Boost for multidisciplinary team meetings
By Robin Stride
Consultants in private practice are being recommended to supercharge their multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings using a new toolkit from the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN).
Designed with the help of senior doctors, hospital group medical directors and others, it aims to assist independent providers to further improve MDT working.
The resource sets out the latest best practice and innovations from across the healthcare system and has received strong backing from independent providers, insurers, patients’ charities, royal colleges, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and NHS England.
IHPN clinical director Dr Howard Freeman described MDT working as a fundamental part of delivering safe, high-quality patient care, adding: ‘We hope this new resource supports clinicians to fully utilise all the expertise of the teams they work within, ensuring the delivery of evidence-based patient-centred treatment.’
Dr Howard Freeman
He told Independent Practitioner Today: ‘It provides both clinicians and healthcare providers with the key principles for successful MDT working, including identifying when MDT meetings should be carried out in the best interests of patients and what clinicians and providers should consider when setting up and running MDT meetings.
‘It also sets out best practice examples of where clinicians and providers from across the independent sector and wider health service are already leading the way, from MDT working for highly specialised and complex care, running effective virtual and/or hybrid MDT meetings and engaging patients in the MDT process.’
Range of settings
The IHPN said the 14-page toolkit can be used by independent providers of all types, sizes and structures, and looks to support the use of MDTs beyond cancer care to a broader range of medical settings.
Providers are given key principles to support them in identifying when MDT meetings should happen in the best interests of patients and what clinicians and providers should consider when setting up and running these events.
Best practice examples are set out from across the independent sector and NHS ‘to stimulate and to support independent providers to further strengthen the governance around their MDTs and develop innovative new approaches’.
Dr Freeman said the toolkit was part of the IHPN’s ongoing programme aimed at supporting the private healthcare sector to deliver the highest quality of patient care.
The Patients Association is among many organisations giving a thumbs-up to the toolkit. Chief executive Rachel Power said by promoting patient-centred multidisciplinary meetings, the resource was making a valuable contribution towards effective, personalised care.
‘It offers guidance to independent providers to deliver co-ordinated, comprehensive care tailored to individual patient needs. We welcome this collaborative approach to improving outcomes and ensuring patients receive the highest-quality care and support throughout their treatment journey.’
Valuable resource
Stella Williams, senior specialist in secondary and specialist care at the CQC, said effective MDT working involving clinical expertise in the round was a fundamental part of delivering safe, high-quality care and it can significantly optimise both patient safety and patient outcomes.
‘The toolkit sets out best practice examples and guidance on how providers can strengthen the governance around their MDTs and aims to help improve the impact and consistency of MDT approaches in a range of independent healthcare settings. We hope it will be a valuable resource to the sector,’ she said.
‘We look at MDT working when we assess services, and we will continue to use our single assessment framework to check that people receive care, treatment and support which is evidence-based and in line with good practice standards.’
Dr Fiona Donald, president of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, said the resource would help ensure more patients benefited from effective team-working between the different healthcare professionals involved in their care.
‘It addresses common questions and scenarios through examples of best practice, which hopefully will serve to drive quality and consistency.’
A copy of the Multidisciplinary Working toolkit can be found at www.ihpn.org.uk/report/multidisciplinary-team-working