The Challenge for the Public Sector
James McCartney Chief Executive T.H.O.M.A.S.

The  public sector by its very nature, is driven by a contractual relationship with organisations and people. This scars its ability to connect with humankind due to the bureaucratic premise from which it promulgates social interaction. A covenant relationship rooted in the premise of the human person has become a prevailing hypothesis in which third sector (voluntary sector) stratagem has evolved. Hence there is no other alternative but for it to become an equal partner in the transformation of public sector reform. For example the contractual concept clearly evident within the Criminal Justice System whose paramount function is to manage and control offenders and develop organisational structures that can help keep our streets safe, cannot solve the problems of an increasing prison population.Why? Because there is little consideration given to the nature of relationships and the factors that influence behavioural processes. The 1990s saw the dawn of competitive tendering and new forms of intra and extra organisational relationships with the public sector entering a new arena with the private and third sectors (Dutfield, 1992; Harboard, 1994); this was to be further developed by the New Labour Agenda, yet little attention has been given to the harvesting of quality relationships. This has resulted in highly effective systems of monitoring and a litany of new buzz words. But do they have substance? The word quality still has a weak voice within drug treatment strategy. This is because if we inflate its importance it might contradict the very systems we have put in place to monitor our effectiveness.

The drug treatment sector has come a long way in the last five years, mainly due to the creation of the National Treatment Agency,with its impact on service delivery and organisational design. Yet in many places there are still important parts of the jigsaw missing. A greater focus on holistic development and a move away from the domination of the clinical concept of treatment has to be addressed.We need to elevate the concept of human development at the forefront of strategic thinking. The NHS perception of strategy is confined to the irrefutable medical concept and it runs the risk of becoming tunnel visioned and unable to grasp the developmental nature of people who often want to be set free from a life of prescribed drugs. The world of human resource development can offer drug treatment strategy new intelligences in how to motivate and  develop people as it works within an organisational framework of emotional and social intelligences. The new drug treatment strategy post 2008 will need to focus more on the total and complete liberation of the addict as well as focus on how to counteract the stigmatisation that still exists in our society, where people can be labelled due to their past histories. In addition it will need to look at the long term development of some people who have never been accustomed to the employment market, who need a tremendous amount of coaching and managing as they prepare for the culture of work and be supported when they enter employment. We need to open the door to specialist human developers who can influence strategic thinking and transform the clinical perception of strategy.

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