Greater Manchester Health Partnership Commissioning Possible: Greater Manchester VCS Organisations’ experiences in Public Sector Commissioning John Hannen, GMCVO 18 th June 2009

Key lessons It’s not what you know it’s who you know There needs to be more VCS involvement in specification development Contract management processes can be used to build organisations, relationships and service profiles Nobody’s perfect

Background Health Partnership set up to improve commissioning arrangements Two pieces of research –What is it? - Mapping –Why isn’t it working? –How can we make it work better? – Commissioning: Possible

Commissioning: Possible Twenty organisations One-to-one interviews Experiences in commissioning November 2008 Report GMCVO website

Findings Willingness to engage from both sides Low market awareness Often no support framework for engagement Personal relationships dominate

Findings VCS capacity to negotiate is limited Contract management meetings provide a place to share learning Contract management systems can drive growth Highlights good practice but no one shining example No GM consensus from commissioners & little flexibility

Contact Details Neil Walbran (Health Partnership Officer) To order a copy of the report contact; Beth Sharratt (Representation Team Admin Officer)