IT is ‘fundamental’ that multi-disciplinary teams are rolled out to every GP practice in Northern Ireland, a local doctor has said.
Dr Patrina Bell, principal practitioner at Redwood surgery in Bangor, made the comment at the end of a visit to the practice by Health Minister Mike Nesbitt MLA, and Under-Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office, Fleur Anderson MP.
Dr Bell, who is also chair of the North Down Federation of Family Practices, expressed the belief that multi-disciplinary teams (MDTs) in all GP practices would ‘change health care in Northern Ireland’.
“MDTs are transforming the care that we are delivering to our patients,” said Dr Bell. “We can address social needs, mental health needs and muscular-skeletal problems early, to prevent problems deteriorating.
“We can change the path that patients take, so we can give a holistic level of care to our patients and make a real difference. It is transforming care and it is doing it in the community.”
The politicians attended the surgery to see the work of MDTs, which are the integration of various healthcare professionals, including physiotherapists, social workers, mental health practitioners, district nurses and health visitors, who work with existing GP practice teams.
MDTs, which are in some, but not all GP, practices in the region, allow GP practices to focus not just on managing ill-health, but also on the physical, mental and social wellbeing of communities.
There is an increased focus on prevention and early intervention initiatives, ensuring the needs of patients are met at the earliest possible opportunity, reducing the need for onward referrals into hospital and community services.
Mr Nesbitt explained that Fleur Anderson is the NIO Minister responsible for looking after transformation, so he was keen that she saw a multi-disciplinary team.
“They are an outstanding success story and she is genuinely impressed by what she has seen,” he said.
“The fact that they are not rolled out across Northern Ireland is becoming a really serious issue of equity of access and it is something I need to address, but I need the budget to do it.
“The one bid we have in order to secure extra money is with the Transformation Board, but it hasn’t made any decisions yet, so it is unlikely that we will see any decisions this financial year, but we need to see movement.”
The director of Primary Care and Older People in the South Eastern Trust, Clare-Marie Dickson said: “I want my legacy to be that we have MDTs in primary care in every practice. At the moment I have fully implemented GP Federations with MDTs, I have partials and I have no MDT. What we have created is the haves and have nots and MDT envy, because MDTs matter and MDTs work.”
A surgery patient, Joan Smith, described her experience of MDTss in her surgery: “I have been able to use the first contact physio in my GP surgery.
“It really has made a difference, because people do not need to travel. We have mental health staff, social workers and many more staff all on our doorstep.”
