Patient experience of MDT care and decision-making

Abstract

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to explore physical and mental health patients' experience of multidisciplinary team (MDT) care and decision making in order to highlight factors underlying effective care and to identify areas in which patient experience could be improved. Design/methodology/approach -Totally, 12 MDTs within the North Thames area participated; the authors recruited 13 patients from physical health MDTs and seven patients from mental health MDTs. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with each participant and thematically analysed the transcripts. Findings -The study found a marked contrast in patient experience: physical health patients emphasised their faith in the judgement of MDT clinicians, described experiencing high quality care and expressed a strong preference not to attend MDT meetings; mental health patients highlighted a range of negative experiences, were frequently sceptical about their diagnosis, and expressed a desire to have greater involvement in the decisions directing their care. Research limitations/implications -It was necessary to revise the initial target of interviewing six patients per MDT due to recruitment difficulties. Practical implications -In order to improve care, mental health MDTs should focus on promoting a shared understanding of illness by increasing the transparency of the diagnostic process. Key factors underlying effective MDT care in physical health services include enabling patients to determine their level of involvement in decision making and ensuring patients have a clear understanding of their care plan. Originality/value -The paper highlights the importance of mental health MDTs focusing on developing a shared understanding of illness with their patients.

Enacting person‐centredness in integrated care: A qualitative study of practice and perspectives within multidisciplinary groups in the care of older people

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Improving the effectiveness of multidisciplinary team meetings for patients with chronic diseases: a prospective observational study

“…An in-depth comparison of our interview data from cancer and heart failure patients with mental health and memory clinic patients further explores patients' experiences. 141 Finally, we did not collect cost or waiting time data and so we cannot comment on the implications of MDT diversity with respect to MDT cost-effectiveness or consequences for patients.…”

Exploring multi-disciplinary team meetings on a personality-disorder ward within a forensic setting

“…The weekly "ward rounds", or what has more recently become known as multi-disciplinary team (MDT) meetings (Fiddler et al, 2010;Lyall and Bartlett, 2010), are an important aspect of patient care and play an important role in reviewing treatment plans, measuring progress and are critical to the decision-making process (Raine et al, 2015). Studies have highlighted that while patients on a physical health ward were positive about their experience of MDT meetings, mental health patients expressed more scepticism (O'Driscoll et al, 2014). Earlier studies have noted that attendance at these meetings can lead to anxiety in some patients (Foster et al, 1991), possibly because they are unprepared and unclear about what will be discussed (White and Karim, 2005).…”