Effective multidisciplinary working: the key to high-quality care

This article explores multidisciplinary team working, inter-disciplinary, trans-disciplinary and effective collaborative practice in order to provide high-quality patient care. It discusses different views on collaboration, some of the issues around cross-discipline and multi-agency working and concerns around promoting 'high-quality' care. It also discusses the importance of evidence-based practice in multidisciplinary teams. Issues around good-quality care, clinical governance and the audit cycle in MDTs are addressed. The article highlights the importance of the 6Cs (care, compassion, competence, communication, courage and commitment) in MDTs if quality care is to be achieved. The article also explores advantages and limitations of multidisciplinary team working, trans-disciplinary working and inter-professional working in developing and delivering high-quality patient-centred care. Further research is needed on how clinical audits can help to improve how MDTs function in order improve the quality of service provided to clients.