Thinking differently: working together for better care

This paper describes the development and outcomes from ‘joint working’ between Prince of Wales Hospital and BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) in Australia. ‘Joint working’ is a term used within the English National Health Service to describe health system and industry partners working together to create novel service models which benefit patients. The joint working process broadened the perspective of both parties through learning from each other and so enhanced the range of tools they each bring to their work. What is known about the topic? Collaboration between industry – specifically the pharmaceutical industry – and English National Health Service providers under the rubric “joint working” has been used successfully to pool skills, experience and/or resources for the joint development and implementation of patient centred projects. This process has required identification of the common interest of both parties and care to ensure the public interest is maintained. What does this paper add? Descriptions of collaboration between public hospital and private industry to deliver improved health outcomes have not been widely published. Joint working has not previously been described in the Australian context. This paper describes an experiment which addresses both of the gaps. What are the implications for practitioners? Opportunities may exist to improve patient outcomes through collaboration between public health providers and industry.