As a pharmacy professional, working with the multidisciplinary team (MDT) has never been more important.  

The NHS Long Term Plan aims for all areas of the country to be covered by an Integrated Care System (ICS) by 2021. ICSs bring together primary, secondary and community services to work in partnership to deliver better patient care at a local level.  

Communication with the MDT in all sectors of practice can help not only in delivering the best patient care, but also help in creating a safety culture and improve patient safety. 

Working closely with the MDT in a local area can help in identify barriers to patient safety and solutions to make improvements, particularly when it comes to transfer of care. Sharing different perspectives and expertise helps build relationships between professionals and develops an understanding of work practices across the healthcare system, which all supports a patient safety culture.  
 
The previous module in this series explored patient and public involvement. It is important to remember that, while not a member of the MDT team as such, the partnership between healthcare professionals and patients and their carers is central to the working of the MDT.

Community pharmacy patients are at the centre of their own care and they are supported by a network of different healthcare professionals, some of which will be represented in the diagram below.

All these healthcare professionals have something in common: the patient. As such, working more closely and building relationships with these professionals improves communication and can ultimately support patient safety.