This group will include a range of personnel who you consider to be appropriate and who will work collaboratively to ensure this new project is introduced successfully. The group will include as a minimum: professional staff, administrative and support staff and service users/carers.

LO1: Demonstrate that you know how the different health agencies work together, combining their skills for the benefit of the patient/service user and carers in your workplace.

LO2: Describe the stages of the risk management process and understand how these can be implemented in your workplace.

LO3: Discuss how important it is that people work together towards common goals and that each individual contributes productively to the team.

LO4: You will understand the impact of your own role and responsibilities on the effectiveness of collaborative activities within the work place.

LO5: You will be able to describe how healthcare personnel can impact on the effectiveness of collaborative activities.

LO6: Discuss the range of activities, including the use of an evidence based approach, involved in maintaining and improving care delivery and the impact on your workplace.

You need to contextualise this new service and the working group to your own area of practice and you therefore need to choose a scenario which is applicable to your workplace. Here are some examples which you may find helpful in giving you some ideas:

Example 1:

You work in a GP surgery and patient feedback has shown there is a need to introduce a new service eg: a teenager drop-in clinic, a support group for stroke patients and their carers, a smoking cessation support group, a parenting support group, Saturday or evening appointments.

Example 2:

There is a need to increase the capacity in the workload of your team, but with the same level of staffing. This increase in capacity can be achieved by reviewing the current method of processing referrals.

Example 3:

Your department or organisation has noticed an increase in the number of non attendances and needs to introduce a strategy for managing this eg: texting reminders to patients, telephone clinics as an alternative to attendance.

Example 4:

Your department has to extend the ‘normal’ working day in order to increase throughput to meet targets. As a result of budget cuts you are unable to recruit bank or agency staff and therefore need to look at a variety of ways of introducing new shift patterns.

Once you have chosen your scenario and agreed it with the module tutor, Learning Unit 2 will guide you through a series of activities which are designed to take you through the process for bringing your fictitious working party together, and furthermore, will help you to create element 1 of your portfolio and the appendix items. These activities are therefore an essential aspect of your study of the module and, if you engage in them fully, should help to create a positive learning experience for all students. Timescales and deadlines have been applied to each of the online activities; this is to help you with time management and also to help ensure that students work collaboratively by giving suggestions and feedback about each other’s fictitious working party. Please do not contribute postings to these online activities before the timescales identified because this might apply undue pressure to other students. The timescales and deadlines for all online activities have been included on the module timetable and in Learning Unit 2.

To complete element 1 you must address the following criteria:

1. Apply the scenario to a situation applicable to your work area. You must discuss and agree your ideas with the module tutor.
2. Explain how the improved service in your scenario will benefit service users.
3. Explain your rationale for choosing the members of your working group.
4. Demonstrate your understanding of the theoretical principles of collaborative practice and their application to the working group in your scenario.
5. Describe how you will ensure each member of the working party is able to make a positive contribution to the group.
6. Identify the risk factors relevant to your chosen scenario and explain how they will be managed or minimised.
7. Explain the impact of your role on the effectiveness of the working group.
8. Support your work with references.
9. Include the email/letter, poster and table you compose in Learning Unit 2 as appendix items.
10. Include the word count used for element 1.

For this element of the portfolio you will reflect upon the role of evidence based literature on your work environment. You will need to choose a specific protocol relevant to your area of practice for this element.

Examples might include local protocols or procedures which govern the following activities:

• Multi disciplinary team meetings eg: for cancer patient pathways
• Accident/incident reporting
• Customer care services
• Referral or appointment processes
• Issuing prescribed medicines to patients
• Reporting non-accidental injuries

To complete element 2 you must address the following criteria:

1. You must discuss and agree your ideas for your chosen protocol with the Module Leader.
2. Explain your rationale for your choice of protocol.
3. Explain what is meant by ‘evidence based practice’ within the context of your workplace.
4. Identify legislation/guidelines which directly relate to your chosen protocol.
5. Explain the reason(s) why this legislation/guidance needed to be in place.
6. Consider the impact of this protocol on service users.
7. Explain what is meant by ‘governance’ within the context of your workplace.
8. Describe the strategies used to monitor the effectiveness of your chosen protocol.
9. Use references to support your work.
10. Include the word count used for element 2.

Presentation of your assignment

The assignment MUST be presented as ONE PIECE of work and not as separate files/documents. The assignment must be word-processed with double line spacing. The font size should be 10 –12 pt. Ensure that your SID number, and your STU number, NOT your name, is the only identification on the submission. The SID number, STU number and module code should appear on every page of the assignment in a header/footer.

The word count you have used should be clearly typed at the end of EACH element.

A written assignment must not exceed the maximum word limit set for that assignment. When a written assignment is marked, the excessive use of words beyond the stated word limit is reflected in the academic judgement of the piece of work which results in a lower mark being awarded for the piece of work.

In determining the text to be included within the maximum word limit, the following items are excluded:

• Abstracts;
• Indented quotations (of not more than 50 words);
• Tables;
• Figures;
• Diagrams;
• Footnotes/endnotes used for reference purposes and kept within reasonable limits;
• List of references and/or bibliography;
• Appendices.

Ensure that you have respected confidentiality and anonymity and have not identified your place of work, any member of staff or service users.

Your completed portfolio assignment will take the following structure:

• A title page that states the title of the module, the module code and your SID number and STU number.
• A contents page with an effective indexing system. A logical order is essential since this will assist the reader in navigating your portfolio.
• Element 1; to demonstrate your achievement of learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
• Element 2; to demonstrate your achievement of learning outcomes 1 and 6.
• A reference list which includes resources that are current, comply with the Harvard style, and are consistently recorded according to University policies.
• Appendices which will include the email/letter, poster and table you composed for the online activities in Learning Unit 2). Other appendix items may be included if they help you to demonstrate your achievement of the learning outcomes.

Learning Resources

A number of resources are easily available to you to support your studies on this module, these include:

• A range of Study Skills resources
• Link to the University digital library
• Guidance on avoiding plagiarism and using the Harvard Referencing System
• The University Student Homepage provides links to extensive information about study at Anglia Ruskin University.