Multidisciplinary teamwork

Multidisciplinary working can take many forms and can be described in terms such as inter-professional,
multiprofessional, inter-disciplinary, inter-agency and multi-agency (Sellman and Snelling, 2010). Hogston and
Marjoram (2007) state that:
Multidisciplinary team working in practice is [a] collaborative process among of [sic] groups
of individuals with different backgrounds for example nurses, psychologist, occupational
therapy, doctors, psychiatrists, health visitors and social workers and others who share common objectives.
Recently, a different but complementary view suggests that MDT professionals from different disciplines working
in collaboration share different skills (OToole, 2008). Furthermore, multidisciplinary working involves
collaboration in which processes such as evaluation or development of a patients care plan are undertaken jointly
with professionals from different disciplines pooling their knowledge together in an independent manner in order
to achieve the same goals of providing high-quality care (Finkelman, 2006). Hogston and Marjoram (2007)
describe interdisciplinary as: ...work where groups make adaptations to their role, to take account of and interact
with the role of others.
On the other hand, Garner and Orelove (1994) argue that trans-disciplinary working is a more radical form of
practice that can include working across the ordinary professional boundaries, whereas multi-agency means
involvement of a range of services and professionals in order to provide high quality care to patients. For example,
a mental health nurse working with the community mental health team (CMHT) may give advice on housing or
welfare benefits to a patient, although, in day-to-day practice, this is usually the role of a social worker (Gordon
and Walsh, 2005).
The importance of evidence-based practice
Another important aspect of MDT working is the use of evidence to inform current clinical practice. Hunt (1997)
argues that evidence-based practice is also important when professionals work as a team since it helps the
advancement of research to establish better methods of patient care. Mulhall (1998) defines evidence-based
practice as the incorporation of evidence from research, clinical experience and patients preferences into
decisions about the health of individual patients. Jasper and Jumma (2005) argue that to achieve effective MDT
working, team members need to engage in strategic management processes that will help to develop thinking and
strategic learning in their practice in order to provide better patient care.

The 6cs for our Healthcare Professional Team:

Care
Compassion
Competence
Communication
Courage
Commitment.
The 6 Cs are aimed at providing the opportunity for nurses and other health professional to develop and improve
the quality of care they deliver to patients (Nursing and
Midwifery Council, 2008). Good communication skills are important when working as part of the MDT as they
help to facilitate smooth sharing of information and continuity of patient care (Thistlethwaite and Moran, 2010).
Advantages of MDT
Professionals will be more familiar with one another activities and roles thereby improving inter-professional
communication
Professionals will be better able to work collaboratively thereby improving high-quality care
Professionals will have broader repertoires of knowledge and skills thereby increasing access to care
Professionals will have more career mobility as the healthcare environment changes.
Conclusion
Multidisciplinary working and achieving effective collaborative practice is important in order to provide highquality care.
Key points
1. Multidisciplinary team working is essential in order to provide high quality patient care
2. Effective and efficient communication is key for the continuation of care among multidisciplinary teams
3. Collaborative practice should be integral among MDTs in order to achieve good-quality patient care
4. The 6Cs should form the epi-centre of MDT working in order to achieve high standards of quality patient
care.