Consensus about the term ‘partnership’ among managers and staff is vital to the successful delivery of high quality inter-agency services, suggests Mike Brady

Partnership, often wrongly used interchangeably with ‘collaboration’ and ‘inter-agency working’, features regularly in government publications, and is often high on health and social care managers’ agendas. With an increasing emphasis on partnership in politics, society and health care, managers need to understand the concept in relation to their practice, its challenges and the most effective ways of implementing it. This article discusses the multifaceted nature of partnership, explores the benefits and obstacles to achieving successful partnerships and looks at how these can be overcome.