Health and care commissioning and the VCSE sector

Research evaluating the vital relationship between health and care commissioners and VCSEs, and how they can collaborate better.

About the research

Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs) contribute substantially to the English health and care system. To tackle health and care priorities, including addressing inequalities, the importance of commissioners and VCSEs working together is clear. This research explores VCSE sector and health and care commissioning relationships, practices and experiences to better understand the realities of commissioning and where improvements could be made.

The study is based on extensive research, including analysis of Clinical Commissioning Group spend on VCSE organisations, and over 160 interviews with VCSEs and commissioners in six localities across England, focusing on end of life care, learning disability services and social prescribing.

Insights from the research

The research provides a wealth of insights on VCSE and health and care commissioning. Specific aspects of the study are the focus of a series of research briefings. Our first four are now available, with more to follow in the future.

Research briefing no. 1 - Towards collaboration: VCSE and health and care commissioning relationships
This briefing explores collaboration in commissioning, what this looks like and the factors that enable this way of working. The research found that there are layers of enablers which are important for collaboration including: leadership, shared agendas, organisational knowledge, skills and capabilities, investment and resources, proportionate rules and shared spaces and structures.

Research briefing no. 2 - Creating capacity: Developing and sharing knowledge between VCSEs and health and care commissioners
This briefing looks at how commissioners and VCSEs develop, use, and share knowledge and how this might help transform the way they work together to meet local population needs

Research briefing no. 3 - Realising power: How VCSE organisations can influence health and care commissioning
Written for VCSEs, this briefing looks at how VCSEs, and the type of relationships that exist between them, can affect commissioning. Local networking spaces and VCSE infrastructure are identified as important to realising the power of the sector.

Research briefing no. 4 - Making space: The role of commissioner autonomy and decision-space in enabling collaboration in VCSE and health and care commissioning relationships
Written for commissioners, this briefing looks specifically at the autonomy and decision space of commissioners and how the availability and use of this space affects VCSE-commissioner collaboration.

Further information

These briefings are based on research undertaken by Rod Sheaff, Angela Ellis Paine, Mark Exworthy, Alex Gibson, Joanna Stuart, Véronique Jochum, Pauline Allen, Jonathan Clark, Russell Mannion, Sheena Asthana, Rebecca Hardwick and Chris Smith. This research was funded by the NIHR Health Services Delivery Research programme (grant NIHR 128107).

Further reports, briefings and articles from the study will be published over the coming months.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily those of the Health Services and Delivery Research Programme, NIHR, NHS or the UK Department of Health.

October 2023 conference: Creating Collaborations

Sharing learning from research, policy, and practice to strengthen VCSE and health and care Commissioning

The above research evaluating the vital relationship between health and care commissioners and the VCSE sector, formed the basis of an October 2023 conference hosted at Bayes Business School.