The Multi Disciplinary Team (MDT) Flashcards
What is a multi-disciplinary team?
“Is a group of professionals from one or more clinical disciplines who together make decisions regarding recommended treatment of individual patients”
“A multidisciplinary team or MDT for short is simply a diverse group of professionals working together. The MDT would aim to deliver person-centred and coordinated care and support for the person with care needs.”
Which professionals would constitute an
MDT?
Will vary depending upon the clinical model in operation for the service
Some teams have different ‘functionalised’ roles (*E.g specialized service on depression diagnosis)
Some teams will work only in the community or only with inpatients
A ‘traditional’ adult or old age team would cover the inpatients and outpatients for a defined geographical patch or group of GP practices
*Changing now but this is more used in psychiatry where doctor you saw looks after you
Which professionals would constitute an
MDT?
- Nurses— may have specialist or management
roles - Occupational Therapy
- Physiotherapy
- Speech and Language Therapy
- Psychology
- Pharmacist
- Social Worker
- Mental Health Officer
- Admin staff
- Medical staff— Consultant, Associate Specialist, Specialty Registrar, Core Trainee, Foundation Doctor**
Why work as an MDT?
- Allows skills of different disciplines to come together to achieve a better outcome for the patient
- Provides multiple perspectives on difficulties
- Allows development of team as a whole (by sharing ideas and skills)
- Allows more efficient use of time
- Shares risk
- Shares stress (making less stressful)
- Better outcomes
- Better fun?
*Cons;
- Can be difficult to work with some people and hard to timetable
- Can be challenging to find one solution that includes everyones input
What is the role of Administrative Staff?
- Covers several roles including Personal Assistant (PA); secretary, receptionist, ward clerk
- Generally support teams with admin tasks such as notes systems, preparation of documents, diary management, room and appointment booking, typing, letter management, directing calls, coordinating referrals and response to
referrals may have a Mental Health Act administration role, specialist role, or coordination of meetings like a care programme approach (CPA).
*Way to bring team together to manage person and special member to type notes for these meeting
What is the role of a Consultant (Forensic) Psychiatrist?
- Are a Medical Doctor
- Recognised as a specialist with the General Medical Council (CCT or CESR)
- Leads MDT
- Diagnosis, assessment, management, treatment, risk assessment, risk management
- Formal roles around legislation — ‘responsible medical officer’
- Teaching and training and other non-clinical responsibilities (Leadership, governance, training)
- Involved in assessment and treatment of mental disorders - psychiatrist
Forensic - With a mental disorder at risk of harming someone or coming in contact with the criminal justice system.
Also involved in leadership, management, and wider strategies for developing services.
What is involved in the Core Trainee years for a Consultant (Forensic) Psychiatrist?
- Post-foundation training
- Three Years (Core training (in psych training program) Then apply for higher or speciality training areas)
- Rotate around specialities and tend to be with a team for 6-12 months with specific MDT
- Will undertake day-to-day care of patients on the ward including physical care
- Some outpatient responsibility
- Under supervision and have several training tasks
What is involved in the Specialty Trainee years for a Consultant (Forensic) Psychiatrist?
- Will have completed core training
- Picked to train in one of 6 subspecialties (General, child, old age, forensic, etc)
- Undertake some of the roles of the consultant for patients but still under supervision
- Still have to follow a training curriculum
What is the role of a Senior Charge Nurse (SCN)?
- Registered Nurse
- Most senior in the area with direct responsibility for the staff and patients in that area
- Senior clinical and managerial leadership to a ward
- Promote MDT working
- Nursing tasks when needed
- Manages and develops nursing team, including deputy charge nurses, staff nurses, and health care support workers.
*Senior nurse of ward, in charge of patients, staff recruitment and retainment, patient placement, risk assessments, senior leadership, support for staff, evidence-based practice, expert knowledge, Also have responsibility to keep people and patients involved, update MDT
Ranks;
- Senior Charge Nurse (Navy blue) (No official qualifications, some managerial, leadership or masters level qualification is expected)
- Deputy Charge Nurses (2)
- Staff Nurses
- Senior Healthcare Support Workers (not registered nurses)
What is the role of a Social Worker?
- Trained professional with a degree qualification
- Mental health a branch of practice
- Assist with social functioning aspects
- Housing/ placement
- Practical issues, eg exemptions, benefits, signposting
- Commissioning of care packages and assessment of the same
- Often a liaison role with families/carers
- Maybe a role in adult and child protection
- Risk assessment and management
- More in notes if needed
What is the role of the Mental Health Officer (MHO)?
- Trained social worker with additional MHO award (from uni)
- Have statutory roles under the legislation (Make applications for legislation)
- Provide opinions on use of legislation
- Liaise with social work
- Give evidence to Tribunals and courts (About legislation)
- Role in risk assessment and management
- More in notes if needed
What is the role of the Physiotherapist?
- Trained professional with physiotherapy qualifications
- Frailty
- Mobility
- Treatment after injury
- Role in exercise and physical health management in mental health settings especially for those who will be in the hospital for extended stays eg Forensic patients
- Low level psychological treatment eg anxiety management:
- More in notes if needed
What is the role of the Occupational Therapist (OT)?
- Aims to improve health and wellbeing through enabling participation in occupation (the activities, role and routines of everyday life).
- Assess functioning
- Build skills
- Assist into employment
- Suggest and tailor aids and
adaptations - Help with goal achievement
- Help to find meaningful
activities - Work in lots of settings including community and inpatient services, primary care, higher education, secure settings and prisons.
- More in notes if needed
What is the role of the Psychologist?
- Trained mental health professional
- Assess and treat mental disorder using psychological approaches
- Manualised therapies - CBT, DBT, MBT
- Assessment using standardised approaches
- Risk Assessment and Management Plans
- Contribute psychological understanding to teams
- Supervision (To help understand why patients act in certain ways, how to deal with etc)
- More in notes if needed
What is the role of the Community Psychiatric Nurse (CPN)?
- Registered Nurse (Generally quite senior)
- Assess and monitor the mental health of patients in the community
- Assess and monitor medication
- Management of patients in transition from hospital to home
- Risk management strategies, eg drug testing
- Practical tasks to assist with independent living
- May have specialist assessment and diagnostic functions (Depending on team working in)
- More in notes if needed
