The importance of being efficacious: English health and social care partnerships and service user outcomes

The need for health and social care agencies and their professionals to work in partnership is a central component of contemporary English health and social care policy. As in many other countries, partnership is predicated on the notion that this way of working improves services and outcomes for service users. However, as there is little evidence that partnerships improve service user outcomes some commentators suggest that this indicates either a failure of the policy or a deficit in terms of implementation. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the link between English health and social care partnerships and service user outcomes. Rather than adopting the types of rationalist and instrumental approach which the majority of studies in this field have done, the thesis develops a new conceptual framework for partnership which is interpretive and performative. Introduction