Many of the 35 pathfinder children's trusts are failing to implement the joint commissioning of services, according to a new study (Children Now, 2-8 March 2005). And clear challenges for practitioners and policy makers have emerged.
One problem is the different interpretations of key words. For example, researchers found "commissioning activity" was understood to mean both management of the market and strategic planning, as well as the purchase of services.
Different geographical boundaries between local authorities and primary care trusts were found to be a barrier to integration, with researchers calling for more policy guidance to help children's trusts with this issue.
And effective partnership between children's trusts and the voluntary sector was partly dependent on an awareness of resource constraints. For example, a lack of time to attend meetings was identified as one barrier.
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