The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams for People with Complex Needs and Long-term Conditions

People with long-term conditions and complex health needs require a wide range of professional health and social care. Organising and arranging these individually would be vastly time consuming and fairly difficult to co-ordinate. Multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) bring this all together, enabling the different skills and professionals to jointly assess, plan and manage care.

The components of an MDT depend on the individual case. They may include GPs, specialists, nurses, physiotherapists, social workers, occupational therapists and case workers, as well as pharmacists, other therapists and community support services.

Some of the benefits of MDTs:

• Continuous care: given the range of interventions and types of care needed, care could easily become fractured with some areas missed due to timing or simply being overlooked. An MDT crosses the boundaries of all the professionals involved, knowing when each party or type of care is required. This seamlessness is vital to good quality care.
• Better communication: an MDT shares information and results with each other and this makes it easier for the same to be shared with the person involved and their carers. All parties are constantly up to date with progress or results that may affect their own element of the care.
• Effective use of services: an MDT brings together the professional care needed and allows the best and most appropriate knowledge and skills to be used in conjunction, with the aim of delivering the best care.
• Improved access to services: any of the members of an MDT can be called on in times of emergency or special need. There is no lengthy wait for a referral as all the required parties are already involved – and they in turn have access to any further services that may be required, such as housing or social care.
• Flexible and adaptable: MDTs are person-centred, formed to answer an individual’s specific requirements, regardless of the complexity or length of term of any condition. The team members can be changed as needs alter and are focused entirely on the individual.

Multidisciplinary teams are effective for any people with complex care needs and long-term conditions, including the elderly, children and those with mental health problems. This is because the care given manages every aspect of the person’s demands, be that physical, emotional or social.

Many reviews and case studies on the efficacy of MDTs shows they can have a positive impact, including improved satisfaction and better treatment planning for the person concerned and increased job satisfaction for MDT members. It remains vital, though, that the teams are carefully assembled with the right professionals and practitioners per case, and that they are well organised in order to have a positive impact.