Patient care can be improved by involving frontline staff is the conclusion of a Task Force set up last year to find out how staff can work with local managers to improve services. The key findings are that staff should have more control over decisions, there should be greater investment in training, managers and staff should be helped to learn from each other, and staff should be asked for their opinions. Health Secretary Frank Dobson has given a commitment that the recommendations will be put into effect.

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The levers of pay are being pulled sharply across the health and education sectors to speed the modernisation programme. Public sector organisations make much less use of reward systems to further corporate objectives than companies in the private sector, but that is changing. New pay systems will give nurses the opportunity to increase their pay by 42.8% and teachers by 42.5%. Top pay for both professions will be about 40,000 pounds.

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Essex T
The International Journal of Public Sector Management, (UK), Vol 11 No 7. Start page: 622. No of pages: 28

Explores dependencies existing between voluntary service providers and UK local government statutory bodies, e.g. Social Services, regarding informal partnership and the more formal purchaser/vendor relationship. Uses documentary research, firstly to explore the history and development of joint statutory/voluntary relationships from the last century to the situation today. Finds no evidence of lessons being learned. Then looks at joint planning for community care, noting progress and problems. Turns to contracting policy and its impact, noting voluntary sector complaints regarding consequential processes, e.g. contract negotiation. Sets that against an increasing level of engagement via contracts. Considers also dependency and inter-dependency views. Researches three London local governments to explore linkage between joint planning and contracting, and perceptions regarding dependency and inter-dependency. Presents interview results summarised as a matrix, with quotes from respondents to illustrate points. Discusses the differences found between the three sites. Thinks two factors influence the voluntary sector players’ perceptions of dependency and inter-dependency: a strong voluntary sector infrastructure and strong inter-agency joint planning. Intends to explore this further through work with other local governments.

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