Exploring interprofessional teamwork at a tertiary public hospital in South Africa

The landscape of health in South Africa has changed dramatically with the unprecedented rise in the burden of disease. Public health care facilities struggle to provide quality, patient-centered care to patients with complex health needs. Interprofessional teamwork is strongly advocated to improve the quality and patient-centeredness of care. This study explored the barriers and facilitators of interprofessional teamwork amongst health professionals working at a tertiary level public hospital in South Africa. The study employed a qualitative, descriptive, exploratory design. Data were collected during three focus group discussions with 14 purposively selected participants from several health professions. Barriers such as high patient turnover, lack of human resources, time, hierarchy, referral process, lack of knowledge of the roles and scopes of practice, negative attitudes, communication inefficiencies, language barriers, and professional jealousy were found to impede interprofessional teamwork. Facilitators of interprofessional teamwork included increased human resources, communication technology, respect, and relationship building. Although health professionals understand the barriers and facilitators of interprofessional teams in the provision of patient care, this study concludes that interprofessional capacity building is needed for successful interprofessional teamwork at a tertiary level public hospital setting.