodies, constraints on management budgets, and reluctance by general practitioners to embrace clinical governance may inhibit the further development of local health care co-operatives. Although local health care co-operatives have made considerable progress, they still need to demonstrate whether they are able to deliver tangible benefits to patients.