Joint working and the production of a City Health Plan: The Liverpool experience

Abstract

Several cities within the WHO Healthy Cities Project are developing City Health Plans, a broad strategy to improve health in the city. This paper examines the effectiveness of joint working during the production of the City Health Plan in Liverpool, from the point of view of the participants' perceptions. The results of the study were used to inform the reform of joint planning. The results suggested that joint working had been reasonably effective in developing the City Health Plan in Liverpool, but that more attention should be paid to the process of people working together, rather than an emphasis on formal interorganisational structures.