Amy Meredith-Davies of Swansea Council for Voluntary Service looks at lessons from the Cwmtawe Cluster’s mental health and wellbeing model for partnership working.
INTEGRATION BEGINS WITH UNDERSTANDING THE COMMUNITY
At the heart of integrated community care is a simple principle: people’s health and wellbeing are shaped by more than clinical care alone. Social connection, emotional support, financial security and a sense of belonging all play a significant role in how people experience health and illness.
Voluntary organisations have long worked within this reality. They support people living with anxiety, loneliness, trauma and long-term conditions in ways that are flexible, relational and rooted in local communities. Their strength lies in trust, accessibility and an ability to respond to complexity in ways traditional services often cannot.
The Cwmtawe Cluster partnership recognised this from the outset. Rather than a deficit-based view of what was missing, partners focused on understanding what was already working well across the voluntary sector and how this expertise could better connect into primary and community care.
MOVING FROM PARALLEL WORKING TO PARTNERSHIP
Historically, voluntary sector services and statutory health services have worked alongside one another rather than together. Referrals can be inconsistent, awareness limited and opportunities for collaboration missed. This led to fragmentation, duplication and inefficiency across the system.
The shift in Cwmtawe Cluster was towards purposeful partnership working, creating shared understanding, improving communication, and developing trust. It wasn’t about absorbing voluntary organisations into statutory structures, but about recognising them as equal partners with their own expertise.
Through relationship-building and collaborative planning, voluntary sector services became more visible in local pathways. This ensured people could be supported earlier, more holistically, and in ways that reflected their lived experience.
INVESTMENT MATTERS MORE THAN REPLICATION
A critical lesson from Cwmtawe is that integration requires investment, not imitation. Too often, health and care systems respond to unmet need by attempting to replicate community-based approaches in statutory services. While well-intentioned, these risk overlooking that voluntary organisations already have the skills, relationships, and knowledge needed.
Voluntary organisations are experts in working with people. Their approaches are often innovative, trauma-informed, and shaped directly by the voices of the people they support. What they lack is not expertise, but sustainable funding and system-level recognition.
By investing in voluntary sector services and embedding them into integrated care pathways, systems can build on what already works. This leads to better use of resources, stronger outcomes for individuals, and a more resilient community care system overall.
INTEGRATION AS A RELATIONAL PROCESS
One of the most important insights is that integration depends on people taking the time to listen, understand each other’s roles, and navigate differences in language, culture, and accountability.
Dedicated support for partnership development, including roles that connect primary care, social care, and voluntary sector services, has been essential in enabling this work. At SCVS, the Head of Health and Wellbeing, Transformation and Partnership plays a key role in bridging sectors, connecting partners, aligning strategic priorities and supporting relationships that help to enable integration in practice. The real success lies in the shared commitment to work differently and place community expertise at the centre of service design.
IMPACT ON PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES
When integration works, the benefits are felt most clearly by the people accessing support. Integrated community care makes it easier to find the right help at the right time, without having to navigate complex systems alone. It reduces pressure on primary care, supports prevention and early intervention, and helps people feel supported in ways that reflect their whole lives, not just their symptoms.
LESSONS LEARNED
The work of Cwmtawe builds on the success of a longstanding history of partnership working between SCVS, the third sector, Swansea Bay University Health Board and the clusters. Cwmtawe demonstrates that voluntary sector partnerships are not an optional add-on to integrated care, they are a cornerstone of it.
It shows that integrated community care is built by valuing relationships, investing in existing expertise, and working collaboratively across sectors.
Voluntary organisations bring deep knowledge of communities and people’s lived experiences. When this expertise is recognised, resourced and embedded in care systems, the result is more responsive, sustainable and person-centred support.
As integrated care continues to evolve, it’s clear that transformation does not come from replicating community practice within statutory services, but from investing in and partnering with those who already do this well.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Find out more about WCVA’s Health and Care Project.
Find out more about the Cwmtawe Cluster Mental Health and Wellbeing Model.