Protect General Practice
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Team-based care is good patient care
Dr Rod Pearce, Chair, AMA Council of General Practice
Australian Medicine 7 September
The National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission has recommended that the training of health professionals move towards a multi-disciplinary approach, incorporating agreed competencies and that there is clinical training infrastructure in all health settings. This recommendation is aimed at creating a multi-disciplinary and integrated learning environment for future trainees and it is something to which we should give some considered thought.
Inter-professional education is about multiple professions learning together so that they will better understand their respective roles and skills so as to be able to better work together to provide quality care to patients.
There are many reasons behind the drive for inter-professional education, some of which are the shift from institutionalised care to community care, enhancing the teamwork of primary health care providers and the identification of common curriculum so that training facilities could reduce production costs and rationalise their education programs.
It is by no means a new concept, having been around in the UK since the sixties. In fact, as a medical student, I can remember learning about the neck and head biology with dental students.
Established prejudices between professions have not always been easy to overcome but collective learning has helped modify negative attitudes and perceptions, to build trust and improve communication, to manage problems better that are outside the scope of any one discipline and to provide improved whole patient care.
I know some of my colleagues are cautious about integrated learning, unsure of its benefit and concerned that it will result in the ‘dumbing down’ of the medical curriculum. But the evidence shows that there are a number of common competencies across the health care disciplines, such as the ability to work in a group, to listen effectively and to communicate verbally effectively.
As a start, learning these things together in a collective and collaborative way is not only efficient but can only provide a common foundation of learning and understanding.
As a GP training supervisor, I think general practice can lead the way in the development of inter-professional learning. General practice is in the health care front line and there is a wealth of available clinical experience. What is needed is the right infrastructure and support to help us make it happen.
Government cannot expect general practice to take on a bigger training role without investing extra resources to support such a move. General practice has embraced team-based care and there is no doubt that, over time, it will move to provide patients with better access to multi-disciplinary care.
My own practice has already adopted this approach and I can certainly see how we would benefit if greater inter professional learning was encouraged. I think it brings with it the potential to improve the provision of primary care services, the continuity of care and patient outcomes.
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