If you are coming from abroad, you may not have heard the term “MDT”.
A Multidisciplinary team involves ‘appropriately utilising knowledge, skills and best practice from multiple disciplines to redefine, re scope and reframe health and social care delivery issues and reach solutions based on an improved collective understanding of complex patient need(s).’
Each speciality has their own MDT meeting where they discuss specific cases & come to a decision on what the best way forth would be for each patient.
MDT meetings also occurs on wards and this essentially is where the ward team (Sister in Charge, discharge officers, occupational and physiotherapy team, nurses & doctors) gather & discuss each patient on that particular ward.
This is to ensure we are all getting an overall idea of how the patient is doing on the ward.
It is about perspective. Just because a patient has been deemed medically fit for discharge doesn’t mean you can discharge the patient, the nurses may be concerned of their ability to take care of themselves at home, the physiotherapy team may be concerned of their lack of mobility, etc.
It’s important to familiarise yourself with working with multiple specialties in order to provide the best patient care.
