Communication within and between teams

1. 10. Multidisciplinary teams can bring benefits to patient care when communication is timely and relevant, but problems can arise when communication is poor or responsibilities are unclear.

All doctors

1. 11. You must make sure that you communicate relevant information clearly to:
   
   1. a. colleagues in your team
   2. b. colleagues in other services with which you work
   3. c. patients and those close to them in a way that they can understand, including who to contact if they have questions or concerns. This is particularly important when patient care is shared between teams.
2. 12. You should not assume that someone else in the team will pass on information needed for patient care. You should check if you are unclear about the responsibility for communicating information, including during handover, to members of the healthcare team, other services involved in providing care and patients and those close to them.
3. 13. You should encourage team members to cooperate and communicate effectively with each other and other teams or colleagues with whom they work. If you identify problems arising from poor communication or unclear responsibilities within or between teams, you should take action to deal with them.

Doctors with extra responsibilities

1. 14. You must provide necessary and timely information to those you manage so they can carry out their roles effectively. You should also pass on any relevant information to senior managers and make sure that arrangements are in place for relevant information to be passed on to the team promptly.
2. 15. You must be satisfied that systems are in place to communicate information about patient care.