North Lanarkshire Health Project
What is it?
The North Lanarkshire Health Project is a partnership which promotes joint working in the field of health. A Health Development Officer is employed to work with voluntary and statutory service providers in North Lanarkshire, to help them to work jointly together. The aim of the project is to:
• Provide direct, practical support to organisations to promote joint working in the field of health
• Provide evidence of the value of the voluntary sector’s contribution to NHS policy and service delivery
Who are the partners?
The establishment of the partnership was driven by joint working between Voluntary Health Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council for Voluntary Services (CVS). It also involves representatives from NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Greater Glasgow and North Lanarkshire Council.
Partners are responsible for supporting the development and direction of the health project. Each of the partner representatives works at a local strategic level within North Lanarkshire.
How is it funded?
The project is funded by The Big Lottery Fund. Voluntary Health Scotland and North Lanarkshire CVS applied for this funding jointly. Once funding had been secured, voluntary and statutory organisations working in the field of health improvement were invited to join the partnership.
As part of the funding proposal VHS and NLVCVS had to develop a set of aims and objectives for the partnership, a task which was completed before other partners were involved.
Critical success factors
• Committed staff – the partners feel that the key to success has been the support of all partners involved. Feedback on the project has been consistently positive from both voluntary and statutory organisations.
• Long term approach - the early success of this partnership has resulted in the partners developing joint working in other areas. The partners have prepared a proposal for extending and developing the partnership to build on their achievements through further joint work.
