Pathway’s partnership approach aims to increase the number of Pathway hospital teams nationally by making it as easy as possible for local NHS service providers to adopt the model. It does this by offering a defined, not-for-profit method for setting up and managing a Pathway Partnership team, and provides ongoing support to NHS organisations seeking to do so.

The Pathway Partnership model also ensures Pathway’s growing body of knowledge and expertise can be made available across the NHS, meaning understanding and best practice is shared widely across teams and professionals. Each team includes professionals drawn from specialist GPs, nurses, allied health professionals, housing experts and in some hospitals, Pathway Care Navigators: people who were once homeless who we train to support homeless patients. 

Pathway has extensive experience supporting hospitals to run the Pathway team model successfully. There are currently 9 Pathway teams in the UK, supporting over 3,500 patients every year. The first of these has been running since 2010. 

The benefits of becoming a Pathway Partner: 

• Proven service model: Pathway’s model is a tried and tested intervention, with peer reviewed studies supporting its effectiveness. The comprehensive support Pathway offers partners ensures fidelity to this model. 
• Team and service stability: Ongoing support from Pathway builds in long term stability, and protects teams from the impact of staff turnover. Support with recruitment, induction and training protects teams from losing the expertise of key staff. 
• Quality improvement and monitoring: Our support around data management, reporting outcomes and peer-led quality assessments enables continuous service improvement, and also builds the evidence base and credibility of the hospital team model. 
• Service Security: A third-party contract provides a safeguard against ‘mission drift’, and protects the integrity of the service model against competing hospital and commissioner pressures. 

• Support network: The Pathway Partnership network, together with online manual and telephone support, fosters connections between teams. It enables them to share best practices and develop a collective movement to build momentum for wider systemic change. 
• Brand profile: Pathway have a national profile and can work with teams to lever additional resources and partners. 

Establishing a team through our Partnership Programme can be described through three phases: 

Phase one – Service Development Support 

Pathway’s previous experience is that many local areas require substantial support before a new hospital site is ready to host a Pathway team. Working with local commissioners and providers Pathway can provide a bespoke package of support through any necessary preliminary steps: 

• Engaging local stakeholders 
• Securing funding for a local needs assessment 
• Delivering a needs assessment 
• Building a business case 
• Securing funding for a hospital team 
• Designing a team and creating a service specification 
• Advising on procurement 

Phase two – Service Start Up Support 

Once we have signed an agreement with commissioners and our local service provider to recruit a staff team and initiate the service, we will provide: 

• Comprehensive staff recruitment support 
• Staff training and induction 
• Practical start up guidance and telephone support for service managers 
• Promotional support 

Phase three – Ongoing Support

During the first two years of operation, new teams will receive an enhanced package of support with regular visits and telephone assistance from Pathway. Hospital teams will also become part of our national network, and will be invited to attend a range of networking events. Each team will receive a number of free spaces to attend the annual Faculty of Homeless and Inclusion Health conference. Our ongoing support includes: 

• Online operations manual 
• Telephone and visiting support 
• Training and policy updates 
• Annual team-to-team peer reviews 
• Support from the Pathway network 
• Shared service quality standards and national benchmarking 
• Access to research opportunities 
• Conference places and regional networking events 

Pathway Partnership organisations will be asked to:  

• Fund initial setup and ongoing support fees  
• Ensure that their service meets the operational standards defined in our Operations Manual, and meet the organisational responsibilities laid out in our Partnership Agreement 
• Work together in partnership with Pathway, local commissioners and funders, local provider organisations, the local NHS Trusts to deliver the service to a hight standard 
• Share regular monitoring and performance data with Pathway  
• Participate in annual peer reviews and attend relevant Pathway events  
• Contribute to the development of the Pathway clinical network by sharing local innovations and learning  

Pathway Partner Profile  

Alongside a commitment to collaborating with Pathway, our main expectation of potential partners is that they share Pathway’s core values: generosity, kindness, compassion, and a fundamental commitment to improving health outcomes for the most vulnerable.

The following elements should also be in place or achievable in your location:  

• Homeless health is being prioritised as an issue by stakeholders within the local area, such as by local authorities or the ICS 
• The provider should be an NHS provider organisation  
• There is an understanding of the values and objectives of the model amongst all relevant stakeholders: commissioners, the provider organisation, and the hospital trust that hosts the local Pathway Partnership Team 
• There is a named senior manager within the hospital Trust that will champion the team’s objectives and ethos within the organisation 

Following confirmation that a Pathway Hospital Team is needed and funding for the team has been secured, Pathway and the Partnership team will sign a partnership agreement for the provision of Service Start up and Ongoing support. For new Teams the annual partnership fee starts at £25,000 plus VAT each year, depending on local circumstances.

Local needs and circumstances determine the level of Service Development Support that is needed prior to a new team becoming established, such as the size of the hospital and the complexity of the needs assessment. There are variable fees for this area of support which can be agreed prior to Pathway commencing work. We can also support a local champion to apply for the funding to carry out a needs assessment, which may also cover our Service Development Support fee. 

If you meet our partner profile and want to learn more about becoming a Pathway partner, please contact us using the details below and we will be in touch to arrange a follow up call or meeting to discuss next steps. 

The recruitment process: 

• Step 1 – Potential partner submits initial query and completes Pathway’s readiness questionnaire 
• Step 2 – Meetings between potential partner and Pathway to discuss the details 
• Step 3 – Review by prospective partner to consider all the information provided 
• Step 4 – Pathway’s final prospective partner evaluation 
• Step 5 – Formal agreement 

If you would like to discuss setting up a Pathway team in your area, please contact Paul Hamlin.