What makes healthcare collaboration good and what prevents it? With a quantum shift in the need for collaboration born out of the arrival of the Sustainability and Transformation Plans and a new two year planning guidance, whether we like it or not, collaboration is now well and truly on the map.

Following on from last year’s successful study, this 2016 report into collaboration in UK healthcare explores what makes collaboration successful and what prevents it. To investigate, we’ve asked the views of a number of NHS CEO’s and have interviewed several prominent industry figures.

With some key themes emerging from the report, it is clear that there is significant support for the concept and benefits of collaboration and an appreciation of the difficulties in making it a reality. Some of the stand-out statistics from the study include:

• 68% of respondents felt that the future is all about collaboration and that competition is dead;
• 60% said that there are too few good leaders in the NHS;
• 64% said that the single biggest barrier to effective collaboration between organisations is individual bias and politics.