Collaboration between primary health and social care

The history of collaboration between primary health and social services is neither extensive nor particularly rosy. This chapter first of all describes this history and outlines the new policy imperatives facing primary health and social services. It will then draw on the findings of an ongoing study to examine how primary care groups and trusts (PCG/Ts) are tackling the new collaborative agenda with social services. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the likely impact and effectiveness of these new measures on the lives of frail, older service users. The focus of the chapter will be on collaboration between primary health and social services in England; following devolution, differences between the four countries of the UK are increasingly apparent, both in the organisation of health services and the implications for collaboration (Rummery 1998).