Developing new professional partnerships with acute Trusts and general practitioners.

The development of locality commissioning models combined with demographic, therapeutic and service changes are driving new professional relationships between general practitioners and acute Trusts. To ensure a Trust releases its strategy in this environment, stakeholders must understand the benefits to be gained from these new levels of relationships. A review of the literature is undertaken and the conditions for successful partnerships between acute Trusts and general practitioners defined. The article determines that for acute Trusts it will mean an examination of core competences combined with a drive to "review" their organisations.