“Working together – involving staff”: Partnership working in the NHS

Contributes to debates about employee involvement and social partnership by exploring the ways in which individualist and collectivist aspects interrelate in a single initiative in the National Health Service. Identifies a particular form of employee involvement in which partnership is integral. Draws on a case study of one NHS Trust over a period of 18 months, using individual and group interviews with senior and line managers, union officials, shop stewards and staff. Argues that tension between collectivism and individualism becomes more acute lower down the organisation where line managers are responsible for implementing change. Highlights how understanding of involvement and partnership change over time and how a climate that is more amenable to union organisation can be created.