Summary
The CQC inspection framework now includes multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) for end of life care, tumours and weekly MDTs for people with complex needs. However lack of time and staff availability for this is a real problem.
MDTs are under increasing pressure and are already seeing an erosion of their power to assure safe and appropriate care. Anecdotally, non-attendance by key MDT members is a significant quality issue for many hospitals. This is not a problem of engagement — all MDT members and are willing to provide input — but staffing pressures and the complexity of rostering makes holding these MDT meetings near-impossible. So how do we stop this degradation? How can hospitals better manage the burgeoning requirement for MDTs?
One possible answer is to change the emphasis from a single meeting to a managed series of recorded opinions and decisions. If properly supported by the right workflow technology, we can move away from the ‘single-point’ MDT meeting (MDTM) to a ‘multi-point’ MDT process (MDTP) which could allow better and more auditable decisions to be made. Where significant differences of opinion exist, then a meeting can be called – but the MDT members could act independently and in parallel using a suitable recording and monitoring system.
In this article, Dr D J Hamblin-Brown explains how this might work.
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