Skip to 0 minutes and 11 secondsI'm healthy on Monday, then Tuesday the rug is yanked from under me. Everything happening so fast, it just becomes impossible to focus. Just this negative loop going around my head. I remember sitting in the clinic, after I left hospital. A lady carrying my file. It was massive. She passed it to the clerical person who was entering information onto the computer. Then I saw the doctor. He had all my notes beside him, and explained how I was progressing. I realized then just how many people had been involved in my treatment, and the scale of coordination required to care for one patient. That level of cooperation gave me confidence, and helped stop the negative voices in my head.
Working together for patients: an Introduction
Patients come first in everything we do. We fully involve patients, staff, families, carers, communities, and professionals inside and outside the NHS. We put the needs of patients and communities before organisational boundaries. We speak up when things go wrong.
NHS Constitution (Department of Health 2015)
The first value set out in the NHS Constitution is working together for patients. It is not surprising that the focus on patients, which places them at the centre of healthcare, is the starting point for the underpinning philosophy and values of the NHS. The focus on patients, families and communities and their needs is the driving force behind health care delivery and should take precedence over organisational boundaries and ways of practice. In the video, you can hear a service user talking about the importance of working together for patients.
In this activity we will focus on collaboration and partnership working. These are not only key tenets for multidisciplinary team working but also important components of all health and social care delivery, and indeed underpin the NHS value working together for patients.
By the time you complete this activity, should be able to:
- explain what we mean by collaboration
- explain what we mean by partnership working
- list the key features of effective multidisciplinary team work.
© Video produced by Health Education England