Team Around the Patient Flashcards
What members may make up the traditional primary health care team (PHCT)?
GP partners GP assistants and other salaried doctors GP registrars Practice nurses Practice managers Receptionist Community nurses Midwives Health visitors Nurse practitioners
Discuss some aspects of the role of a GP partner
- First point of contact for most patients
- Provide a spectrum of care - including physical, psychological and social.
How do most GPs operate?
As independent contractors to the NHS.
Responsible for providing adequate premises and employing their own staff.
Discuss some aspects of the role of a practice nurse
May have direct supervision of healthcare assistants
obtaining blood samples ECGs minor and complex wound management including leg ulcers travel health advice and vaccinations child immunisations and advice family planning & women’s health including cervical smears men’s health screening sexual health services smoking cessation.
Discuss some aspects of the role of a district nurse
- Home visits, providing increasingly complex care
- Teaching and support roles for patients
- Help to keep hospital admissions/readmissions to a minimum
- Assess healthcare needs of patients and families
Discuss some aspects of the role of a midwife
- Providing care through all stages of pregnancy, and early postnatal period
- May work in the community - homes, clinics etc OR hospital based (antenatal, labour and postnatal wards)
Discuss some aspects of the role of a health visitor
- Lead and deliver child and family health services (up to 5 yrs)
- Provide ongoing services for vulnerable children and families
- Contribute to MDT in safeguarding and protecting children
What are some common tasks of a health visitor?
- Offering parenting support /advice on family health/minor illnesses
- New birth visits which include advice on feeding, weaning and dental health
- Physical and developmental checks
- Providing families with specific support on subjects such as post natal depression.
Discuss some aspects of the role of a Macmillan nurse
Specialising in cancer - providing support/info from diagnosis onwards.
Specialised pain and symptom control
Emotional support both for the patient and their family or carer
Care in a variety of settings – in hospital (both inpatient and outpatient), at home or from a local clinic
Information about cancer treatments and side effects
Advice to other members of the caring team, for example district nurses and Marie Curie nurses
Co-ordinated care between hospital and the patient’s home
Advice on financial help etc.
List some roles that would be considered Allied Health Professionals (AHPs)?
Physiotherapy
Occupational Therapy
Dietetics
Podiatry
Pharmacy
Counselling
Discuss some aspects of the role of a pharmacist
- Advise medical/nursing staff on selection and appropriate use of medicines.
- Provide information to patients on how to manage their medicines
- Prescribe medicines for specific conditions (with additional training)
Discuss some aspects of the role of a dietician
- Working with people with special dietary needs
- Informing the general public about nutrition
- Offeringunbiased advice
- Evaluating and improving treatments
- Educatingpatients/clients, other healthcare professionals andcommunity groups.
Discuss some aspects of the role of a physiotherapist
- Help physical problems caused by illness, accident or ageing.
- Manual therapy, therapeutic exercise and application of electro-physical modalities,
Discuss some aspects of the role of an occupational therapist
- Using specific activity to prevent disability and promote independent function in daily life.
- Help overcome effects of disability caused by physical or psychological illness, ageing or accident.
Discuss some aspects of the role of a care manager
Highly trained social workers - identify goals and locate specific services. Advise on social and financial support.
List some other professions allied to healthcare provision?
Complimentary therapists, for example:
Acupuncture
Homeopathy
Social services, for example:
Social workers
Social care workers
Health promotion, for example:
Gyms
Education
What aspects does factors changing the PHCT affect?
- Which professional groups are part of the PHCT
- Which groups work alongside
- The working relationship between these professional groups
Why does the development of healthcare premises affect the PHCT?
- Most are still owned by GPs
- Many existing places are too small/unfit
- Trend away from smaller to larger, private owned buildings
- Trend towards much wider range of services within enlarged premises
What political pressures may affect the PHCT?
Pressures to:
- Reduce costs of treatments
- Provide treatments closer to where people live
What are some professional role development changes that could affect the PHCT?
- Development of healthcare assistants
- Extended roles of pharmacists in medicine’s management and minor illness
- Development of nurse prescribing and triage.
Why may the growing number of ageing patients affect the PHCT?
- More long term conditions (managed largely in primary care)
- A greater demand for healthcare generally
What are some of the principles of establishing an effective primary care team?
- Recognise the patient, as an essential member of the PHCT.
- Establish a common agreed purpose
- Agree set objectives and monitor progress towards them.
- Agree teamworking conditions, including process for resolving conflict.
- Ensure that each team member understands and acknowledges the skills/ knowledge of colleagues.
- Importance of communication between its members.
- Ensure practice population understands and accepts the way in which the team works.
Give some more of the principles of establishing an effective primary care team?
- Select leader for leadership skills.
- Promote teamwork across health and social care.
- Evaluate all its teamworking initiatives.
- Ensure sharing of patient information within the team is in accordance with current legal and professional requirements.
- Facilitate inter-professional collaboration and understanding through joint conferences, education and training initiatives.
- Be aware of other measures which impact on teamworking.
What is an aim of the integration agenda of health and social care?
Reduce unnecessary admissions to hospital and delayed discharges.
Make more efficient/effective use of limited resources.
